Winfield Welch facts for kids
Winfield Scott Welch (born September 9, 1899 – died March 2, 1980), also known as "Gus" and "Moe", was an American baseball player and manager. He played as an outfielder in the Negro leagues. Welch is most famous for being a very successful manager, with some people calling him "the Connie Mack of Negro baseball."
Quick facts for kids Winfield Welch |
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| Outfielder/Manager | |||
| Born: September 9, 1899 Napoleonville, Louisiana |
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| Died: March 2, 1980 (aged 80) Pineville, Louisiana |
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| debut | |||
| 1920, for the New Orleans Ads | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| 1941, for the Birmingham Black Barons | |||
| Negro Leagues statistics | |||
| Managerial Record | 227-214 | ||
| Winning % | .514 | ||
| Teams | |||
As player (incomplete)
As manager
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Contents
Early Life and Baseball Start
Winfield Scott Welch was born on September 9, 1899, in Napoleonville, Louisiana. He was named after a famous American general. Later, in the 1910s, Welch moved to New Orleans. There, he worked as a Pullman Porter, which was a job on passenger trains.
While working, he also started playing baseball for local teams. These teams included the New Orleans Caufield Ads, the New Orleans Black Pelicans, and the Algiers Giants. In 1930, he became the team captain and a player-manager for the Black Pelicans. This meant he played on the team and also helped lead it.
A Successful Manager
Welch got his first official managing job with the New Orleans Black Pelicans in 1930. This team was part of a smaller league called the Texas-Louisiana Negro League. He then managed other teams like the Alexandria Lincoln Giants and the Algiers Giants.
While managing the Algiers Giants in 1933, his team did something amazing. They beat the Negro National League's Detroit Stars in four games in a row. This big win helped him get noticed by bigger teams in the Negro leagues.
Leading the Birmingham Black Barons
Welch moved to Shreveport, where he managed the Acme Giants. A young player named Buck O'Neil played for him there. Buck O'Neil later became a famous manager himself.
In 1941, Welch became the manager for the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro American League. He led this team from 1941 to 1945. Under his leadership, the Black Barons won their league's championship, called a pennant, two years in a row, in 1943 and 1944.
After leaving Birmingham, he managed the Cincinnati Crescents from 1946 to 1947. This was an independent team that traveled around playing games. In 1947, his team finished second in a big tournament called the Denver Post Tournament. He also managed the New York Cubans in 1948 and the Chicago American Giants in 1949. He even bought the Chicago American Giants team in 1951.
Welch was chosen seven times to manage in the important East–West All-Star Game, which was a game between the best players from the East and West teams in the Negro leagues. He won four of those games.
Scouting for Major League Baseball
In 1951, Bill Veeck, who owned the St. Louis Browns baseball team, hired Welch as a scout. A scout's job is to find talented new players.
Later, in 1958, the Philadelphia Phillies hired Welch as a full-time scout. By 1961, he was in charge of scouting for the entire Southern United States. Welch helped many players from the Negro leagues get a chance to play in Major League Baseball. Some of these players included Dan Bankhead, Joe Durham, Luke Easter, Larry Raines, and Artie Wilson.
Involvement with Basketball
Besides baseball, Winfield Welch also worked with the famous Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. He was a road manager and coach for them for several years. He even encouraged some of his baseball players to play for the Globetrotters too.
Later Life
Winfield Welch passed away in Pineville, Louisiana, in 1980. He was 80 years old.
