Bob Welch (baseball)
A fierce competitor who battled addiction to become a World Series ace, winning over 200 games with a devastating forkball.
1956–2014 (age 58)·American baseball player·Birthday: November 3·Baby Boomers
Biography
Bob Welch arrived in the majors with a blaze of notoriety, striking out Reggie Jackson in a legendary World Series confrontation as a 21-year-old rookie in 1978. That moment of pure nerve defined his early career with the Dodgers, but it was a very public struggle with alcoholism, detailed in his memoir 'Five O'Clock Comes Early,' that revealed his deeper fight. After seeking treatment, he rebuilt himself, evolving from a hard thrower into a crafty master of the forkball. His second act with the Oakland Athletics was his peak: he became the stopper for the brash 'Bash Brothers' teams, leading the league in wins twice and capturing the Cy Young Award in 1990 with a 27-6 record. Welch's career was a story of public triumph, private struggle, and ultimate redemption, told through 211 major league victories.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Bob was born in 1956, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Bob Was Born
The biggest hits of 1956
#1 Movie
The Ten Commandments
Best Picture
Around the World in 80 Days
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Bob's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1956Born
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1961Started school
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1969Became a teenager
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1972Could drive
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1974Could vote
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1977Turned 21
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1986Turned 30
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 40
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 50
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2014Died at 58
Russia annexes Crimea; Ebola outbreak in West Africa
Gas: $3.37/galHome: $160,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Happy" — Pharrell WilliamsBest Picture: Birdman
Key Achievements
- Won the American League Cy Young Award in 1990 after posting a 27-6 record for the Oakland Athletics.
- Finished his career with 211 wins and 1,969 strikeouts over 17 major league seasons.
- Won two World Series championships, one with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981) and one with the Oakland Athletics (1989).
- Led the American League in wins twice (1990 with 27 and 1987 with 17, tied).
Did You Know?
His dramatic strikeout of Reggie Jackson with the bases loaded in Game 2 of the 1978 World Series is an iconic baseball moment.
He co-wrote a bestselling book about his recovery from alcoholism titled 'Five O'Clock Comes Early: A Ballplayer's Battle with Alcoholism.'
He pitched a no-hitter for the Dodgers against the Atlanta Braves on June 17, 1983.
He was a college baseball star at Eastern Michigan University, leading them to the 1976 College World Series finals.
“I learned that to win the game, you first have to win the fight with yourself.”
