Todd Allen Wellemeyer (born August 30, 1978) is a former right-handed

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 ...

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), ...

. He played in the Major Leagues across eight years, for five teams, working as both a starting and relief pitcher.

Professional career

Chicago Cubs (2003-2005)

While attending

Bellarmine University Bellarmine University (BU; ) is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louisville and named after Saint Rober ...

, he was drafted by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and remains the only Chicago Cub to earn a save in his major league debut, earning it by

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

three batters in order against

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

after 17 innings of play. Wellemeyer also picked up the win in the longest scoreless game ever played in

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

history. He struck out 4 in only 2 innings in a 1-0 marathon 16-inning game.

Sammy Sosa Samuel Peralta Sosa (born November 12, 1968) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs. After playing for the Texas Rangers and C ...

hit a game-winning

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center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the Baseball positions, baseball and softball fielding position between Left fielder, left field and Right fielder, right field. In the numberi ...

causing

Preston Wilson Preston James Richard Wilson (born July 19, 1974) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played all or parts of ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 to 2007 for the New York Mets, Florida Marlins, Colorado R ...

to crash into the wall and lose the ball to win the game in the 16th inning.

Florida Marlins (2006)

Wellemeyer was traded in the offseason and appeared in 18 games before being traded to the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Kansas City Royals (2006-2007)

Wellemeyer appeared in 28 games and had a 3.63 ERA for the Royals. In 2007, through 10 games Wellemeyer had a 10.34 ERA and was traded to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

St. Louis Cardinals (2007-2009)

After being traded by the Royals, Wellemeyer had a 3-2 record with a 3.11 ERA in 20 games (11 starts). His best season came in 2008 with the

, when he went 13-9 with a team best (among qualified starters) 3.71 ERA. During the 2008 season he also won

Pitcher of the Month In Major League Baseball (MLB), the Pitcher of the Month Award is given monthly during the regular season to two outstanding pitchers, one each in the National League (NL) and American League (AL). The NL began awarding the honor in , and the A ...

honors for May, when he went 4-0 with a 2.19 ERA. He finished 2008 ranked 18th in the NL in Wins, and 16th in the NL in ERA (3.71). In 2009, Wellemeyer had his worst full season in the Majors, posting an ERA over 5.50 and had a 7-10 record. Wellemeyer was born on the same day as fellow pitcher

Cliff Lee Clifton Phifer Lee (born August 30, 1978) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher who played for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2002 and 2014 he played for four teams, most notably the Philadelphia Philli ...

. He also shares a birthday with former

teammate

Adam Wainwright Adam Parrish Wainwright (born August 30, 1981), nicknamed "Waino" and "Uncle Charlie", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Atlanta Braves selected him 29th overall in the ...

San Francisco Giants (2010)

On February 10, 2010, Wellemeyer signed a minor league contract with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

, subsequently signing a major league contract for 2010 as the fifth starter. Until his injury on June 10, 2010, Wellemeyer had nine starts posting a 3-5 record with an ERA of 5.52. The injury opened the door for Madison Bumgarner. Wellemeyer pitched his final game with the Giants on August 8 against the Braves.

Chicago Cubs II

On January 25, 2011, Wellemeyer signed a non-guaranteed one-year contract to return to the

. Wellemeyer retired on May 7, 2011.

Post Retirement

Since retirement Wellemeyer has opened a number restaurants including the El Taco Luchador chain of taco restaurants. Taco Luchador is a privately held company.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Wellemeyer, Todd 1978 births Living people Bellarmine Knights baseball players Chicago Cubs players Florida Marlins players Kansas City Royals players San Francisco Giants players St. Louis Cardinals players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky Eugene Emeralds players Lansing Lugnuts players Daytona Cubs players West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx players Iowa Cubs players Springfield Cardinals players Eastern High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni