MLB: Players born on the Fourth of July

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Mickey Welch (July 4, 1859 – July 30, 1941)

Of the 50 players born on our nations birthday, Welch is the only one that had a career worthy of being enshrined in Cooperstown. He was selected by the Veterans Committee to the Hall in 1973.

Welch made his debut in the National League in 1880, just four years following its inception. He joined with the Troy Trojans of Troy, New York just one year after it was established as a team in the National League, He stayed with the team until 1882 when he was forced to leave because it was disbanded.

Following his former teams’ disbandment, Welch took his talents to southern New York State to the newly formed New York Gotham’s which would be renamed the Giants two years later. In his time with the Giants, Welch would pitch his way to a 238-146 record in 10 seasons. In those ten seasons, Welch started 412 games and completed an astounding 391 of them.

Welch is the epitome of an old school pitcher. He was a force to be reckoned with on the mound, which was five inches taller than the ten-inch-high mound we know today. By any standard, he was a workhorse of a man. With the Giants, he consistently pitched over 400 innings a season with a career high of 557.1 in 1884.

Welch’s production would fade as he aged. In his final three seasons, he ‘only’ pitched 300 innings, 160 innings and 5 innings in his final season.

His final season came in 1892 at the age of 32.

Next: Control was not his strength

George Mullin (July 4, 1880 – January 7, 1944)

Mullin made his debut in 1902 at the age of 21 with the Detroit Tigers. Like Welch, Mullin also made his career on the 15-inch-high pitcher’s mound.

Mullin spent his time in major league baseball with a luxury that Welch did not have, a pitching staff of 11 men. When Welch was in New York, the pitching responsibility fell on him and juts two other men for an 82 game season. Mullin had ten other men to pitch with for a season of around 100 games.

In several seasons, Mullin led the league in various categories. Many of these categories are ones that you traditionally do not want to lead in if you’re a pitcher. In 1905, he led the league by giving up 303 hits along with 138 walks. In 1907 he led the league again in hits with 346 and earned runs with 103

Perhaps the most peculiar statistic he led in was saves, with two in 1903. That’s right. He led the league in saves in the 1903 season with two. In addition, he also led the league with 106 walks that same season.

Following 11 seasons in Detroit, Mullin was traded to the Washington Senators. Following his trade, his career sharply declined. After finishing out the 1913 season with the Senators, he signed with the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the Federal League for the 1914 season.

In the season with the Hoosiers, Mullin pitched his way to a 14-10 record with a 2.70 ERA. Following his tenure in Indy, he remained in the Federal League and signed with the Newark Pepper. His season with the Pepper would be his last.

George Mullin retired at the age of 34 in 1915.

Next: A relatively decent player

Bill Tuttle (July 4, 1929 – July 27, 1998)

Bill Tuttle made his major league debut in 1952 at the age of 22 with the Detroit Tigers. His time with the Tigers in the ’52 season was short lived however. He only played in 7 games with just 25 plate appearances. Tuttle would spend the next season with the Tigers AAA affiliate in Buffalo.

When he was called up at the beginning of the 1954 season, he was in the league for good. In ’54, Tuttle played in 147 games and batted .266 with 58 RBI’s and 141 hits. The next season, he played all 154 games the team played that season. In his 154 games, Tuttle batted .279 and smacked 14 homeruns with 78 RBI’s.

Following five seasons in Detroit, Tuttle was traded to the Kansas City Athletics as part of a 13 player trade in November of 1957. His time with the Athletics was filled with moderate success. He continued to play almost every game for the team in the outfield and batted .258 in his time in Kansas City.

Following three and a half seasons with the Athletics, Tuttle was traded to the Minnesota Twins in June of 1961.

Tuttle would again enjoy moderate success in his first two seasons in Minnesota. In those seasons, he played 111 games on average and batted around .220 with six homeruns overall. After the 1963 season in which he only played in 16 games with just four plate appearances, Tuttle was cut from the Twins.

Bill Tuttle would not resign and he retired from professional baseball at the age of 33 in 1963.

Next: The Rockies slugger

Vinny Castilla (July 4, 1964 – )

Castilla made his major league debut at 23 with the Atlanta Braves in 1991. He was signed by the Braves in 1990 from a ball club in Mexico.

Castilla’s time with the Braves was limited. After just two seasons, he was taken as the 40^th pick by the Colorado Rockies in the 1992 expansion draft. He would remain with the Rockies for six seasons. In those six seasons, he racked up two all-star appearances, predominantly playing third base for the organization.

In 1998, his second all-star season, Castillo played in every game the Rockies played and hit 46 homeruns while batting .319. With this impressive offensive performance, Castillo was awarded a Silver Slugger award for his efforts.

Following his six seasons in the mile-high state, Castilla was traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in December of 1999.  Following just one full year in Tampa, he was released in May of 2001. Shortly after becoming a free agent, Castilla was signed by the Houston Astros.

In 122 games with the Astros, Castlla batted .270 with 82 RBI’s and 23 homeruns. His time in Houston was cut short once again. He was released following the season.

Over the next six seasons, he would play for the Braves, Rockies, Washington Nationals, and San Diego Padres.

Castilla finished out his 15-year major league career in 2006 with the Rockies.

Next: The consummate utility man

Jose Oquendo (July 4, 1963 – )

Jose Oquendo made his major league debut at the age of 19 with the New York Mets in 1983 after being signed as an amateur free agent in 1979 and making his way through their minor league system.

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In his two years in Queens, Oquendo batted .217 with just 27 RBI’s and 18 stolen bases in 201 games. After this dismal performance over two seasons, Oquendo was demoted and eventually traded in the 1985 season to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Oquendo spent the entire 1985 season in the minor league system of the Cardinals. After his time in AAA, Oquendo made the major league roster for the 1986 season. In the ’86 season, Oquendo played in just 76 games and batted .237 with 19 RBI’s.

Oquendo would spend the remainder of his career in St. Louis. In ten seasons, he batted .264 and drove in 227 runs. His peak came in the seasons between 1987 and 1991 in which he consistently played over 100 games with a career high of 163 in 1989.

Oquendo was the ultimate utility man. In his ten seasons with the Cardinals, he played all nine positions on the field. His primary uses were at second base, and in the various outfield posistions.

Next: Top fifty prospects in baseball (30-21)

After 12 seasons of service in Major League Baseball, Oquendo retired from playing baseball after the 1995 season.