William H. "Ducky" Hemp (December 27, 1862 – March 3, 1923) was a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player whose career spanned seven seasons. Hemp played two of those seven seasons in

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 (AL), ...

. Over his major league career, Hemp compiled a batting average of .214 with 25

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, 2 doubles, 2

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, 5 RBIs, and 4

stolen bases 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 or ...

Professional career

Louisville Colonels

Before entering the major leagues, Hemp played in the minors with the Memphis Reds of the Southern League in 1885, and later the

Wichita Braves The Wichita Braves were an American Triple-A minor league baseball franchise based in Wichita, Kansas, that played in the American Association from 1956 to 1958 as the top affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves of the National League. The Braves wer ...

of the Western League in 1887. With the Braves, Ducky was noted as a fan favorite, and his nickname "Ducky" was given to him while he played with the Braves. Hemp would later become the first player from the Braves to play in the majors. Later in 1887, Hemp joined the major league

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

. In 1 game with the Colonels, Hemp got 1 hit, 1

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, 1 double, and 1

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in 4

plate appearances In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

. He played the entire game in the outfield as well.

Pittsburgh Alleghenys

After he parted with the Colonels, Hemp played the rest of the 1887 season with the minor league

Lincoln Tree Planters Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

of the Western League. In 1888, Hemp again played in the minors, this time with the

Dallas Hams The Dallas Rangers were a high-level minor league baseball team located in Dallas, Texas from 1958 to 1964. The team was known by the Dallas Rangers name in 1958, 1959, and 1964 and as the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers from 1960 to 1963. It played in ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. The next season, Hemp played with the

Evansville Hoosiers Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Indiana, ...

of the

Central Interstate League The Central Interstate League was an independent minor league baseball league that operated from 1888 to 1890. William H. Allen (1888), Henderson Ridgely (1889), E.T. McNeally (1890) and Fitzpatrick (1890) served as the league presidents. Th ...

. In 1890, Hemp returned to the majors, this time with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. Hemp played 21 games with the Alleghenys, and batted .235 with 19 hits, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, and 3 stolen bases. On the defensive side, Hemp played all of his 21 games in the outfield and committed 6 errors.

Syracuse Stars

Hemp played the rest of the 1890 season with the major league Syracuse Stars. In 9 games with the Stars, Hemp batted .152 with 5 hits, 1 doubles, 1 RBI, and 1 stolen base. In the field, Hemp played all of his 9 games in the outfield, and committed 1 error.

Later career

After his major league career was over, Hemp played in the minor leagues. He spent the rest of the 1890 season with the

Lincoln Rustlers Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

(who later that season became the Des Moines Prohibitionist) of the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Western ...

. In 1891, Hemp played for the

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

baseball club of the Wisconsin State League, the

Terre Haute Hottentots The Terre Haute Hottentots were a Minor League Baseball team from Terre Haute, Indiana, that played in the Northwestern League in 1891, Illinois–Iowa League in 1892, Western Interstate League in 1895, Western League in 1895, Class C Central ...

of the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

, and the Peoria Distillers, also of the Northwestern League. Hemp's final season in professional baseball came in 1892 with the

Rock Island-Moline Twins Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

, and the Terre Haute Hottentots, both of the

Illinois–Indiana League The Illinois–Indiana League or Two–I League was based in Illinois and Indiana and refers the name of two different baseball circuits in Minor league baseball which operated in and . The league was renamed to the Illinois-Iowa League in 1890 ...

Death

Hemp died on March 3, 1923 in his hometown of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

at the age of 60. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hemp, Ducky 1862 births 1923 deaths Baseball players from St. Louis Major League Baseball outfielders Memphis Reds players Wichita Braves players Louisville Colonels players Lincoln Tree Planters players Dallas Hams players Evansville Hoosiers players Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Syracuse Stars (AA) players Lincoln Rustlers players Des Moines Prohibitionists players Terre Haute Hottentots players Peoria Distillers players 19th-century baseball players