Dr. Roy Kerr chronicles the life of Hoagland's Buck Ewing

If you search for one Roy Kerr on the Internet, you're likely to discover that Roy Kerr is a noted mathematician in New Zealand who is best known for discovering the Kerr vacuum, an exact solution to the Einstein field equation of general relativity. Got all that?

I learned by accident that this particular Roy Kerr's academic pedigree includes the University of Canterbury, the University of Cambridge and Syracuse University.

After a moment or two of confusion (just another day!), I located the Roy Kerr for whom I was searching, also a scholar and a gentleman in his own right.

Dr. Kerr is a retired professor, having taught at colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida for more than three decades.

According to his online biography, after retiring in 2004, he began a second career as a baseball historian, concentrating on the 19th century.

Among his books are:

• "The Loving of the Game," a baseball memoir based on a cross-country baseball tour taken with his son, Ed, was published in 2007.

• "Sliding Billy Hamilton: The Life and Times of Baseball's First Great Leadoff Hitter," was published in 2010 by McFarland.

• "Roger Connor: Home Run King of 19th C. Baseball," debuted in September, 2011.

• And, recently published, "Buck Ewing, A Baseball Biography."

Buck Ewing, as local baseball and county history aficionados know, was born in the hamlet just west of Hillsboro called Hoagland. That bit of history also proved a bit problematic to pin down, as the author acknowledges.

"Thanks to the efforts of Highland County Historical Society researcher Jean Wallis we know that the future Hall of Famer was born in late 1859 in Hoagland," Dr. Kerr writes.

In researching Ewing, the author also credits longtime Hoagland resident and sportsman Donnie Jones.

Having written about Buck Ewing for an anniversary publication more than 20 years ago, I was surprised to learn of so many things I had missed in my (limited) research at the Hillsboro Library, though I did write in 1995 that Ewing was born Oct. 27, 1859 in Hoagland(s).

For one thing, Ewing wasn't always a catcher, though he did many things to improve upon the position, including catching from the crouch and using a catcher's mitt.

For a catcher, Ewing was a prolific base stealer. On several occasions, he swiped four bags in a game. While playing third base, he once stole six bases in a single game. He is the only catcher to lead his team in stolen bases for a season (53 in 1888).

Ewing was the first professional player to hit double-digit home runs in a season, with an even 10 long balls in 1883. The next season, his home run production tapered off, but he replaced that by lacing 20 triples for New York in the National League.

Ewing's career batting average was .303, and he holds the all-time career record for stolen bases by a catcher with 354.

"When you recall all his playing qualities, it must be conceded that no player who ever lived matched him. He had no peer as a ballplayer," said former professional player Roger Connor.

And when selecting their respective "all-time baseball teams," Hall of Fame managers John McGraw and Connie Mack both named Buck Ewing as the greatest catcher – more than a decade after Ewing's untimely death in 1906 of Bright's Disease.

Ewing's professional career ended with the Cincinnati Reds in 1897.

An interesting tidbit from that season was that on an off-day in August the Reds played a local team in Hillsboro.

It was revealed by Ewing on this summer road trip that he was, in fact, a Highland County native. Many had long believed that Ewing was born along the old Mill Creek community in Cincinnati where he grew up.

It was suggested at the time that Hillsboro "will root harder for the Reds, and from now on Buck will divide honors with Senator Foraker as the two most distinguished products of Highland County."

Senator Joseph B. Foraker (not "Four Acre," as one congressional office recently submitted in a news release) was born near Rainsboro in 1846. He was the 37th governor of Ohio (1886-90) and a Republican U.S. senator from 1897-1909.

In addition to the statistical and biographical information on the Hall of Famer from Hoagland, Dr. Kerr's book also includes reproductions of old baseball cards – like the 1887 Gypsy Queen Cigarette Card featuring Ewing as a bare-handed third baseman, team photos and a picture of Ewing's childhood home in Cincinnati as well as his grave marker in Mount Washington Cemetery.

During an interview with Highland County Press sports editor Stephen Forsha, Dr. Kerr said: "(Ewing) lived by his wits, delivered whiskey to low-life places as a youth, was the greatest player of his time, but he also had humanitarian thoughts, though most thought he only looked out for himself. Buck was noble, but players called him 'bread-and-butter Buck' because he always had an angle.

"In the last two years of his life, he knew he was dying. He was down to around 80 pounds, and he would travel 40 miles and help coach the Miami Military School (in Germantown, Ohio). He did that until a few months before he died. I have a photo in the book where he is with those kids, and I think that's how he wanted to be remembered."

Dr. Kerr's book is available online through Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Roy-Kerr/e/B002UXWC6A.

Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.