Tom Wegmann

Thomas Joseph Wegmann

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
• School Muscatine Community College, Middle Tennessee State University

• Born August 29, 1968 in Dyersville, IA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Tom Wegmann had a minor league career that lasted from 1990 to 1997 in spite of being undrafted. He reached AAA but not the majors.

He was born in Dyersville, IA long before that small town became famous as the site of the movie Field of Dreams and spent his first four seasons in the New York Mets organization, starting with the GCL Mets and Kingsport Mets, two Rookie-class teams, in 1990. On July 31st, he pitched a seven-inning no-hitter in a 7-0 win over the Pulaski Braves. He was 5-4, 2.61 in 16 games that first year and followed with another very solid season in 1991 when he was 9-3, 1.65 in 20 games between the Columbia Mets of the South Atlantic League and the St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League. In 109 innings, he gave up just 67 hits and struck out 138 opponents - numbers that are normally associated with top prospects. He continued his progression in 1992 when he made it to AAA for the first time, starting the season in the AA Eastern League with the Binghamton Mets and then earning a promotion to the Tidewater Tides of the International League after going 9-2, 2.58 in 27 games for Binghamton. Altogether, he finished at 11-5, 3.08 in 34 games, including 17 starts.

In 1993, the Mets moved him to the bullpen and he made 44 appearances with the Norfolk Tides, the new name of the Tidewater team, going 5-2, 3.23 with 2 saves. His peripheral numbers continued to be good, with 68 hits allowed in 86 1/3 innings and 99 strikeouts. A decade or two later, such a performance would have surely led to at least a few appearances in the Show, but this was before there was a constant movement of pitchers between the major leagues and AAA. However, the fact that he was considered solid major league material was confirmed on March 27, 1994, when he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles along with infielder Kevin Baez in return for 1B David Segui. He followed the trade with a decent season in AAA with the Rochester Red Wings, going 5-1, 3.69 with 10 saves in 54 relief outings. He is likely one of the players for whom the 1994 strike cost a shot at the big leagues, as he would have been primed for a September call-up had the strike not wiped out the final six weeks of the major league season. In 1995, the Orioles decided to move him back to the starting rotation, and 16 of his 23 appearances that year were in the role. He pitched both for Rochester and the AA Bowie BaySox, although it's not clear why he would have needed to play at the lower level as he did well at both stops, finishing at 5-5, 3.92. He then was bothered by injuries in 1996, and his 7 appearances that year were all in the low minors, presumably on rehabilitation assignments, between GCL Orioles and the Class A Frederick Keys. He was released after that season and played one final years in the independent leagues, with the Elmira Pioneers of the Northeast League. He did well once again, finishing at 9-6, 3.09 in 16 starts, but retired after that.