Word: welz
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Harvard's professional baseball players, senior Bob Welz and Dan Hootstein, last year's captain, both spent disappointing seasons in the minor leagues. Neither got over the 200 mark, making the big leagues look that much further away...
Harvard baseball fans who marvelled at the fluid play of first baseman Bob Welz last year will get their first chance this year to see the Crimson junior on the diamond, this weekend -- at Fenway Park. The lure of money and a professional career pulled Welz away from the Crimson pinstripes into the Detroit organization. And the same bait, in bigger doses, will probably mean that Cambridge sports fans have only two more weeks to watch pitching sensation Ray Peters plying his trade in the college circuit...
...Welz was drafted in the fifth round by the Tigers last year in the college draft, and received a package deal which was worth about $30,000. Three days after the Yale game he reported to the Daytona Beach Islanders in the Class A Florida State League, and was their regular first baseman the remainder of the summer. He played 78 games, in the ball parks which house big leaguers in the spring. His statistics include six homers, 25 rbi's, 42 walks and runs, 79 strikeouts, and a .247 batting average. Slumps at the start and the end hurt...
...Both Welz and Peters consider the end of sophomore year a perfect time to sign, and it is hard to gainsay their decisions. With most pro prospects starting their apprenticeship in the minors around age 18, the Harvard hopefuls would be way behind the game if they waited until their graduation at 22. By playing only in the summers, their progress toward a degree will not be interrupted, and they will get a good idea of their chances of making the majors Both Peters and Welz are interested in graduate work, and if they don't progress in two summers...
...Welz and Peters both faced the risk of losing their bonuses if they waited two more years. A starting defensive end his sophomore year. Welz hurt his shoulder playing football and might have re-injured it if he had played for two more seasons. And Peters, whose arm is considerably more precious and vulnerable in the cold New England weather, would always have to beware of the tendonitis that sidelined him freshman year. There is also a lot more for a pitcher to learn before he is ready for major league ball. Although the Red Sox have given Peters...