Fifty-seven year old Bob Welch, the last pitcher to win as many as 27 games in a season, has died, the Oakland Athletics announced earlier today. No cause of death was given.
“This is a sad day for the entire A’s organization,” said Billy Beane, the A’s vice president and general manager, and a teammate of Welch’s on the A’s 1989 World Series winning team. “Those of us who knew Bob as a teammate and a friend will miss him greatly. My condolences go out to his family.”
Welch posted a 211–146 record in 17 major league seasons, winning World Series titles with the A’s and Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981. He came to the A’s in a trade before the 1988 season, and two years later had a career year.
In 1990, Welch was the American League Cy Young Award winner after going 27–6 with a 2.95 earned-run average for an A’s team that won 103 games, but got swept by the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series, ending a run of three consecutive pennants.
Dodger fans of a certain age will always remember Welch for this World Series moment:
More here.