Roy Horace Welmaker (December 6, 1913 – February 3, 1998), nicknamed "Snookie", was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in the

Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. He played from 1932 to 1953. A native of

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Welmaker served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Welmaker was the opening pitcher for the

1942 Negro World Series The Negro World Series was a best-of-seven match-up between the Negro American League champion Kansas City Monarchs and the Negro National League champion Washington-Homestead Grays. In a six-game series, the Monarchs swept the Grays four game ...

. He lost his first start to Jack Matchett of the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

, as a late inning rally meant a 8-0 loss. He would return to start Game 1 and Game 5 of the

1944 Negro World Series In the 1944 Negro World Series, the Washington Homestead Grays, champions of the Negro National League were matched against the Birmingham Black Barons, champions of the Negro American League, for the second year in a row. The Grays won the seri ...

, winning both times against the

Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham Black Barons were a Negro league baseball team that played from 1920 until 1960. They shared their home field of Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, with the white Birmingham Barons, usually drawing larger crowds and equal pres ...

and pitchers

Johnny Markham John Matthew Markham (October 1, 1908 – March 10, 1975) was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played from 1930 to 1946 with several teams, including the Kansas City Monarchs and the Birmingham Black Barons The Birmingham B ...

and Alfred Saylor. In the 1945 Negro World Series, he was the starting pitcher for Game 1 against

Bill Jefferson William Jennings Jefferson (born March 14, 1947) is an American former politician from Louisiana whose career ended after his corruption scandal and conviction. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 ...

, but he allowed the go-ahead run to score in the eighth while allowing just six hits and two runs. He returned to start Game 3 against

Jeff Jefferson George Leo "Jeff" Jefferson (August 8, 1922 – September 21, 1985) was an American baseball pitcher in the Negro leagues. He played with the Jacksonville Red Caps in 1942 and 1943 and the Cleveland Buckeyes from 1944 to 1950. His brother, Bill Je ...

, but Welmaker allowed four runs to score on seven hits as Cleveland won the third game of what proved to be a sweep of the defending champions. Overall, Welmaker had a 2–3 record in the Series over five games in three years. In 1946 while playing for

Sabios de Vargas The Sabios de Vargas baseball club became a founding member of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in its inaugural season of 1946. The team represented the city of La Guaira, Vargas and played its home games at the now-extinct Estadio Cer ...

, he pitched in 25 of the 30 games of the

LVBP The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

inaugural season, including 25 starts, and posted a 12-8 record with 139 strikeouts and a 2.68 earned run average (ERA) in 181⅔ innings of work. Welmaker led the league in victories, strikeouts and ERA to easily win the Triple crown.1946 Sabios de Vargas
/ref> He died in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in ...

in 1998 at age 84.

References

External links

an
SeamheadsVenezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welmaker, Roy 1913 births 1998 deaths African-American baseball players Algodoneros de Torreón players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Atlanta Black Crackers players Baseball players from Atlanta Hollywood Stars players Homestead Grays players Leones de Ponce players Mexican League baseball pitchers Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Patriotas de Venezuela players Philadelphia Stars players Portland Beavers players Sabios de Vargas players San Diego Padres (minor league) players Wilkes-Barre Indians players United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century African-American sportspeople