Curtis Benton Welch (February 10, 1862 – August 29, 1896) was a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

for the

Toledo Blue Stockings The Toledo Blue Stockings formed as a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio, in 1883. They won the Northwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark was League Park. The following year, they joined the major league American Assoc ...

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, and

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

Career

Welch started his professional baseball career in 1883 with Toledo of the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

and stayed with the club when it moved to the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

the following year. In 1885, he joined the St. Louis Browns (today's Cardinals). Welch scored the series-winning run in extra innings of game 6 of the

1886 World Series The 1886 World Series was won by the St. Louis Browns (NL), St. Louis Browns (later the Cardinals) of the American Association (19th century), American Association over the Chicago White Stockings (1870–89), Chicago White Stockings (later the Cu ...

in a close play at the plate famous among baseball fans of his generation as the "$15,000 slide."
Nineteenth Century Stars
' (2012). SABR, Inc. pp. 274–275. After three seasons with St. Louis, Welch went to Philadelphia and had a career-high .282

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 1888. He played for the Athletics until 1890 and then had short stints with the Orioles, Reds, and Colonels."Curt Welch Statistics and History"
Baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2016. His major league career ended in 1893, and he spent the next two seasons with the Eastern League's Syracuse Stars. Welch led the AA in

hit by pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

es in 1888, 1890, and 1891, and he ranked third in

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in 1886 and 1888. He was regarded as one of the best defensive center fielders of the 19th century. In the 2010 book ''

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract ''The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract'' is a reference book written by Bill James featuring an overview of professional baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. The original edition was publi ...

'',

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. ...

ranked Welch as the 83rd greatest center fielder of all-time. Welch sometimes kept a case of beer in the outfield behind a billboard, taking a drink between innings. Welch's career was damaged by his drinking, and he died in 1896.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Curt 1862 births 1896 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball center fielders Baseball players from Ohio Toledo Blue Stockings players St. Louis Browns (AA) players Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Baltimore Orioles players Cincinnati Reds players Louisville Colonels players Toledo Blue Stockings (minor league) players East Liverpool East End All Stars players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Carbondale Anthracites players People from East Liverpool, Ohio

Career

See also

References

External links