Robert Lynn Welch (November 3, 1956 – June 9, 2014) was an American professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1978–87) and Oakland Athletics (1988–94). Prior to his professional career, he attended Eastern Michigan University, where he played college baseball for the Eastern Michigan Hurons baseball team. He helped lead the Hurons, coached by Ron Oestrike, to the 1976 College World Series, losing to Arizona in the Championship Game. Welch was a two-time MLB All-Star, and he won the American League Cy Young Award as the league's best pitcher in 1990. He was a three-time World Series champion - twice as a player and once as a coach. He is the last pitcher to win at least 25 games in a single season (27 in 1990). Playing career 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 was third among major league pitchers during that decade, following Jack Morris and Dave Stieb. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 1990 while playing for the Oakland Athletics. He threw two complete games in 1990, both of them shutouts. He 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 Los Angeles in 1978, when as a 21-year-old rookie he struck out Reggie Jackson with two men on base and two out in the top of the ninth inning of Game 2 of the 1978 World Series against the New York Yankees. 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 4th inning and was retired on a double play. Welch won his first World Series in 1981 with the Los Angeles Dodgers after they defeated the New York Yankees in six games. In 1983, he threw a complete-game shutout and hit a solo home run for his team's only run. This wouldn't happen again until Noah Syndergaard did it in 2019. Oakland Athletics Welch was the third starting pitcher in the 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 American League