Bobby Veach

From BR Bullpen

Robert Hayes Veach

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 5' 11", Weight 160 lb.

Debut August 6, 1912
Final Game October 2, 1925
Born June 29, 1888 in Island, KY USA
Died August 7, 1945 in Detroit, MI USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Bobby Veach was an excellent player who quite possibly would have been in the Hall of Fame had his career lasted longer. He had a career average of .310, and the Gray Ink method of Hall of Fame appraisal shows him with more points than the average Hall of Famer.

Veach spent most of his career with the Detroit Tigers at the time of Ty Cobb. Besides Cobb, he played in the Detroit outfield alongside Wahoo Sam Crawford, Harry Heilmann, and Heinie Manush, all Hall of Famers. Both the Cobb/Crawford/Veach outfield and the Cobb/Heilmann/Veach outfield have been said to be among the best of all time.

He was an above-average fielder, and while he did not often lead the league in hitting categories, he was in the top ten in batting average six times, in the top ten in slugging five times, and in the top ten in RBI ten times (leading the league three times). He tended to steal around 20 bases a year.

He finished out his career playing decently for the Boston Red Sox in 1924 and for three teams in 1925. His only post-season appearance was for the Senators in the 1925 World Series, when he had one at-bat. It was to be his last major league appearance.

The similarity scores method shows the most similar player to Veach as Dixie Walker, but perhaps a more valid comparison would be to his contemporary Sherry Magee.