Player Profile: Bob Welch

My most memorable memory of Bob Welch was his confrontation with Reggie Jackson as a 21-year-old in the 1978 World Series game two. He struck Mr. October out to win the game. Epic battle. The slugger against the fireballing rookie. The Dodgers would end up losing the series, but that is probably the best memory of that series I have.

Robert Lynn Welch was born on the 3rd of November 1956 in Detroit Michigan. His dad Robert grew up in Newport Arkansas. He moved north hoping to land a job in one of Detroit’s many factories. His mom. Lorine Mungle, hailed from Paducah Kentucky. She moved to Michigan in 1942, also to find work. I was definitely from Detroit Bob said. But my roots are southern. The Welch family lived-in working-class Hazel Park, a tough neighborhood.

Bob and his brother Donnie would stay active all year, playing hockey and basketball and then switching to baseball when the weather warmed up. Bob began drinking at 16. Alcohol helped him get dates. “I would get a buzz on and would stop being afraid of girls“, he later said. He starred in baseball and basketball at Hazel Park High School. Every spring scouts would aim radar guns at his fastball and the young man would not disappoint. He could, as they say, bring it.

Welch waited for the hometown Tigers to draft him, instead, he was taken by the Cubs in the 14th round of the 1974 June amateur draft. Rather than go pro, he took a scholarship from Eastern Michigan University and made their starting rotation in his freshman year. In his sophomore year, he threw a no-hitter against Central Michigan and a perfect game against the University of Detroit.

Over the summer, Welch played on an All-Star team of collegians who went on a tour in Japan. He started one game and had a no-hitter into the fifth inning in front of 20,000 fans before giving up a home run. Upset after coach Rod Dedeaux lifted him for a reliever with a 9-1 lead, he made an ass of himself afterward. He bought a few cases of beer, put away more than a few, and then began kicking down hotel doors. Later that same night, he walked along the narrow ledge of a hotel and nearly fell. It was for Welch a typical night. He later said, “I wish I could remember Japan, but the truth is I was so drunk most of the time, I remember very little”.

A sore arm in his junior year scared off most of the scouts, but the Dodgers Ben Wade, saw him throw on the sidelines and offered a positive report. He was selected in the first round, 20th overall by the Dodgers in the 1977 amateur draft. He was sent to San Antonio of the Texas League to start his pro career. Welch was 4-5 with San Antone. He had a 4.44 ERA. In 78 he moved to AAA Albuquerque and went 5-1 with a 3.78 ERA.

He made his MLB debut on June 20. 1978, in front of almost 42,000 fans at Dodger Stadium. He pitched two scoreless innings of relief in a 5-3 loss to the Astros. In his first five appearances, which included a six-inning stint against the Reds, he did not allow a run. For the season the rookie was 7-4 with a 2.02 ERA. He pitched 111.1 innings and had 3 shutouts. He made 13 starts and Dodger manager, Tommy Lasorda said the kid reminded him a little of Big D. Lofty ground for a rookie. Dodger catcher Johnny Oates said his fastball was as good as Jim Palmer’s.

Welch was placed on the post-season roster to pitch out of the pen. He picked up the win in game one of the NLCS against the Phillies. Then the Dodgers headed to the series to face the Yankees again. That set the stage for game two. Dodger starter Burt Hooton went six innings. In the top of the ninth, reliever, Terry Forster gave up a leadoff single, and a one-out walk. With the tying and go-ahead runs on base, Lasorda summoned Welch to face Thurman Munson and told his young pitcher to just throw strikes. Davey Lopes basically told him the same thing. But Lopes said, “I did not look him in the eyes“. He had the deepest blue eyes I had ever seen he said, the biggest pupils. I just kept my head down and said you have to throw hard to just two hitters.

Welch induced Munson to fly out to right field for the second out. That brought DH Reggie Jackson to the plate. Mr. October was one of the major’s most dangerous power hitters. In the 1977 series, he hit 5 homers against Dodger pitching including 3 in game six. The slugger adjusted his glasses and stepped into the box. Yeager gave the kid the sign for a fastball and Welch threw it right down the middle. Jackson swung and missed. The second pitch was up and in. The third pitch Jackson fouled off. By this time the crowd was going nuts. Reggie fouled off the 4th and 5th pitches. The 6th was a ball and the count was 2-2. At that point, Welch stepped off of the rubber because the crowd of almost 56,000 was really loud. The seventh pitch was fouled off and # 8 was a ball. The count was now full, 3-2. On the next pitch Jackson swung and missed and almost corkscrewed himself into the ground and the game was over. The encounter went 9 pitches and lasted more than 5 minutes. After the game, Jackson gave Welch his due. We knew he was a good pitcher he said. “Give the guy credit, he beat me, I am not proud, I admit it, the man beat me”. Welch said he “loved every moment of it…. and I was stone sober. I hadn’t gotten around to drinking before a game, especially a World Series game. But given time, I would have.”

L.A.s stars were star struck. Lopes called him “The Ice Man”. He is just cold out there. I cannot really explain it.. Outfielder Rick Monday said, “He does things at his age a lot of guys never do. He is just an ordinary 20-year-old with a 100-mile-per hour fastball.” The Yankees came back to win the series. Welch gave up 3 runs in four innings including a HR to Jackson in the game 6 decider.

He turned his 1979 season into a mess. His drinking had gotten out of control. It came to a head in San Francisco. Before an afternoon game at Candlestick, he picked a fight with Giants outfielder Terry Whitfield. “ I want that man!” he yelled. Rick Sutcliffe, one of Welch’s friends, grabbed him and hustled him into the dugout.

Soon afterward, Welch entered a rehab program in Wickenburg Arizona. I have been to Wickenburg. Not really a fun place to be. He received support from Dodger great, Don Newcombe, himself a person who had battled alcohol addiction and now helped others with the problem. Newk was now a member of the Dodger executive team. Welch said ” the truth is I wanted to help myself. I didn’t want to ruin myself.” He finished the year 5-6 with a 3.98 ERA.

Welch began to open up about his problem to counselors and other people in the program. He attended seminars and other forms of open discussion concerning alcoholism. He also wrote letters to his future wife describing what he was going through. Mary Ellen Wilson was very supportive during this time.

During spring training, Welch told his story to Lyle Spencer of the Examiner and some other reporters, and he also apologized to his teammates and began to get ready for the season. He pitched maybe the best game of his career against the Braves on May 29. He threw a one-hitter allowing only a single to Larvell Blanks in the 4th inning. Losing pitcher Phil Niekro said, “that was a no-hitter. I have seen no-hitters that were not as well pitched as that game“. Welch ended the year with 14 wins. He was also an All-Star that year.

1981 was the year of Fernandomania. Welch and the entire team were in awe of the rookie lefty. Welch lamented that he wished he could be as smooth as Fernando. The Dodgers again would advance to a Series against the Yankees. Welch started game four but faced just four batters getting no one out. He got maybe the quickest hook in WS history. But the Dodgers came back and won the game 8-7 and would win the Series in six games earning their first title since 1965.

Welch followed that up with a 16-win season in 1982. His ERA was 3.36. In 1983, he won 15 games, lowered his ERA to 2.65, and was 8th in the Cy Young voting. He also pitched a 1-0 one-hitter that year against the Reds and hit a homer off of Mario Soto. It was his first homer since little league. He and Mary Ellen were married on Jan 19, 1984.

The Dodgers slogged through the 1984-season finishing in 4th place. Welch was 13-13. The team rebounded in 1985 behind strong starting pitching with Welch, Valenzuela, Reuss, and Hershiser leading the way. But St. Louis knocked them out in game six of the NLCS. Thanks a lot Tommy! Bob was 14-4 with a 2.31 ERA. In 1986 he ran into bad luck with a 7-13 record with a very respectable 3.28 ERA. In 1987 he had almost an identical ERA, 3.22, won 15, lost 9, led the league in shutouts with 4, and struck out a career-high 199 batters.

After the 1987 season, the Dodgers decided to trade Welch as part of a 3-team blockbuster. Welch and Matt Young went to the A’s, Jack Savage went to the Mets, The Dodgers received Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell from the A’s, and Jesse Orosco from the Mets. Whitehurst and Tapani went to the Mets from the A’s. Welch would finish his 10-year tenure with the Dodgers with a 115-86 mark. The trade would help the Dodgers win the pennant and face the A’s in the series. Orosco would be an unintended catalyst with his prank on Kirk Gibson during spring training that set Gibson off and changed the entire clubhouse culture in LA.

Welch for his part joined with another ex-Dodger, Dave Stewart, and went 17-9. The A’s pummeled the opposition that season going 104-58. Stewart won 21 games and the Bash Brothers, Canseco and McGwire combined for 74 homers. Welch started game three and won 2-1. The A’s only victory in a series most thought they should have won.

Bob won 17 again in 1989 and was on the winning side this time earning his second ring with the A’s victory over the Giants in the Earthquake World Series. But Welch who was supposed to be the starting pitcher in the game that was stopped by the earthquake did not pitch in the series. Oakland swept the Giants in 4.

1990 would prove to be Welch’s best season. He won 27 games, lost 6, and cruised to the Cy Young award. But the mighty A’s would fall to the Reds in four games in the series. Welch was now 34 and he won 12 and lost 13 in 1991, the next season he went 11-7 but only pitched in 20 games. The first time he had been under 30 since 1985. Having a sore shoulder and knee were the main reasons. He won his 200th game on April 5th, 1993 against his hometown Tigers. But the end was coming soon. He finished the year 9-11. He came back as a free agent to give it one more try. His last win, # 211, came on July 5th against the Yankees. After the season he decided it was time to retire.

His career WAR of 43.4 is higher than that of HOF pitchers, Lefty Gomez and Jesse Haines, but despite that his HOF voting never gained any traction and after receiving only a handful of votes he dropped off of the list. He and Mary Ellen eventually divorced. They had 3 children, sons, Dylan and Riley, and daughter, Kelly.

After he retired, he managed an independent league team for a season, 2000, then was the Diamondbacks pitching coach during their Championship 2001 campaign. Despite the team’s success, he did not keep his job. He later was the pitching coach for the Netherlands 2006 World Baseball Classic team.

Away from baseball, Welch loved to fish on fast cold rivers in the Big Sky country, Idaho, Montana. He met writer Rachel Toor on one of his trips. The two began dating and Toor wrote about their relationship in an online article called “Learning to Pitch: Remembering a Summer with Bob Welch“. She asked about his World Series rings and he replied” My son has all that crap“. Asked about being traded from LA to Oakland, he simply said, ” after I was traded, I had a good season”. The truth was he did not care to talk about things he had done.

Bob Welch died in his condo in Seal Beach on June 9, 2014. Paramedics were called to the building for a medical emergency and found his body. After a nearly 3-month investigation, the Orange County Coroner’s office declared that Welch had died from a broken neck sustained in a fall at his home. Former A’s teammates, Dennis Eckersley and Mark McGwire commented on what a great teammate and person Welch was. My memories of Bob are those which include Mr. October screwing himself into the ground and striking out on a Welch heater.

Future Dodgers Down on the Farm by MT

• OKC won 7-6 Behind a 2-run Double by Miguel Vargas and a 2-Run HR by Mike Busch. Busch played 2B and Bargas played 3rd.
• Jake Lamb was also 1-2 with a run scored, walk, and RBI.
• Carson Fulmer got his 6th Save (1.86 ERA). The Dodgers could find a worse closer.
• Tulsa won 4-1 as Clayton Beeter went 4 innings, and allowed 3 hits and 0 runs. He walked 1 and struck out 6.
• Leonal Valera (SS) was 2-4 (.350).
• James Outman was 2-5.
• Jeren Kendall is batting .186! Is the party over?
• Great Lakes lost 3-0. Nothing to see here folks… keep moving!
• Rancho Cucamonga lost 13-8 as Luis Rodriguez was 2-4.
• Kenneth Betancourt was 3-4 with 4 RBI. To me, he is a possible utilityman.

The Loons play the Ft. Wayne Tin Caps at Parkview Field at 7:05. It’s an hour and a half drive from Indy to the Fort, so we are leaving at 2 PM so that we get there with plenty of time for interviews. This will be my first time back in the Press Box in 10 years. My son-in-law cameraman gets to sit in the photographer’s area on the field. He’s a rabid Red Sox fan, but hey, nobody’s perfect! This is the last interview he shot 10 years ago:

This is what he normally does in his job: