# Dickey Kerr

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{{short description|American baseball player (1893–1963)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Dickey Kerr
|position=[Pitcher](/source/Pitcher)
|image=Dickey Kerr.jpg
|bats=Left
|throws=Left
|birth_date={{Birth date|1893|7|3}}
|birth_place=[St. Louis](/source/St._Louis), Missouri, U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1963|5|4|1893|7|3}}
|death_place=[Houston](/source/Houston), Texas, U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 25 
|debutyear=1919
|debutteam=Chicago White Sox
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=October 24
|finalyear=1925
|finalteam=Chicago White Sox
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[Win–loss record](/source/Win%E2%80%93loss_record_(pitching))
|stat1value=53–34
|stat2label=[Earned run average](/source/Earned_run_average)
|stat2value=3.84
|stat3label=[Strikeout](/source/Strikeout)s
|stat3value=235
|teams=
* [Chicago White Sox](/source/Chicago_White_Sox) ({{mlby|1919}}–{{mlby|1921}}, {{mlby|1925}})
}}

'''Richard Henry Kerr''' (July 3, 1893 – May 4, 1963) was an American professional [baseball](/source/baseball) [pitcher](/source/pitcher) for the [Chicago White Sox](/source/Chicago_White_Sox) of [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball). He also served as a [coach](/source/coach_(baseball)) and [manager](/source/manager_(baseball)) in the [minor leagues](/source/Minor_League_Baseball).

==Early life==
Kerr was born in St. Louis, Missouri, one of Richard J. and Anna (née Tieman) Kerr's nine children.<ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/e144a288|title=Society for American Baseball Research|website=sabr.org|access-date=July 16, 2018}}</ref> Kerr's father worked as a firefighter on rafts along the Mississippi.<ref name="auto4"/> Prior to playing baseball, Kerr competed in amateur boxing.<ref name="auto4"/>

Kerr married Cora (nicknamed "Pep"<ref name="auto4"/>) Downing at age 21, on July 7, 1914.<ref name="auto4"/> The couple remained married until Kerr's death in 1963.<ref name="auto4"/>

Kerr started playing baseball at 14 alongside amateur adult baseball players.<ref name="auto4"/> In 1909, Kerr and one of his brothers joined the [Paragould](/source/Paragould%2C_Arkansas) Scouts in the [Northeast Arkansas League](/source/Northeast_Arkansas_League).<ref name="auto4"/> He played for lower-level teams from 16 to 22, including the [Cairo Egyptians](/source/Cairo_Egyptians) and the Cleburne Railroaders.<ref name="auto4"/> In 1917, he joined the [Milwaukee Brewers](/source/Milwaukee_Brewers_(American_Association)) of the [American Association](/source/American_Association_(20th_century)), then one of the top minor leagues, for whom he pitched 448 innings in two seasons.<ref name="auto4"/>

==Professional baseball==
[Buck Weaver](/source/Buck_Weaver) and [Clarence "Pants" Rowland](/source/Clarence_%22Pants%22_Rowland) recommended Kerr for the major leagues and the [Chicago White Sox](/source/Chicago_White_Sox) team.<ref name="auto4"/> This happened during the "work or fight order" of [World War I](/source/World_War_I).<ref name="auto4"/> At the time Dickey was about 5’7 and weighed 155 pounds.<ref name="auto4"/> Kerr was living in the [Fairbanks](/source/Fairbanks%2C_Wisconsin) and [Morse](/source/Morse%2C_Wisconsin) areas of Wisconsin, and working in a factory.<ref name="auto4"/> Weaver was a mechanic at one of the other shops at the same factory.<ref name="auto4"/>

The owner of the Chicago White Sox at the time was Charles Comiskey, and the manager was [Kid Gleason](/source/Kid_Gleason).<ref name="auto">{{cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Andrew |title=How Stan Musial Gave Dickey Kerr of the Chicago Black Sox His White Picket Fence |url=http://seamheads.com/blog/2012/11/07/how-stan-musial-gave-dickey-kerr-of-the-chicago-black-sox-his-white-picket-fence/?no_redirect=true |website=Seamheads.com |access-date=2020-02-28 |date=November 7, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/632ed912|title=Kid Gleason {{!}} Society for American Baseball Research|website=sabr.org|language=en|access-date=July 16, 2018}}</ref> Kerr played for the White Sox from 1919 to 1921.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/e144a288|title=Dickey Kerr {{!}} Society for American Baseball Research|website=sabr.org|language=en|access-date=July 18, 2018}}</ref>

Eight of Kerr's teammates took bribes to throw the [1919 World Series](/source/1919_World_Series) against the Cincinnati Reds.<ref name="auto3"/> They would forever become known as the [Chicago Black Sox](/source/Chicago_Black_Sox).<ref name="auto3"/> These teammates were permanently banned from [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) after throwing the [World Series](/source/World_Series) against the [Cincinnati Reds](/source/Cincinnati_Reds) were [Chick Gandil](/source/Chick_Gandil), [Happy Felsch](/source/Happy_Felsch), [Eddie Cicotte](/source/Eddie_Cicotte), [Shoeless Joe Jackson](/source/Shoeless_Joe_Jackson), [Lefty Williams](/source/Lefty_Williams), [Buck Weaver](/source/Buck_Weaver), [Fred McMullin](/source/Fred_McMullin), and [Swede Risberg](/source/Swede_Risberg).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Eight |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815042229/http://www.chicagohs.org/history/blacksox.html |website=Chicago Historical Society |access-date=2020-02-29 |url=http://www.chicagohs.org/history/blacksox.html |archivedate=2014-08-15}}</ref> Kerr was not involved in the scandal and [won](/source/Win_(baseball)) both of the games he started.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

Nevertheless, owner Comiskey refused to give Kerr what he believed to be a fair raise.<ref name="auto"/> Dickey [held out for more pay](/source/Holdout_(sports)) before the 1922 season and refused to play.<ref name="auto3"/> This resulted in a suspension from the White Sox.<ref name="auto3"/> Kerr played exhibition games with other teams.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto4"/> This led to a suspension from the Major Leagues by Commissioner [Kenesaw Landis](/source/Kenesaw_Landis).<ref name="auto3"/> Kerr did not play Major League Baseball from 1922 to 1924.<ref name="auto3"/>

Dickey returned to semiprofessional leagues.<ref name="auto4"/> In 1925, Kerr made a short comeback to the major leagues, playing for the White Sox.<ref name="auto3"/> Kerr had a 53–34 career record.<ref name="auto5">{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/e144a288|title=Society for American Baseball Research|website=sabr.org|language=en|access-date=July 19, 2018}}</ref> From 1927 to 1938, Kerr played for minor league teams before retiring from his playing career.<ref name="auto3"/>

===Coach===

From 1927 to 1940, Kerr worked as a coach.<ref name="auto5" /> He began with the [Rice University](/source/Rice_University) (then Rice Institute) Owls.<ref name="auto5" /> He coached in Washington and West Virginia before accepting a position in Florida.<ref name="auto5" /> Kerr began managing the [Daytona Beach Islanders](/source/Daytona_Beach_Islanders) in the year of 1940.<ref name="auto5" />

His coaching led him to [Stan Musial](/source/Stan_Musial).<ref name="auto5" /> Kerr told Musial, then beset by arm problems, to stop pitching and become a batter.<ref name="auto" /> Kerr's mentoring may have helped Musial attain his later success.<ref name="auto" /> Musial had a remarkable 3,630 base hits.<ref name="auto" /> In 1958, right before Musial's batting accomplishment, Kerr was working for an electric company.<ref name="auto" /> Musial gave Kerr a house for his birthday.<ref name="auto" /> He purchased the home for somewhere around $10,000–$20,000, from his income of around $100,000.<ref name="auto" /> Kerr lived there until his death in 1963.<ref name="auto" />

== Legacy ==
Writer Jim Baker noted that of the thirteen principal members of the 1919 White Sox, only Kerr and [Nemo Leibold](/source/Nemo_Leibold) neither were banned for life nor were selected for the [National Baseball Hall of Fame](/source/National_Baseball_Hall_of_Fame).<ref>Jim Baker, "Ray Schalk", published in {{cite book |last1=James |first1=Bill |authorlink1=Bill James |title=The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract |date=1986 |publisher=Villard Books |location=New York |isbn=0394537130 |page=323}}</ref> Kerr is not eligible for the Hall of Fame under the Hall's current rules, which require a player to have played in at least ten major league seasons<ref>{{cite web |title=Eras Committees |url=https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/rules/eras-committees |website=National Baseball Hall of Fame |access-date=2020-02-29}}</ref> (Kerr played in only four).

Although Kerr was never inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, his accomplishments received recognition. He "received the inaugural [Tris Speaker](/source/Tris_Speaker) Memorial Award from the Houston Chapter of the [Baseball Writers' Association of America](/source/Baseball_Writers'_Association_of_America)",<ref name="auto4" /> an award given to athletes, and baseball officials that have made some sort of exceptional contribution towards the game.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Scandal on the south side : the 1919 Chicago White Sox|others=Huhn, Rick, 1944–, Nowlin, Bill, 1945–, Levin, Len|date = June 10, 2015|isbn=9781933599953|location=Phoenix, AZ|oclc=913215266}}</ref> He received Houston's key to the city during a night honoring him in 1961 at Busch Stadium.<ref name="auto4" /> A statue was dedicated to him at the [Astrodome](/source/Astrodome) after his death.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news|url=https://bill37mccurdy.com/2014/07/20/dickie-kerr-statue-a-brief-history/|title=Dickie Kerr Statue: A Brief History|date=July 20, 2014|work=The Pecan Park Eagle|access-date=July 16, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>

Kerr lost his fight with cancer and died May 4, 1963, and he is buried in Houston, Texas at the Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery.<ref name="auto4" /> Kerr's friend Stan Musial attended the Second Annual Old Timers' Game in honor of Kerr.<ref name="auto1" /> His statue since has changed locations a few times. The bronze statue of Kerr started at the Astrodome and was last on display at Constellation Field.<ref name="auto1" /><ref name="auto2">{{Cite news|url=https://bill37mccurdy.com/2015/03/23/update-on-the-dickie-kerr-statue/|title=Update on the Dickie Kerr Statue|date=March 23, 2015|work=The Pecan Park Eagle|access-date=July 16, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Its last known keeper was the Finger Family, and their curator Tom Kennedy.<ref name="auto2" /><ref name="auto1" />

In the 1988 film ''[Eight Men Out](/source/Eight_Men_Out)'', about the Black Sox scandal, Kerr was portrayed by actor [Jace Alexander](/source/Jace_Alexander). The film inaccurately portrayed Kerr as a right-handed pitcher when in fact he was a lefty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095082/goofs|title=Eight Men Out (1988) - IMDb|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>

==See also==
* [List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders](/source/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_annual_saves_leaders)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats|br=k/kerrdi01|brm=kerr--001ric}}

{{Chicago White Sox Opening Day starting pitchers}}
{{RiceBaseballCoach}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Dickie}}
Category:1893 births
Category:1963 deaths
Category:Baseball players from St. Louis
Category:Chicago White Sox players
Category:Fort Worth Panthers players
Category:Major League Baseball pitchers
Category:Memphis Chickasaws players
Category:Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players
Category:Minor league baseball managers
Category:Paris Boosters players
Category:Paris Snappers players
Category:Rice Owls baseball coaches
Category:St. Louis Cardinals scouts
Category:San Francisco Seals (baseball) players
Category:Waco Cubs players
Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) coaches
Category:Wausau Timberjacks players
Category:Baseball players from Houston
Category:Davenport Cubs players
Category:20th-century American sportsmen

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Dickey Kerr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickey_Kerr) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickey_Kerr?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.