Jack Kerins

A decent hitter with some extra-base power and a defensive standout at both catcher and first base, Jack Kerins1 spent his seven-season major league playing career entirely in the American Association. He also put in two brief stints as an interim club manager. When throwing arm miseries brought Kerins’ playing days to a close, he remained in the game as an AA umpire, quickly becoming the circuit’s best arbiter in the view of many observers. Following the Association’s demise in 1891, Kerins wished to continue umpiring but his job applications were rejected by National League Secretary Nick Young. Thereafter, Jack did some minor league umpiring but spent most of his remaining years bartending in Louisville until his death in September 1919. The ensuing paragraphs recall the life of this once-prominent but now-forgotten 19th century baseball figure.

John A. Kerins2 was born in the Indiana capital of Indianapolis on July 15, 1858. He was the second of three children begat by day laborer John Kerins with his wife Mary (nee Harrington), both Irish Catholic immigrants.3 As a young adult, Jack (as he was known throughout his playing career and beyond) earned his living as a boilermaker. But our subject’s true vocation was playing baseball. A physically strong 5’10”, 177-pounder who batted and threw right-handed, Kerins first garnered public attention during the late 1870s as the star catcher of the Capital Citys, a fast Indianapolis amateur club.4

In November 1881, Kerins married Chloe Danforth, a 17-year-old Indianapolis girl. Some four months later, the couple’s first son (Bert) was born.5 Shortly thereafter, Kerins was engaged to organize and captain a city municipal league nine sponsored by local department store magnate and baseball enthusiast John T. Brush.6 Jack entered the professional ranks in 1883, signing with the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Hoosiers of the minor Northwestern League.7 His stay there, however, was brief, and by mid-June Kerins was back home playing for an independent Indianapolis pro team.8 Mostly stationed at first base, he got into 82 games and batted a robust (116-for-356) .326 for a club that went an impressive 95-47 (.669) against competition that ranged from the two major leagues to the Northwestern League to other independent professional teams.9 And Kerins was at his best against top echelon pitching, posting a club-leading .350 batting average against National League and American Association hurlers.10 On September 25, he capped this sterling campaign with a 5-for-5 game that included the hitting of two left field fence-clearing home runs in a 19-2 rout of the AA Columbus Senators.11

The following spring, first baseman Jack Kerins, catcher Jim Keenan, and pitcher Larry McKeon were among the Indy club stalwarts molded into the Indianapolis Hoosiers, a newly-minted entry into the expanded-to-12-teams American Association.12 Kerins made his major league debut on May 1, 1884, handling 13 chances flawlessly at first base but going 0-for-4 at the plate against St. Louis Browns right-hander (and future AA batting champion) Tip O’Neill during a 4-2 Indianapolis setback.13 That Opening Day defeat set the template for one the 19th century’s worst major league seasons. At campaign end, the Indianapolis record stood at a dismal 29-78-3 (.271).

The club was in turmoil throughout the summer, with Hoosier players often in rebellion against martinet infielder-manager Bill Watkins. In mid-September, Watkins suspended frontline backstop Keenan, replacing him with Kerins and second-stringer Charlie Robinson. This despite the fact that “Kerins had been talked to for loose playing” recently and threatened with release himself.14 And before the season was completed, Kerins was suspended by Watkins and sent home.15

Despite his difficulties with the manager, Kerins supplied Indianapolis with excellent defense, leading AA first sackers in fielding percentage (.972).16 But his offensive numbers were mixed. He topped the Hoosiers batsmen in runs scored (58) and home runs (6) but also went eight-consecutive games without a base hit during July17and posted a soft .214/.229/.308 slash line for the year, overall.

Indianapolis did not reserve Kerins for the 1885 season18 (which became a moot point when the American Association contracted to eight clubs over the winter and the Indianapolis franchise was dissolved), allowing him to sign with another AA club: the Louisville Colonels.19 The signing was applauded by Sporting Life’s Louisville correspondent who informed the club faithful that that the Colonels will have “one of the best first basemen in the country in Kerins who with Indianapolis made a fine showing both as a fielder and a batter and will strengthen the team very materially.”20

Over the ensuing five seasons, Kerins vindicated the appraisal of his press admirer. He appeared in all 112 games that the tied fifth-place (53-59, .473) Colonels played in 1885, and again provided reliable defense, being particularly adept at scooping up low throws to first from his infield mates.21 Meanwhile, Jack upped his offensive production, placing third on the club to Pete Browning and Chicken Wolf in runs scored (65), extra-base hits (28), RBIs (51), and slash line (.243/.281/.353). At season end, Louisville re-signed him for the 1886 campaign.22

Kerins’ return to regular receiving duty coincided with Louisville’s elevation of Toad Ramsey to the starting rotation. The promising young left-hander’s out pitch, a fall-off-the-table drop, was as difficult to catch as it was to hit.23 Yet even before he proved himself capable of handling Ramsey, Kerins was being touted by Colonels manager Jim Hart as “the equal of any catcher in the country, not excepting [Charlie] Bennett or [Buck] Ewing.”24 Happily, Kerins proved equal to the task, leading AA receivers in assists (157) and guiding Ramsey to a 38-27 (.585) record that incorporated an eye-catching 499 strikeouts in an AA-leading 588 2/3 innings pitched.25 When not serving as Ramsey’s personal backstop, Kerins played a capable first base. His offense also continued its upward trend, his slash line rising to .269/.360/.370 while he led the fourth-place Colonels (66-70-2, .485) in runs scored (113) and tied Browning for most stolen bases (26). That performance earned Kerins the highest modern-day WAR rating (3.5) of any Louisville position player26 and the esteem of Louisville club president Zach Phelps who “regards Jack Kerins as the greatest all-around ball-player in the country. In batting, base-running and fielding he is a rival of the nonpareil Mike Kelly.”27

During the off-season, Kerins supplemented his modest $1,500 Louisville salary by training local boxers. He also acquired a financial interest in a baseball equipment supply company fronted by Colonels teammate Guy Hecker.28 A watchful batsman who walked 66 times the previous season, Kerins looked forward to the 1887 rule change that would credit a batsman with a base hit whenever he received a walk. “I will be right up among the sluggers in the record,” Jack declared, “for I am as patient at the bat as any of them.”29 But the coming season proved a physically challenging one for him.

Kerins was appointed Louisville team captain for 1887, and again alternated between catching Ramsey and playing first base.30 Protected only by a rudimentary face mask, chest protector, and lightly padded five-finger gloves on both hands,31 Kerins absorbed the punishment inherent in being a pitch receiver during the 1880s without noticeable effect. But a basepaths accident sent him to the sidelines at mid-season. In a late-July game in Philadelphia, a collision with the Athletics’ base runner George Townsend during a run-down play between third and home left Kerins with a fractured right palm.32 The injury put him out of action for nearly a month, and he did little catching upon his return to the lineup. Yet despite the time lost, Jack had another productive season, leading the American Association in triples (19), and setting personal bests in extra-base hits (42) and RBIs (57) while scoring 101 runs in only 112 games played. His .294/.349/.443 slash line was also a career high. Meanwhile, Louisville, paced by the slugging of Pete Browning (.402 BA with 118 RBIs) and another banner effort by Toad Ramsey (37-27, with a circuit-best 355 strikeouts) improved to 76-60-3 (.559) under first-year skipper John “Kick” Kelly, formerly an American Association umpire.

Kerins retained the team captaincy for 1888, but Louisville could not hold the previous season’s form. The Colonels got off to a very poor start on the field amid turmoil in the front office, with club president Phelps clashing with secretary-treasurer and majority stockholder Mordecai Davidson on prescription for improvement. In early June, Davidson bought out Phelps and his allies and assumed sole command of the franchise.33 With the Colonels record standing at a sorry 10-29 (.256), the new club boss immediately sacked manager Kelly and placed himself at the helm.34 But after three games, Davidson relinquished the reins to Kerins in order to concentrate on administrative matters, at least temporarily. The Colonels dropped their first three contests under their interim leader but then won the next four for Kerins. Davidson thereupon resumed the managers post, eventually steering the Colonels to a seventh-place (48-87-4, .356) finish.

Whether a result of the hand injury suffered during the 1887 season or not, Kerins was not the player he had previously been. His batting numbers (.235/.297/.313) fell precipitously and his defense – 32 passed balls in 33 appearances behind the plate – was substandard to the point where he was dispatched to the outfield for 47 games. But Kerins’ problems on the diamond paled in comparison to his off-field misfortunes. The first among these was a business failure, as the Hecker Base Ball Supply Company became a casualty of financial reversals suffered by the cigar business of its principal stockholder.35 The ensuing liquidation process cost Kerins his investment in the baseball equipment concern.36

Jack returned to Louisville for a fifth season but his throwing arm went lame during spring training, restricting his activity to umpiring exhibition games.37 His arm did not improve once the regular season began, limiting his use to two games in the outfield.38 When Kerins drew his release in late-May, Louisville club boss Davidson promoted his hiring as an American Association umpire. “Jack certainly would make a good official,” declared Mordecai. “He has been tried in the position [during spring training] and not found wanting. He is as fair and square a man as there is in the profession, intelligent and well up in all points of the game. Another strong recommendation is his courage, for the captain or crowd that starts in to bluff Jack Kerins will find itself badly left.”39

Once he formally applied for the position, Kerins was promptly hired by the American Association, donning blue for a June 20 Kansas City-Cincinnati match. Although not without detractors,40 Kerins’ work as an arbiter was widely approved. He was impartial, decisive in his calls, and respected by his erstwhile peers who – conscious of Kerins’ near-professional level boxing skills – avoided getting physical with the new ump. In a raucous baseball era noted for player-umpire confrontations, Jack umpired 59 games (28 behind home plate; 31 on the bases) without ordering a single ejection.41 Nevertheless, when a late-season chance to resume playing materialized, Kerins seized it.

Persuaded that Kerins’ throwing arm had recovered, Baltimore Orioles manager Billy Barnie signed him as a backup catcher-first baseman in early September 1889.42 Jack then provided useful service for the Orioles, batting .283 with 12 RBIs in 16 games spread between catching, first base, shortstop, and outfield assignments. As a result, Baltimore re-signed him for the coming campaign.43 But a throwing arm relapse seemingly dashed Kerins’ hopes of reviving his playing career, and he was released by the Orioles without getting into an 1890 regular season game.44 Within days, however, Jack received another chance, signed as a first baseman by the St. Louis Browns.45 No sooner had he arrived in town than Browns club owner Chris Von der Ahe appointed Kerins his team’s field leader46 – the second of the six managerial switches that the mercurial Von der Ahe deployed that season.47 Kerins promptly stationed himself at first base, but he had nothing left, batting a feeble (8-for-63) .127. He had better luck as manager, guiding the club to a winning (9-8, .529) record before being fired by Von der Ahe.48

His brief stint in St. Louis ended the major league playing career of Jack Kerins. In 557 American Association games, he posted a modest .252 batting average with 20 home runs included among his 143 extra-base hits. Kerins was stronger on defense, providing first-rate work at catcher and first base and tolerable service in the outfield. And he broke even (12-12, .500) in his two brief turns as a manager. Throughout, Kerins had also been a solid presence in the clubhouse: sober, reliable, and hard-working, respected by teammates, club officials, and the baseball press, alike.

His release by the Browns did not end Kerins’ connection to the game. Almost immediately thereafter, he was reengaged as an umpire by the American Association.49 From late June through season end in mid-October, Jack worked 47 AA games, all but one behind home plate, and again without ordering a single ejection.50 Thereafter, he returned to Indianapolis where he reportedly opened a saloon with former Louisville Colonels teammate Harry Raymond.51

Kerins began the 1891 season as a substitute American Association umpire,52but was promoted to full-time status upon the resignation of Jimmy Macullar in mid- April.53 Although his work in an early season game drew complaints in Columbus,54 Kerins was philosophical, observing that “umpiring is a business by which everybody cannot be satisfied.”55 And when Columbus played the Boston Reds some six weeks later, it was the Boston Globe that complained that umpire “Jack Kerins’ work was simply outrageous. He was dead against the Reds at every point, and a Columbus player had but to raise a point to have it allowed.”56 But otherwise, his reviews were glowing. Raves included: “Jack Kerins is considered the best umpire in the Association” (Louisville);57 “the best umpire in the Association” (Washington, DC);58 and the “only good umpire in the Association” (Cincinnati business manager Frank Bancroft).59

Kerins umpired efficiently, rarely tolerating extended dispute of his calls. Yet only once in 246 games did he exercise his power to expel a player. After being warned to cease incessant kicking and bench jockeying from the coaching lines, Washington Statesmen Ed Daily was sent off by umpire Kerins during a June 30, 1891 game in Boston.60 But the parties did not take the banishment personally, and when consumption claimed the 29-year-old outfielder some five months thereafter, Jack Kerins served as a pall bearer at Daily’s Funeral Mass.61

At a post-season meeting of American Association executives in Chicago, Kerins was fined $50 for using foul language during a late-season game in Washington, an offense which he staunchly denied.62 Kerins’ prospects for re-hiring by the circuit for the 1892 season were then diminished when National League arbiters John Gaffney and Jack McQuaid were recruited by the Association brass.63 The subsequent dissolution of the Association, however, rendered the future AA employment question academic. Thereafter, Kerins’ application for an umpiring job in the National League was rejected by NL secretary Nick Young.64 Left without engagement by the game, Jack subsequently began tending bar in Louisville where he now made his home year-round.65

In January 1893, Kerins briefly reemerged in the sports spotlight but in an unlikely forum: the boxing ring. Reputed Australian heavyweight champion Joe Goddard offered $100 and a percentage of the gate receipts to any challenger who lasted three rounds with him, and Kerins agreed to the match.66 A skilled pugilist himself, Kerins dropped Goddard to the canvas in the opening round and then hung on for a draw.67 Thereafter, he returned to a more familiar setting, spending most of the summer of 1894 umpiring in the high minor Western League.68 Jack then resumed tending bar in a Louisville saloon operated by major league outfielder Tom Brown.69 A final attempt to regain work on the diamond failed when the National League again rejected Kerins’ application to umpire during the 1897 season.70

A widower who never remarried and long estranged from his now-adult sons,71 Kerins spent the last two decades of his life living alone in Louisville and bartending in redlight district dives.72 He was employed as a maintenance man by a local hotel when admitted to Louisville City Hospital in mid-1919, suffering from what was euphemistically described as “rheumatism.”73 In fact, Kerins had reached the terminal stage of syphilis.74 He succumbed at the hospital on September 8, 1919, age 61.

Kerins’ unclaimed remains were initially interred in a local potter’s field, but within days friends learning of his passing had Kerins reburied in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. Weeks later, the baseball world was informed of his death by a Sporting News remembrance that began: “John A. Kerins, who as Jack Kerins will be remembered by fans of an earlier generation as a great catcher in the ‘80s with Indianapolis and Louisville, died in Louisville on September 15 (sic).”75 Long forgotten today, Kerins typified the solid-but-not-exceptional-ballplayer who anchored 19th century American Association club rosters.

Acknowledgements

This story was reviewed by Rory Costello and Kim Juhase and fact-checked by Larry DeFillipo.

Sources

Sources for the biographical info imparted above include the Kerins file at the Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York; the Kerins profiles published in Cava, Pete, Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players: A Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014 (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2015); Nemec, David, ed., Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Vol. 1, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011), and Ivor-Campbell, Frederick, ed., Baseball’s First Stars, (Cleveland: SABR, 1996); US Census and other government records accessed via Ancestry.com; and certain of the newspaper articles cited in the endnotes. Stats have been taken from Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet.

Notes 

1 Modern baseball reference authorities list our subject as John Kerins. This bio, however, will identify him by the name used by friends, teammates, and the sporting press of his lifetime: Jack Kerins.

2 Ever since it made its first appearance in the 1957 second edition of The Baseball Encyclopedia by Turkin & Thompson, modern reference authority identify our subject as John Nelson Kerins. But the middle name Nelson is specious, entirely without support in the historical record. As reflected in US Census and other government records, Indianapolis and Louisville city directories, and contemporary newsprint, our subject’s name was John A. Kerins. The saint’s name that the middle initial A. likely stood for, however, was not discovered by the writer.

3 Jack’s siblings were brother Jeremiah (1856-1897) and sister Anna (1865-1912).

4 As noted in “Ready for the Fray,” Indianapolis Daily Sentinel, April 26, 1879: 4; “Short Stops,” New York Clipper, September 7, 1878: 186; “Base Ball,” Indianapolis News, August 1, 1878: 2; and elsewhere.

5 In August 1884, the birth of second son Frank completed the Kerins family.

6 Per David Kathman, “John T. Brush: The Early Years, 1845-1888,” Base Ball: New Research on the Early Game, Vol. 11, 2019, 124.

7 As reported in “Base-Ball: The Latest from Fort Wayne,” Cincinnati Enquirer, February 22, 1883: 5.

8 “Base Ball Intelligence,” Indianapolis Journal, June 15, 1883: 9: “Kerins, late of the Fort Wayne [club], has been signed by the Indianapolis club and will play out the season out here. He is an Indianapolis boy and is known as a strong batter and a most excellent ball-player. He will probably supersede Horn at first base.”

9 Per “The Official Averages,” Indianapolis Journal, October 22, 1883: 8.

10 Same as above. In 34 such contests, Kerins went 63-for-180. Indianapolis posted a 2-10 (.167) record against NL clubs while going 9-13 (.409) in games against AA teams.

11 See “A Fall for Columbus,” Indianapolis Journal, September 26, 1883: 9.

12 Also making the Hoosiers roster were third baseman Pat Callaghan and outfielders Jerry Dorgan and John Peltz of the 1883 Indianapolis club.

13 See “Sporting: St. Louis 4; Indianapolis 2,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 2, 1884: 8.

14 “Base-Ball Matters,” Indianapolis Journal, September 24, 1884: 8.

15 Per “Notes and Comments,” Sporting Life, October 15, 1884: 5.

16 According to Dean A. Sullivan, “John Kerins,” Baseball’s First Stars, Frederick Ivor-Campbell, ed. (Cleveland: SABR, 1996), 92.

17 As related in “General Notes,” Evansville (Indiana) Daily Journal, July 26, 1884: 4.

18 Per “The Reserves: Not Reserved,” Sporting Life, October 29, 1884: 3.

19 As noted in “Notes and Comments,” Sporting Life, November 12, 1884: 5.

20 Veritas, “From Louisville,” Sporting Life, December 31, 1884: 4.

21 As noted in “Five in the Fifth,” Louisville Courier-Journal, July 27, 1885: 2.

22 As reported in “Baseball: Ball Players for Next Season,” Montreal Gazette, November 13, 1885: 8.

23 Announced in “Base Ball News,” Indianapolis News, February 26, 1886: 2.

24 “Base-Ball Notes,” Louisville Courier-Journal, April 10, 1886: 6.

25 Kerins caught 65 of Ramsey’s AA-leading 66 complete games.

26 Pitchers Ramsey (12.5) and Guy Hecker (5.9) garnered the club’s highest WAR ratings.

27 “Notes and Comments,” Louisville Courier-Journal, August 12, 1886: 6.

28 As reported in “The Louisville Team,” The Sporting News, November 13, 1886: 3. The business was organized by Colonels manager Hart and Louisville businessmen. Kerins bought out club president Phelps’ interest in the venture.

29 “Notes,” Cincinnati Enquirer, November 24, 1886: 2.

30 Per “Base Ball: To Appeal to the Law,” Sporting Life, March 16, 1887: 6.

31 Spalding made available for purchase a pair of five-finger leather catcher’s gloves, with extra padding for the left hand and the fingers removed from the right for throwing ease. Price: $5. See 1887 Spalding Official Base Ball Guide, 158.

32 As described in “Jack Kerins Returns,” Louisville Courier-Journal, August 2, 1887: 6. See also, “The Accident to Jack Kerins,” Louisville Courier-Journal, July 30, 1887: 3.

33 See “A Remarkable Game: Louisville to Reorganize,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 7, 1888: 6; “The Louisvilles Sold,” Louisville Courier-Journal, June 7, 1888: 6.

34 Per “Louisville’s Ball-Tossers,” New York Evening World, June 11, 1888: 3; “The Colonels Return,” Louisville Courier-Journal, June 9, 1888: 5.

35 As reported in “One Failure Precipitates Another,” New York Herald, December 22, 1888: 6; “Sports with the Ball,” New York Sun, December 22, 1888: 4; “Attached for $7,840,” Louisville Courier-Journal, December 19, 1888: 8.

36 See “Louisville Laconics,” Sporting Life, January 23, 1889: 5. See also, “Stray Sparks from the Diamond,” New York Clipper, December 29, 1888: 673.

37 As reflected in pre-season box scores published in Sporting Life, April 17 and 24, 1889. See also, “Base Ball Notes,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 16, 1889: 4. Late the previous season, a family funeral had necessitated Kerins return home to Indianapolis. While there, he attended an Indianapolis-Pittsburgh game and was recruited to serve as an emergency umpire, a role in which he performed in a “perfectly satisfactory” manner. See “Base-Ball and the Races,” Indianapolis Journal, September 7, 1888: 3.

38 Kerins was behind the plate for a Toad Ramsey start against Brooklyn on May 7, but dispatched to right field after Ramsey was derricked after two ineffective innings.

39 “News and Comments,” Sporting Life, June 5, 1889: 4.

40 As reported in “General Sporting Notes,” Kansas City Star, December 11, 1889: 3; “Base Ball Briefs,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, December 8, 1889: 5; “Notes,” Louisville Courier-Journal, November 30, 1889: 2; and elsewhere.

41 As reflected in Retrosheet’s exposition of Kerins’ umpiring record.

42 Per “Base-Ball Notes,” Baltimore Sun, September 7, 1889: S2; “Kerins Joins Baltimore,” Wheeling (West Virginia) Register, September 8, 1889: 3; “Sporting Matters,” Worcester Evening Gazette, September 7, 1889: 8.

43 As reported in “Signed by Baltimore,” Boston Herald, October 24, 1889: 5; “Barnie Signing Men,” Pittsburg Dispatch, October 24, 1889: 6; and elsewhere.

44 Per “Jack Kerins Released,” Louisville Courier-Journal, May 15, 1890: 2; “Base Ball Notes,” Baltimore Sun, May 14, 1890: S1. “His arm is gone,” added the Chicago Tribune, May 16, 1890: 2.

45 See “Changes in St. Louis Ball Club,” Indianapolis Journal, May 17, 1890: 2. See also, “Baseball,” New York Clipper, May 24, 1890: 169.

46 Per “Base Ball Briefs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1890: 12.

47 Tommy McCarthy started the 1890 season as Browns manager. After Kerins was fired in late June, the club was led by Chief Roseman, Count Campau, McCarthy again, and Joe Gerhardt.

48 Kerins’ dismissal was reported in “Notes of the Diamond Field,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 23, 1890: 3; “Earle and Kerins Released,” Columbus Dispatch, June 21, 1890: 2; and elsewhere.

49 “Notes of the Diamond Field,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 29, 1890: 3.

50 See again, Kerins’ umpiring log on Retrosheet.

51 “Philadelphia Pointers,” Sporting Life, November 1, 1890: 4.

52 Per “Louisville Leads,” Louisville Courier-Journal, April 15, 1891: 6.

53 See “Umpire Jack Kerins,” Louisville Courier-Journal, April 19, 1891: 4; “Umpire Appointed,” Chicago Inter Ocean, April 19, 1891: 6.

54 See “A Loosely Played Game,” Columbus Dispatch, April 22, 1891: 2. Columbus dropped a 5-4 verdict to Cincinnati.

55 “Base Ball,” Louisville Courier-Journal, April 26, 1891: 13.

56 “Roasted by the Umpire,” Boston Globe, June 1, 1891: 4. Boston lost, 8-5.

57 “League Tactics,” Louisville Courier-Journal, June 6, 1891: 5.

58 “Around the Bases,” Washington (DC) Post, June 14, 1891: 14.

59 “New Park at Cincinnati,” Louisville Courier-Journal, June 28, 1891: 9

60 A fuller account of the ejection appears in “Simply a Walkover,” Boston Globe, July 1, 1891: 5. It was the only time that Daily was ejected during a 640-game major league career.

61 As reported in “Base Ball Notes,” Pittsburgh Post, October 26, 1891: 6; “Buried a Base Ballist,” (Waterloo, Iowa) Courier, October 26, 1891: 2; “The Last Sad Rites,” Buffalo Courier, October 25, 1891: 8; and elsewhere.

62 Per “Washington Whispers,” Sporting Life, November 7, 1891: 2; “Baseball Magnates,” Washington (DC) Semi-Weekly Reporter, October 24, 1891: 8; “The American Association,” Quincy (Massachusetts) Daily Ledger, October 23, 1891: 3.

63 “Washington Whispers,” above.

64 Per “John Kerins,” Major League Player Profiles, 1871-1900, Vol. 1, David Nemec, ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011), 310.

65 The only discovered newsprint mention of Kerins in 1892 had him playing random exhibition games with Chicken Wolf and other Louisville Colonels alumni on a nine called the Louisville Reserves. See “Caught on the Fly,” Sporting Life, October 8, 1892: 10.

66 See “To-Night’s Glove Contest,” Louisville Courier-Journal, January 7, 1893: 8, and “The Barrier Bruiser,” Louisville Courier-Journal, January 6, 1893: 6. Goddard was no palooka, having defeated Joe Choynski, Peter Maher, and other prominent heavyweights, and he was later posthumously inducted into the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame.

67 According to “Martial Spirit,” (Covington) Kentucky Post, August 12, 1896: 7, and David Nemec and David Ball in “John Kerins,” Major League Player Profiles, above.

68 Kerins’ hiring by the Western League was reported in “Base Ball Notes,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 26, 1894: 5, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 26, 1894: 4, while published box scores have Kerins working WL games through a contest played in Sioux City on September 25.

69 See “Base Ball Chat,” Boston Herald, February 9, 1896: 32. See also, “Palaver about the Game,” Omaha World-Herald, May 5, 1898: 2, and “Louisville Lines,” Sporting Life, February 1, 1896: 3.

70 Per “News and Comment,” Sporting Life, August 8, 1896: 5; “Baseball Notes,” Indianapolis Journal, August 2, 1896: 3. Retrosheet lists Kerins as umpiring two American League games in Boston in mid-September 1903 but the writer suspects that those games were actually called by Massachusetts-native Jack (John Patrick) Kerin, a minor league pitcher-turned-umpire with whom our subject is sometimes confused. See e.g., “Funny Yarn about Old Jack Kerins,” Louisville Courier-Journal, January 31, 1907: 6. The distinction between the two men was noted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 24, 1907: 68.

71 Bert Kerins (1882-1928) was a bottler living in Indianapolis while his younger brother Frank (1884-1921) was an Indianapolis bartender. Neither son appears to have had much contact with his father as their whereabouts were unknown in Louisville at the time of Jack’s passing.

72 As reflected in Louisville city directories, 1897-1919.

73 The disease descriptive subsequently utilized in newsprint announcing Kerins’ demise.

74 As documented in the Kerins death certificate which lists his cause of death as “syphilis of brain.”

75 “Catcher Jack Kerins Dead,” The Sporting News, September 25, 1919: 5. Similar leads were published in “Former Catcher Passes Away,” (Nashville) Tennessean, September 28, 1919: S3, and “Famous Base Ball Player Is Buried in Potter’s Field,” Lexington (Kentucky) Leader, September 17, 1919: 3.