John Nelson Kerins (July 15, 1858 – September 8, 1919), sometimes known as Jack Kerins, was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

player who appeared mainly at

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

but also at

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...

and in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

. He played for the

Indianapolis Hoosiers Indianapolis Hoosiers was the name of three major league and at least three minor league baseball clubs based in Indianapolis. * Indianapolis Hoosiers (American Association), which played in 1884 * Indianapolis Hoosiers (National League), which pla ...

(), Louisville Colonels (-),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

() and St. Louis Browns (). He was a player-manager for Louisville in 1888 and for St. Louis in 1890, and he umpired

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

games through 1891.

Biography

Born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mar ...

, Kerins began his major league career with the

of the

. After the season, the Hoosiers folded, and John moved on to the Louisville Colonels, where he spent the next few seasons. Though Kerins played twice as many career major league games at first base as he did at catcher, he was often known more for his play at the latter position. In Louisville, he was the personal catcher for left-handed

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This cha ...

pitcher Toad Ramsey. He led the league's catchers in 1886 with 157 assists despite catching only 65 games. Many of those assists came on one of Ramsey's 499

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is den ...

s that season when Kerins would mishandle a Ramsey knuckleball, which necessitated a throw to first base to complete the strikeout. Offensively, the 1887 season may have been his best; he hit .294 with a league-leading 19 triples and 49

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe o ...

s. Kerins finished the 1889 season with the

. Before the 1890 season, Kerins was working as a bartender in Indianapolis. He returned to the Orioles for the 1890 season but did not play in any regular season games before he was released in May of that year; he played for the St. Louis Browns for the rest of the season, concluding his playing career. In addition to playing, twice he was named interim

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

, once with the Colonels in and also in his one season with the Browns.John Kerins Stats
Baseball-Reference.com. Accessed April 14, 2019. He also umpired a total of 246 major league games, mostly in the

from 1889 to 1891. His appointment as an AA umpire was made official in April 1891, after Kerins had retired as a player. By 1895, Kerins was working as a bartender at a Louisville bar partly owned by major league outfielder Tom Brown. In 1907, when another man of the same name was hired as an AA umpire, Kerins was still working as a bartender. Late in life, Kerins worked as a houseman at the Tyler Hotel in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. He suffered from

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including ar ...

and died after two weeks in a Louisville hospital in 1919. He was buried in a

potter's field A potter's field, paupers' grave or common grave is a place for the burial of unknown, unclaimed or indigent people. "Potter's field" is of Biblical origin, referring to Akeldama (meaning ''field of blood'' in Aramaic), stated to have been pu ...

, but he was later reinterred at

Cave Hill Cemetery Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buri ...

in Louisville.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerins, John 1858 births 1919 deaths Baseball players from Indianapolis Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball catchers Indianapolis Hoosiers (AA) players Louisville Colonels players Louisville Colonels managers Baltimore Orioles (AA) players St. Louis Browns (AA) players St. Louis Browns (AA) managers Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery 19th-century baseball players Fort Wayne Hoosiers players Baltimore Orioles (Atlantic Association) players Major League Baseball player-managers

Biography

See also

References

External links