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luckymann · 10-11-2020, 03:35 AM

Cribbed from THIS article on SABR Bio by Adrian Marcewicz.

Richard Henry Kerr is far better-known than one might expect for a guy who played in just 140 major league games and fashioned a modest 53-34 record. This, of course, is almost entirely due to his supporting role in one of baseball’s darkest episodes: the Black Sox scandal.

It’s been a while since I have watched the classic 1988 baseball movie Eight Men Out, but if memory serves, Dickey Kerr was portrayed (by Jace Alexander--who, somewhat regrettably, is not the same Jason Alexander who played onetime Yankees employee George Costanza), as a wide-eyed naïf caught in the headlights of history like a soon-to-be-roadkill rabbit on a busy highway. If so, we must put this down to artistic license. Because it is far from the truth.

Dickey Kerr was actually a 26-year-old rookie hardened by many years in the minors (he made his professional debut a full decade earlier for the Paragould Scouts in the Northeast Arkansas League) when circumstance embroiled him in its nefarious tentacles as a member of the rotation for Chicago in 1919. He, unlike the two pitchers who had played and lost Games 1 and 2 of the World Series against the Reds, was not in the pocket of gamblers and gangsters. His Game 3 three-hit shutout was one of the most dominant performances in the Fall Classic to that point and he backed that up with a dogged 10-inning complete game 5-4 win in Game 6.

The tightfistedness of White Sox owner Charlie Comiskey that may have been the root cause of the scandal that unfolded the following season also played a central role in Dickey’s somewhat abbreviated career in the bigs. After winning 40 games in 1920-21 (the sixth most in the AL over that period), Kerr held out for a raise. When it wasn’t forthcoming, he signed with and played for the semipro Chicago City Hall side, thereby earning an indefinite suspension from playing in the MLB. He eventually returned to the Sox in 1925, but he wasn’t the hurler he once was and they released him at the end of that season. He would never play in the majors again.

After a few years back in the minors, Dickey became a manager and by 1940 was the skipper for the Daytona Islanders of the Florida State League, where his story takes a most interesting turn indeed.

The Islanders’ star prospect was a wild southpaw pitcher by the name of Stan Musial. Under Dickey’s tutelage, the control issues that had plagued the youngster became a thing of the past and he prospered on the mound (18-5 / 2.62 in 1940) until he injured his pitching arm fielding a ball in the outfield, where he had also shown great promise. After the injury it was Dickey who suggested Musial concentrate on hitting if he wanted to make it to the majors.

During this time, Stan and his pregnant girlfriend Lillian had moved in with Dickey and his wife Cora to save money, and it was Dickey who drove Lillian to the hospital to give birth to a son, whom they named Richard in Dickey’s honour. Years later, when Stan had become “The Man” and the Kerrs had fallen on tough times, Stan bought Dickey the house he and Cora would live in until Dickey’s death from cancer in 1963. So highly thought of was Dickey that, despite his modest output on the field, he actually received 25 Hall of Fame Votes in 1955, his final year of eligibility.

In the FL, Dickey has fashioned a 40-40 record with a 4.05 ERA in his three seasons for the Cleveland organisation, winning the AL Pitcher of the Month award in June 1902. This season has seen him shuttled between the parent club and Wilmington of the PSL, where he recently won the Pitcher of the Month award in the PSLA before being recalled to the bigs. At just 26, here’s hoping he has many more years ahead and can taste the championship success so cruelly taken from him IRL. Shine bright Dickey, your time has come!

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10-11-2020, 03:35 AM	#253
luckymann Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2019 Posts: 13,385	Spotlight Player #9 – Dickey Kerr *Cribbed from THIS article on SABR Bio by Adrian Marcewicz.* Richard Henry Kerr is far better-known than one might expect for a guy who played in just 140 major league games and fashioned a modest 53-34 record. This, of course, is almost entirely due to his supporting role in one of baseball’s darkest episodes: the Black Sox scandal. It’s been a while since I have watched the classic 1988 baseball movie Eight Men Out, but if memory serves, Dickey Kerr was portrayed (by Jace Alexander--who, somewhat regrettably, is not the same Jason Alexander who played onetime Yankees employee George Costanza), as a wide-eyed naïf caught in the headlights of history like a soon-to-be-roadkill rabbit on a busy highway. If so, we must put this down to artistic license. Because it is far from the truth. Dickey Kerr was actually a 26-year-old rookie hardened by many years in the minors (he made his professional debut a full decade earlier for the Paragould Scouts in the Northeast Arkansas League) when circumstance embroiled him in its nefarious tentacles as a member of the rotation for Chicago in 1919. He, unlike the two pitchers who had played and lost Games 1 and 2 of the World Series against the Reds, was not in the pocket of gamblers and gangsters. His Game 3 three-hit shutout was one of the most dominant performances in the Fall Classic to that point and he backed that up with a dogged 10-inning complete game 5-4 win in Game 6. The tightfistedness of White Sox owner Charlie Comiskey that may have been the root cause of the scandal that unfolded the following season also played a central role in Dickey’s somewhat abbreviated career in the bigs. After winning 40 games in 1920-21 (the sixth most in the AL over that period), Kerr held out for a raise. When it wasn’t forthcoming, he signed with and played for the semipro Chicago City Hall side, thereby earning an indefinite suspension from playing in the MLB. He eventually returned to the Sox in 1925, but he wasn’t the hurler he once was and they released him at the end of that season. He would never play in the majors again. After a few years back in the minors, Dickey became a manager and by 1940 was the skipper for the Daytona Islanders of the Florida State League, where his story takes a most interesting turn indeed. The Islanders’ star prospect was a wild southpaw pitcher by the name of Stan Musial. Under Dickey’s tutelage, the control issues that had plagued the youngster became a thing of the past and he prospered on the mound (18-5 / 2.62 in 1940) until he injured his pitching arm fielding a ball in the outfield, where he had also shown great promise. After the injury it was Dickey who suggested Musial concentrate on hitting if he wanted to make it to the majors. During this time, Stan and his pregnant girlfriend Lillian had moved in with Dickey and his wife Cora to save money, and it was Dickey who drove Lillian to the hospital to give birth to a son, whom they named Richard in Dickey’s honour. Years later, when Stan had become “The Man” and the Kerrs had fallen on tough times, Stan bought Dickey the house he and Cora would live in until Dickey’s death from cancer in 1963. So highly thought of was Dickey that, despite his modest output on the field, he actually received 25 Hall of Fame Votes in 1955, his final year of eligibility. In the FL, Dickey has fashioned a 40-40 record with a 4.05 ERA in his three seasons for the Cleveland organisation, winning the AL Pitcher of the Month award in June 1902. This season has seen him shuttled between the parent club and Wilmington of the PSL, where he recently won the Pitcher of the Month award in the PSLA before being recalled to the bigs. At just 26, here’s hoping he has many more years ahead and can taste the championship success so cruelly taken from him IRL. Shine bright Dickey, your time has come! BASEBALL REFERENCE PAGE Attached Images Last edited by luckymann; 11-27-2020 at 12:17 AM.