In a 17-year career, Welch compiled a 211–146 record with 1,969
strikeouts and a 3.47
ERA in 3,092
innings. His 137 wins during the 1980s ranked third among major league pitchers during that decade, following
Jack Morris and
Dave Stieb. Welch won the
American League (AL) Cy Young Award in 1990 while pitching for the Oakland Athletics. He threw two complete games in 1990, both of them shutouts. Welch finished in the top 10 voting for the
National League Cy Young Award twice (1983 and 1987).
Los Angeles Dodgers Welch gained national fame with the Dodgers during their
1978 season, when as a 21-year-old rookie, he struck out
Reggie Jackson of the
New York Yankees with two men on base and two out in the top of the ninth inning of Game 2 of the
World Series. On May 29, 1980, Welch pitched a 3–0 one-hitter against the
Atlanta Braves, facing the minimum 27 batters. The only Atlanta base runner was
Larvell Blanks, who
singled in the fourth inning and was retired on a
double play. Welch won the
1981 World Series, his first, as the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in six games. In 1983, Welch became the sixth pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout and hit a solo home run for his team's only run. This was next accomplished by
Noah Syndergaard in 2019.
Oakland Athletics Welch was the third pitcher in the
starting rotation for the
1989 World Series champion
Oakland A's, compiling a regular-season record of 17–8 and recording a win in his only start in the
AL Championship Series against the
Toronto Blue Jays. In an odd twist of fate, however, Welch did not throw a single pitch against the
San Francisco Giants during the World Series itself. Minutes before Welch was to take the mound in Game 3,
Candlestick Park and the Bay Area were struck by the
Loma Prieta earthquake, which caused extensive damage in the region and forced the postponement of the game. When the Series was resumed 11 days later, A's manager
Tony La Russa opted to re-use his Game 1 starter,
Dave Stewart, for Game 3 in place of Welch, and his Game 2 starter,
Mike Moore, for Game 4 in place of originally scheduled starter
Storm Davis. The strategy worked, as the A's swept the Series in four games, giving Welch his second World Series title. A two-time
All-Star (
1980 and
1990), Welch won at least 14 games in eight seasons, with a career-high 27 in
1990. He won the
Cy Young Award that season and finished ninth in
AL MVP voting. His 27 wins were the most by any pitcher since
Steve Carlton also won 27 in , and, , stands as the last time a pitcher has won 25 or more games in a season (the closest anyone has come to that mark since is 24, accomplished by
John Smoltz in 1996,
Randy Johnson in 2002, and
Justin Verlander in 2011). The last pitcher to win more games in a season was
Denny McLain, with 31 wins in . Nineteen of Welch's wins were saved by
Dennis Eckersley, which remains a record. Welch was the starting pitcher of Game 2 of the
1990 World Series against the
Cincinnati Reds. His personal catcher throughout much of his Oakland Athletics career was
Ron Hassey, as opposed to
Terry Steinbach, who caught the majority of the Oakland pitching staff. Welch retired after the 1994 season. == Coaching career ==