Sports
Bob Welch
1956–2014 · baseball pitcher
Detroit-born, Hazel Park-raised pitcher who won the 1990 Cy Young Award with 27 wins and wrote a frank memoir about his recovery from alcoholism.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Seal Beach, California
aged 57- Birth name
- Robert Lynn Welch
- Detroit years
- 1956–1977
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Bob Welch was born in Detroit and grew up with his older brother in Hazel Park, a small suburb just north of the city. He pitched for Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, leading the Hurons to the 1976 College World Series final, and played for the U.S. national collegiate team. The Los Angeles Dodgers drafted him, and as a 21-year-old rookie in 1978 he became a national name by striking out Reggie Jackson to end Game 2 of the World Series. Privately he was struggling with alcoholism that he said began at sixteen; after treatment he co-wrote Five O'Clock Comes Early (1981) with New York Times columnist George Vecsey, a book later credited as an inspiration by other athletes in recovery. With the Oakland Athletics he won the 1990 American League Cy Young Award with 27 victories, the most in a season since 1972, and he pitched on the 1989 world champions.
Highlights
- Grew up in Hazel Park; pitched for Eastern Michigan in the 1976 College World Series
- Struck out Reggie Jackson to end Game 2 of the 1978 World Series
- 1990 American League Cy Young Award with 27 wins
- World Series champion with Oakland, 1989
- Co-author of the recovery memoir Five O'Clock Comes Early (1981)