Gus Weyhing

Gus Weyhing
Pitcher
Born: (1866-12-29)December 29, 1866 Louisville, Kentucky
Died: September 4, 1955(1955-09-04) (aged 88) Louisville, Kentucky
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 2, 1887, for the Philadelphia Athletics
Last MLB appearance
August 21, 1901, for the Cincinnati Reds
MLB statistics
Win–loss record	264–232
Earned run average	3.89
Strikeouts	1,665
Teams
Philadelphia Athletics (1887–1889) Brooklyn Ward's Wonders (1890) Philadelphia Athletics (1891) Philadelphia Phillies (1892–1895) Pittsburgh Pirates (1895) Louisville Colonels (1895–1896) Washington Senators (1898–1899) St. Louis Cardinals (1900) Brooklyn Superbas (1900) Cleveland Blues (1901) Cincinnati Reds (1901)
Career highlights and awards
12th most complete games in Major League history (448) 4 200+ strikeout seasons 7 20-win seasons

August "Gus" Weyhing (September 29, 1866 – September 4, 1955) was a pitcher for nine professional baseball 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 feet 10 inches tall and between 120 and 145 pounds. He enjoyed quite a bit of success, winning 25 games or more for six years in a row, capped by a 32 win season in 1892 for the Philadelphia Phillies. He completed 46 of his 49 starts that year, hurled six shutouts, and logged 469 ²⁄₃ innings pitched. He collected 216 wins in his first eight professional seasons. Weyhing was nicknamed "Cannonball", "Rubber Arm", and "Rubber-Winged Gus". Weyhing was known to be a poor hitter and suspect fielder. He holds the dubious honor of having hit the most batters in a career (277).

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. He set the record for most hit baseman 278.

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

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