Dickey Kerr

{{short description|American baseball player (1893–1963)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Dickey Kerr |position=Pitcher |image=Dickey Kerr.jpg |bats=Left |throws=Left |birth_date={{Birth date|1893|7|3}} |birth_place=St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1963|5|4|1893|7|3}} |death_place=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 |stat1value=53–34 |stat2label=Earned run average |stat2value=3.84 |stat3label=Strikeouts |stat3value=235 |teams= * Chicago White Sox ({{mlby|1919}}–{{mlby|1921}}, {{mlby|1925}}) }}

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

==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 Scouts in the Northeast Arkansas League.<ref name="auto4"/> He played for lower-level teams from 16 to 22, including the Cairo Egyptians and the Cleburne Railroaders.<ref name="auto4"/> In 1917, he joined the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association, then one of the top minor leagues, for whom he pitched 448 innings in two seasons.<ref name="auto4"/>

==Professional baseball== Buck Weaver and Clarence "Pants" Rowland recommended Kerr for the major leagues and the Chicago White Sox team.<ref name="auto4"/> This happened during the "work or fight order" of 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 and Morse 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.<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 against the Cincinnati Reds.<ref name="auto3"/> They would forever become known as the Chicago Black Sox.<ref name="auto3"/> These teammates were permanently banned from Major League Baseball after throwing the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds were Chick Gandil, Happy Felsch, Eddie Cicotte, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Lefty Williams, Buck Weaver, Fred McMullin, and 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 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 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.<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 (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 in the year of 1940.<ref name="auto5" />

His coaching led him to 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 neither were banned for life nor were selected for the 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 Memorial Award from the Houston Chapter of the 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 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'', about the Black Sox scandal, Kerr was portrayed by actor 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>

==References== {{reflist}}

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

{{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