Perry Werden

Perry Werden
Perry Werden
	First baseman
	Born: July 21, 1865; St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
	Died: January 9, 1934 (aged 68); Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
	Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
	April 24, 1884, for the St. Louis Maroons
Last MLB appearance
	October 3, 1897, for the Louisville Colonels
MLB statistics
Batting average	.282
Hits	773
Runs batted in	439
Teams
	St. Louis Maroons (1884); Washington Nationals (1888); Toledo Maumees (1890); Baltimore Orioles (1891); St. Louis Browns (1892–1893); Louisville Colonels (1897);
Career highlights and awards
	Led NL in triples in 1893;

Percival Wheritt "Perry" Werden (July 21, 1865 – January 9, 1934) was an American baseball player. He was a first baseman for the St. Louis Maroons (1884), Washington Nationals (1888), Toledo Maumees (1890), Baltimore Orioles (1891), St. Louis Browns (1892–1893) and Louisville Colonels (1897).

Career

Werden played as a pitcher in 1884 where he had a 12–1 win–loss record (leading the Union Association in winning percentage at .923), 16 games, 16 games started, 12 complete games, 1 shutout, 141+1⁄3 innings pitched, 113 hits allowed, 61 runs allowed, 31 earned runs allowed, 1 home run allowed, 22 walks allowed, 51 strikeouts and a 1.97 ERA. During this season, he helped the Maroons win the first and only Union Association pennant.

An arm injury moved Werden to first base and in 7 seasons he played in 693 games, 2,740 at bats, 444 runs, 773 hits, 109 doubles, 87 triples, 26 home runs, 439 RBI, 150 stolen bases, 281 walks, .282 batting average, .359 on-base percentage, .414 slugging percentage, 1,134 total bases and 5 sacrifice hits.

Werden had a remarkable minor league career. For the Minneapolis Millers of the Western League in 1894, he hit .417 with 42 home runs. The next season, he improved in both categories, hitting .428 with 45 home runs. These were astounding home run totals for the time (helped by the short outfield fence distance at their home field): for example, Sam Thompson led the National League in home runs with 18 in 1895. No one would hit more than 29 until Babe Ruth hit 54 in 1920. Werden retired with a career .341 batting average with five home run titles in the minor leagues.

He died in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the age of 68, and was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

Sources

Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)

Career

See also

Sources