A Dozen Things You Should Know About Bobby Veach

Bobby Veach

1. Robert Hayes Veach was born in Kentucky in 1888, the son of a coal miner.

2. Veach worked as a miner beginning at age 14 and continued working off season in the coal mines of Kentucky until he made the Major Leagues.

3. In 1910 he was signed by the minor league team in Peoria, Illinois. In 1912 he was purchased by the Detroit Tigers and joined the Major Leagues.

4. By 1915 he was hitting fourth on the Tigers behind Ty Cobb. He tied teammate Sam Crawford for the American League lead in RBIs and also won the doubles title.

5. Over his career he led the AL in hits twice, triples once, doubles twice, and RBIs three times. His highest hit total was 207 and his highest RBI total was 128. Neither was in the top three in the AL.

6. In September 1920 he had six hits, including hitting for the cycle.

7. In 1921 Cobb became manager of Detroit. He thought Veach was frivolous and tried to get rid of him on several occasions.

8. In 1924 he was traded to the Red Sox, then to the Yankees in 1925. Toward the end of 1925 he was traded again, this time to Washington. They won the pennant and Veach had his only postseason experience. He got into two games and had one RBI without a hit.

9. He was through after 1925 and played the next several years in the minor leagues, winning a batting title with Toledo in 1928.

10. He retired after the 1930 season and in 1933 bought an interest in a coal company. By 1935 he was owner of the company. It was reasonably successful and he lived comfortably.

11. He died in 1945 and is buried in a Mausoleum in Troy, Michigan.

12. For his career he hit .310, had 206 hits, and 47.8 WAR. Between 1915 and 1922 he had more RBIs and extra base hits than any other Major Leaguer.

Veach’s grave from Find a Grave

 

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