Ohio author to speak Tuesday

For years, Bob Ewing was not much more to Mike Lackey than a name in a box score.
But eventually research the long-time newspaper man hoped would lead to a couple of columns grew into an award-winning book.
Lackey, winner of this year’s Larry Ritter Book Award for "Spitballing: The Baseball Days of Long Bob Ewing”, will speak at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Community Room at Jay County Public Library.
“I think that Ewing’s life and career open kind of an interesting window on life in America in the earlier 20th century, among other things. I think if people are interested in baseball history, certainly they’ll be interested from that aspect,” said Lackey, a native of Dayton, Ohio. “But I think even people who aren’t necessarily that big into baseball in the dead-ball era, may still find some things that are of interest just about how it all tied together, baseball being part of the fabric of people’s lives in those days. It was very much of a connection. I want to get at how baseball fit in the wider culture. I think it was deep in the Midwest, especially in those days.”
Lackey, a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan, had seen Ewing’s name when studying the team’s history. But it wasn’t until he took a job at The Lima News in Lima, Ohio, that the name took on greater significance.
Lackey learned Ewing’s birthplace, New Hampshire, Ohio, was just 15 miles away, so he started doing some research with a goal of putting something together for the newspaper.
“The more I dug in, the more interested I got,” said Lackey, who was a history major at Earlham College before starting his journalism career as a proofreader in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. “It all just kind of came together. It was just sort of a perfect storm that hit all of my main areas of interest. …
“All of a sudden, one day I had this whole pile of material.”
That pile eventually was molded into “Spitballing”, which won him the Ritter award that Society for American Baseball Research presents each year for the best book about the dead-ball era. It was also a finalist for Spitball magazine’s 2013 CASEY Award, given to the best baseball book of the year.
Adult services librarian Cheryl Lucas worked to bring Lackey to JCPL, saying she likes introducing the community to area authors. She also hopes the subject matter will draw an expanded audience.
“We don’t often have library programs that appeal to the men in the area,” Lucas said. “And with the topic of baseball, my hope is that it will be appealing to men and teens and people who are into sports who will come and enjoy it.”
One of Lackey’s favorite stories about Ewing is that of his 1902 big league debut, which came just a few days before his 29th birthday.
After three solid innings, Ewing walked seven betters during a disastrous fourth frame. Upon reaching the bench when the inning was finally over, manager Bid McPhee asked the pitcher if he’d like to come out of the game.
Ewing refused.
Returning to the mound, he found his control, allowed just one hit through eight innings and completed the game.
“I think it was interesting that he was kind of unflappable, sort of a calm, rational kind of guy. And he didn’t get shook up about stuff,” said Lackey. “I think that’s one reason that McPhee didn’t give up on him after that first start.”
McPhee was gone the next season, but Ewing went on to an 11-year career, winning 15 or more games four times and posting 124 victories in all with Cincinnati, Philadelphia and St. Louis.
Lackey’s free presentation, after which he will have a book-signing, will include stories from Ewing’s career, as well as his life after baseball when he served as sheriff of Auglaize County, Ohio, during the prohibition era.
“I hope people will come out and enjoy it,” said Lackey. “I’m really looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”