Gus Weyhing

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August "Gus" Weyhing (September 29, 1866 – September 4, 1955) was a pitcher for nine professional teams in a career that spanned 14 years from 1887 to 1901. He was small for a pitcher, by today's standards, listed at 5'10" tall and between 120-145 pounds. Yet he enjoyed quite a bit of success, winning 25 games or more six years in a row, capped by a 32 win season in 1982 for the Philadelphia Phillies. He completed 46 of his 49 starts that year, hurled six shutouts, and logged 469 2/3 innings. He collected 216 wins in his first eight professional seasons.

Weyhing was a solid pitcher, though he never led the league in any specific categories. He did have a few career highlights however. In one memorable week in the 1888 season, Weyhing pitched three consecutive complete game victories against Brooklyn to eliminate that team from the pennant race. In addition, Weyhing came close to throwing a perfect game when he hurled a no-hitter on July 31, 1888, against the Kansas City Cowboys. He walked one batter and another reached base via an error. Both runners were erased by caught stealing, meaning Weyhing faced the minimum 27 batters. During his career he played for the following teams:

Philadelphia Athletics, American Association (1887-1891)

Philadelphia Phillies (1892-1895)

Pittsburgh Pirates (1895)

Louisville Colonels (1895-1896)

Washington Senators (1898-1899)

St. Louis Cardinals (1900)

Brooklyn Dodgers (1900)

Cleveland Indians (1901)

Cincinnati Reds (1901)

Data courtesy of Restrosheet.org and baseball-reference.com

One odd report, taken from the local Louisville, KY newspaper, tells the tale of Weyhing's possible involvement in a pigeon thief. The following report is from newspaper accounts in Louisville (Weyhing's hometown) in 1892:

Louisville, Jan. 26 — Gus Weyhing, pitcher of the Philadelphia Base Ball Club, was before the police court this morning upon an alleged charge of grand larceny. During the past two days a number of pigeons have been stolen from the coops at the National Pigeon Show, and last night, when Weyhing started out of the building with his basket, a pair of blondinettes, valued at $100, were found in his possession. He could not explain how he got the birds, and was therefore arrested. The case was continued and he was released on bail. Weyhing has a weakness for fine pigeons; in fact, is quite a pigeon fancier, and this fact makes the charge appear plausible. It does not, however, seem possible that a man in Weyhing's position, and with such an income as he enjoys, would be guilty of such a deed for a couple of birds. Weyhing has in the past been in trouble through indiscretion, but nothing more serious than conviviality, and consequent excesses, was ever charged against him. It is to be hoped, however, for his own sake, as well as for the sake of the Philadelphia Club and the good repute of the profession, that the charge against him is unfounded. If he should not be able to clear himself it would be a hard blow to the Philadelphia Club, which had counted on Weyhing as its star pitcher next season.

It appears that Weyhing was either cleared of the charges, or found guilty and took care of the matter before the 1892 season commenced. He was with the Phillies all of 1892, and won 32 games.

Weyhing was nicknamed "Cannonball", "Rubber Arm", and Rubber-Winged Gus"

Weyhing was a known to be a poor hitter and suspect fielder. He holds the dubious record of having hit the most batters in a career (277).

NY Times Obit, September 5, 1955

Louisville, Ky., Sept. 4 Agustus Weyhing, known as "Rubber-Winged Gus" during his major league career, died today, he was 88 years old.

Mr. Weyhing, who won 260 major league games and lost 205, boasted he had never had a sore arm during 15 years of pitching. He started his professional career with Charleston, S.C., of the Southern League in 1886 and finished with Cleveland of the American League in 1901.

He won twenty-five or more games six straight seasons with the Philadelphia club in the old American Association. One was a no-hit, no-run game against Kansas City, July 31, 1888 when just one man reached first base.