Gus Weyhing

August Weyhing
(Cannonball, Rubber Arm Gun, or Rubber-Winged Gus)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 145 lb.

• Debut May 2, 1887
• Final Game August 21, 1901
• Born September 29, 1866 in Louisville, KY USA
• Died September 4, 1955 in Louisville, KY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Rubber-winged Gus Weyhing won 264 games in the major leagues, pitching for 11 different teams. Only Mike Morgan, Octavio Dotel and Edwin Jackson have pitched for more teams, and all three had much longer careers than Gus in which to accomplish that feat. Gus won 30+ games four seasons in a row, from 1889-1892, and also led the league in saves in 1892.

There are six Hall of Fame pitchers on his list of the most similar players, although only Tony Mullane is the only one on that list who is a contemporary from the 1890s.

Gus almost never led the league in any pitching category, which is shown in his Black Ink score of only 3, while he was often in the top ten in pitching categories, which explains his Gray Ink score of 176.

Not only did he play for four leagues, but he played in the last year of the existence of the American Association, the first and last year of the existence of the Players League, and the first year of the major league existence of the American League. He also played for the Washington Senators in 1899, the last season that they played in the National League.

His brother John Weyhing also pitched in the major leagues in 1888 and 1889, but died in 1890 before he reached age 21. He had pitched extremely well in 1888, and only had one game in 1889.

Weyhing was used four times as a fill-in umpire during his playing career, once in the American Association in 1891, and the other three times in the National League. In 1910, Weyhing managed the Tulsa Oilers until May when he was released. He spent the remainder of the season umpiring in the Texas League.

Notable Achievements

• NL Saves Leader (1892)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 7 (1887-1893)
• 30 Wins Seasons: 4 (1889-1892)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 11 (1887-1895, 1898 & 1899)
• 300 Innings Pitched Seasons: 9 (1887-1893, 1898 & 1899)
• 400 Innings Pitched Seasons: 5 (1887-1889, 1891 & 1892)
• 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 4 (1888, 1889, 1891 & 1892)

Records Held

• Batters hit, pitcher, career, 278

Related Sites

• Gus Weyhing at the SABR Bio Project
• Baseball History Daily article on Gus Weyhing