Mickey Welch scouting report?

[Sockeye]

A bit of a strange request here. Does anyone know what the scouting report was for Mickey Welch (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=welchmi01)? Perhaps scouting report is the wrong word. Not even sure if they had such a thing in the 1880's. Basically I'm looking to find out what kind of pitches he threw (fastball, curve, changeup, etc) and what his best pitch was (did he have a blazing fastball?, wicked curve?, etc) Anyone know where I can find this information at? I'm also in need of it for other 300 game winners pre 1970

[Brian McKenna]

1) variety of curves
2) change
3) fastball

per his words - i had a pretty good fastball but i depended mostly on change of pace and an assortment of curve balls

[csh19792001]

1) variety of curves
2) change
3) fastball

per his words - i had a pretty good fastball but i depended mostly on change of pace and an assortment of curve balls

From BaseballLibrary:

The major leagues' third 300-game winner, 5'8" Mickey Welch (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=welchmi01) learned the fundamentals of baseball on the post-Civil War Brooklyn sandlots. Though he did not throw with great velocity, he had an effective curveball, a change of pace, and a version of the screwball. During his 13 major league seasons, he posted 20 or more wins nine times - seven in succession.

Here's some more sources for you also, Sockeye.

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/sabr/tbi/W/Welch_Mickey.tbi.stm

Hope this helps. :)

[Sockeye]

Excellent! Would you happen to know about Charley Radbourn, Tim Keefe, John Clarkson, Pud Galvin & Kid Nichols?

[csh19792001]

Excellent! Would you happen to know about Charley Radbourn, Tim Keefe, John Clarkson, Pud Galvin & Kid Nichols?

I'd highly recommend SABR's Baseball's First Stars, which is a series that has nice vignettes/short bios of old stars like these guys.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0910137587/qid=1143516811/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8882192-1488720?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Check baseballlibrary.com for cross references, citations, and original sources. You can then access them through your local library

You could go for a compendium book like Leecemark suggested earlier.



Most of all, I'd recommend joining SABR. They give you access to a universe of historical information...

The SABR Encyclopedia
The Baseball Index
The SABR Lending Library
The SABR-L Archives
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Heritage Quest Genealogical Resources
Archives USA
Amatuer Athletic Association of LA Digitized Sports Periodicals
SABR Research Committees
SABR Chapter Resources
Triple Plays Database

Basically everything under the sun if you're just looking to learn what a guy threw or you want to start writing a biography.

There's a 19th century egroup at Yahoo for SABR members run by Paul Wendt, who chairs the SABR 19th century baseball committe. There's also a section at SABR Hot Stove forums dedicated specifically to addressing research questions such as yours.

Unfortunately I'm not nearly as informed as some of our members here, and many of the members over at SABR. Regardless, I hope this points you in the right direction!

-Chris

[Buzzaldrin]

Excellent! Would you happen to know about Charley Radbourn, Tim Keefe, John Clarkson, Pud Galvin & Kid Nichols?

If you want some pretty good short bios, hickok sports put together some okay ones on line before they ran out of steam.

http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/indbaseb.shtml#ctop

They give a good rough overview of the man.

[Brian McKenna]

the neyer/james guide to pitchers and baseball's first stars don't make a reference to a screwball for welch (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=welchmi01)

[csh19792001]

the neyer/james guide to pitchers and baseball's first stars don't make a reference to a screwball for welch

That's why I'm not the biggest fan of using internet sources and cutting/pasting without doing the background research and forethought, but I didn't have any of my books in front of me, and wouldn't have the time to reprint entire passages/bios from books regardless.

[Brian McKenna]

That's why I'm not the biggest fan of using internet sources and cutting/pasting without doing the background research and forethought, but I didn't have any of my books in front of me, and wouldn't have the time to reprint entire passages/bios from books regardless.

oh - i'm not saying you're wrong - baseballlibrary is rooted in the ballplayers by shatzkin and it is quoted there - he could have experimented with it - especially a guy that relied on the curve ball rather than the fastball - natural progression - sweeney threw one in the 1880s - i would be interested in what a "version of the screwball" actually means - could be part of "assortment of curves"

[csh19792001]

i would be interested in what a "version of the screwball" actually means - could be part of "assortment of curves"

I'd be inclined to agree- the vernacular of sportwriters was so variegated back then (i.e. shoot, drop, etc) that I wouldn't be surprised if they were one and the same. It seemed like there was no standardized language (at least amongst the sportswriters) to identify pitches prior to the turn of the century.

[Brian McKenna]

you're right and i'm not sure that the screwball was recognized as a screwball in the 1880s - perhaps baseball men just looked back on it after mathewson (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=mathech01) - maybe in the 1890s