Sidney Clarence Keener (1888 - 1981)

Born 15 Aug 1888 in Missouri USA

Died 30 Jan 1981 at age 92 in West Palm Beach, FL USA

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Sid Keener is Notable.

Biography

Sid Keener was a syndicated sportswriter and editor at several St. Louis, Missouri newspapers with a "ringside seat" on American baseball during the first half of the 20th century. He was a long-time friend of Ty Cobb (Babe who?) who sometimes published Cobb's take on things and was one of the few baseball people in attendance at Cobb's funeral.^[1] On June 7, 1961 Sid commended the city of Royston, Ga. for its creation of the Ty Cobb museum by saying:

"There is no one in this entire country who is more worthy of special recognition than Tyrus Raymond Cobb. I have known him for fifty years and naturally, I am biased regarding any special project that might be proposed and completed in behalf of Mr. Ty." - Sid C. Keener, Director (National Baseball Hall of Fame)^[2]

In 1947, Sid published an official denial of Stanley Woodward's likely exaggerated story in the New York Herald Tribune claiming the "National League players’ strike, instigated by some of the St. Louis Cardinals, against the presence in the league of Jackie Robinson, Negro first baseman, has been averted temporarily and perhaps permanently quashed," as Warren Corbett notes in the Spring 2017 Baseball Research Journal. ^[3] Sid later served as the Director of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York from 1952 until 1963.^[4][5] On October 7, 1956 Bud Abbott and Lou Costello presented their gold record for “Who’s On First?” to Sid and Vice-President Paul Kerr (on behalf of the Baseball Hall of Fame) live on the “The Steve Allen Show" after performing their classic routine for what some claim was the last time.^[6][7] A "Sid C. Keener Official Scorer" 1928 World Series watch in working order was sold for $2,000 in 2001^[8] and other collectables associated with Sid are still available online.

According to Bob Broeg at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1981), Sid was "self-made and controversial...with Roget's Thesaurus at his elbow, trying to compensate for his lack of formal education." Although he "couldn't carry a present-day writer's syntax...he had sharp contacts as an owl-eyed, rabbit-eared reporter" who "could charm friends into telling him what they didn't want to" or "stir the pots with his own rumors of fact and fiction."^[9]

Sid's father is not known, but U.S. census records indicate that his parents were both born in Germany. His mother's name was Martha (1854 to about 1957), but her birth name is not known. She was born in Berlin and lived in St. Louis from 1873 to at least 1957.^[10] According to the 1900/1910 census, Sid had two brothers (Robert E. and Frederick Keener) and two sisters (Charlotta M Cochran and Dorathy "Dora" F. Foster). On September 21, 1918 Sid secretly married Marguerite Blanche Simmons.^[11] He retired to Jupiter, Florida where he lived from 1964 until his death at age 92 in 1981. He was a windower and there were no immediate survivors. Sid is buried somewhere in West Palm Beach.^[12]

Sports Commentary

• On Branch Rickey: "Branch Rickey Given Credit For Great Showing Of Browns," Honolulu Star Bulletin (3 Jul 1914).
• On Major League baseball accounting: "Expert Shies Figures At Federals To Prove That Major Leagues Can Count On Neat Profit This Year," Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY; 10 Sep 1915).
• On an early dilemma in the rules of baseball: "Here's A New Play That Will Keep The Ball Fans Guessing, Saskatoon Daily Star (Saskatchewan, Canada, 18 Oct 1915, Page 13).
• On how Heinie Groh's "bottle bat" makes him "one of the freaks of the pastime": "John M'Graw Told Groh League Pictures World Knock His Block Off: Style Not Orthodox," The Pittsburgh Press (1 Jun 1919, Page 26).
• On Jake Daubert: "'Miracle Player Of The National League Is Old Jake Daubert: Veteran Major Star Has Batting Average of .336 At Age 37," Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky; 31 Dec 1922, Page 34).
• On the rule banning "Dauntless Dave" Danforth's "shiners": "Danforth Only Hurler To Feel Weight Of 'Doctored Ball' Rule," The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky, 18 Nov 1923, Page 10).

Sources

1. ↑ Dan Holmes, Ty Cobb: A Biography, Greenwood Publishing Group (2004).
2. ↑ Sid Keener, Letter to Stewart D. Brown, Jr. (7 Jun 1961), National Baseball Hall of Fame (2019).
3. ↑ Sid Keener, "Breadon Flatly Denies Cards Wanted To Bar Robinson..." (The St. Louis Star and Times, 09 May 1947).
4. ↑ Sports Illustrated, "A roundup of the sports information of the week" (28 Oct 1963}.
5. ↑ Baseball-Reference.com, Sid Keener, Sports Reference LLC (2019).
6. ↑ Tim Wiles, "Baseball's Greatest Skit," National Baseball Hall of Fame (2019).
7. ↑ Bill Francis , "Who’s On First Joined the Hall 60 years ago, National Baseball Hall of Fame (2 Jun 2016).
8. ↑ Hunt Auctions, LLC. Lot # 699 (2019).
9. ↑ Bob Broeg, "Sid Keener Knew How To Stir It Up," St. Louis Post-Dispatch (February 8, 1981).
10. ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Sid Keener Visits Mother Here On Her 103d Birthday," (January 2, 1957).
11. ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sid Keener Secretly Married September 21" (12 Dec 1918, Page 28).
12. ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 'Rites Held For Sidney Keener, Former St. Louis Sports Editor" (3 Feb 1981).

See also:

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M21P-PS3 : accessed 30 January 2020), Sidney C Keener in household of Martha Keener, St Louis Ward 19, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 300, sheet 14A, family 300, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 820; FHL microfilm 1,374,833.
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3D7-PMM : accessed 30 January 2020), Sidney C Keener in household of Martha Keener, Precinct 8 St. Louis city Ward 20, St. Louis, Missouri, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 307, sheet 11A, family 230, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,897.
• "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVWL-T5H : 25 December 2014), Sidney C Keener, 30 Jan 1981; from "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," index, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : 2004); citing vol. , certificate number 8719, Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, Jacksonville.
• "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3TM-T3T : 23 August 2019), Sid C Keener, 1917-1918.