John Ludwig Welaj (May 27, 1914 – September 13, 2003) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and executive. He played in

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), ...

(MLB) for four seasons between and for the Washington Senators and

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 ...

. Welaj (pronounced ''WELL-eye'') was a native of

Barr Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania Barr Township is a township in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the township population was 2,057. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The Colver Historic District ...

, who threw and batted right-handed and was listed as tall and .

Playing career

In 200

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

for Washington (1939–) and 93 for Philadelphia (1943), Welaj collected 198

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, with 40 doubles, three

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, four

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 74

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. He batted .250 lifetime in 793

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

. Welaj also had an extensive minor league career, spanning 21 seasons from 1936 to 1956. In 1955, he served as manager of the Hagerstown Packets in the Senators' organization. He was a player-manager of the

Erie Senators Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 at ...

in 1956, then returned to full-time managing with the Midland/Lamesa Indians in 1957.

Executive career

After 1957, Welaj served in the front offices of both of Washington's 20th century American League franchises. He worked in sales and promotions for the 1901–1960 Senators, until they left the U.S. capital to become the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. Welaj then performed similar duties for the expansion Senators of 1961–1971. But when that franchise gave up the ghost in Washington and relocated to Dallas–Fort Worth as the Texas Rangers in , Welaj went with them. From 1973 until 1984, he served as the Rangers' director of stadium operations, after which he retired as a full-time employee at age 70. However, he continued to serve as the Rangers' spring training director until 1999.Johnny Welaj at Historic Baseball
/ref> Welaj died in 2003 at the age of 89 in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welaj, Johnny 1914 births 2003 deaths Albany Senators players American expatriate baseball players in Cuba American people of Polish descent Baseball players from Cambria County, Pennsylvania Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Erie Senators players Havana Sugar Kings players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball managers Montreal Royals players Philadelphia Athletics players Springfield Nationals players Syracuse Chiefs players Texas Rangers executives Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Trenton Senators players Washington Senators (1901–1960) executives Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Washington Senators (1961–1971) executives York White Roses players