Bob Ewing
Encyclopedia
George Lemuel "Bob" Ewing (April 24, 1873 in New Hampshire, Ohio
- June 20, 1947 in Wapakoneta, Ohio
), is a former Major League Baseball
pitcher
. He played in the majors from 1902-1912 for the Cincinnati Reds
, Philadelphia Phillies
, and St. Louis Cardinals
.
. He grew up on a farm in Auglaize County where as a young boy, he pitched potatoes against a target on a barn. The nickname Long Bob came about due to him being 6'6". Later he would be given the moniker of 'Old Wapak', in reference to the town he called home.
Bob started his baseball career at a relatively late age, 24, before signing his first contract. Long Bob played his first fame away from New Hampshire in 1895 at the Wapakoneta fairgrounds. He came played for Wapakoneta from 1896-1897.
Ewing's first semi-pro experience was in August 1897, when he joined the Toledo Mud Hens
team in the Interstate League
. His professional debut with a 9-4 victory over Springfield, OH. He was consistently the best pitcher in the league, going 21-9 and 25-13 in consecutive seasons. Over the next three seasons, Ewing pitched nearly 900 innings and won more than 20 games annually for Toledo
.
In 1901, he next went out to Kansas City in the Western League
where he went 21-5 and led the Western League in winning percentage. With Ewing, the Blues won the pennant by 10 games. Ewing later recalled that Kansas City was "...the only pennant winning team I ever played on."
. On October 10, 1901, the Cincinnati Reds
arrived in Sidney after going through local Ohio teams looking to find some competition with the Sidney semi-pro team. As the Reds warmed up, they could not have anticipated what they were about to see. The visitors were up to bat first. On the mound stood all six feet six inches of Long Bob Ewing. Ewing dueled Schwab, his Reds counterpart, to a 3 to 3 tie when the game was called because of darkness after eight innings. Ewing struck out many more batters than Schwab. Within two weeks he was under contract to the Cincinnati Reds
.
Long Bob Ewing made his major league game debut on April 19, 1902. He walked ten batters, seven of them in one inning, in a 9-5 loss to Chicago
. It was nearly a month before he gained his first victory; then he missed the second half of the season with a sore arm.
Bob fought for a place on the roster the next two seasons before establishing himself as one of the Reds' top pitchers. Ewing finished with a 6 and 6 won-lost record. He pitched ten complete games in twelve starts and compiled a fine 2.98 earned run average. A sore arm limited his playing time toward the end of the season.
In 1903, Long Bob developed into the workhorse of the staff. Completing 27 of the 28 games he started, Ewing posted 14 wins and lowered his ERA to 2.73. He delivered at the plate as well. That season, Ewing hit an impressive .253.
The season's highlight came on August 18, 1903. The headline in the "Cincinnati Post" told the story: "Kelley Claims Ewing Pitched a No-Hitter" He blanked the New York Giants
7 to 0, giving up one infield hit by Jack Dunn
in the eighth inning. The official scorer recorded the play as an out, but was ordered to score it as a hit. A dispatch from New York after the game stated: "Long Bob Ewing, fed on raw meat and clams for a week, was taken out of his cage and sent against the Giants...Old Wapak fired the leather down the alley so fast that the haze in its wake looked like the smoke in a shooting gallery." A seasoned and confident Bob Ewing barnstormed with the Reds after the season concluded.
On September 30, 1903, the Cincinnati Reds
came to Sidney for a rematch. Long Bob was on the mound for Reds, which had just pummeled Lima 9 to 1 the day before. After the game, the "Journal's" editor, William Binkley, wryly observed that the Reds came to town to show "...what a difference there is between a professional team and pumpkin puller aggregations in smaller towns...and to prick what bubbles of vanity they entertain." After Long Bob took his seat at the end of the first inning, Sidney led 5 to 1. Binkley chortled: "The Reds were amazed, and in a figurative sense, more blue than red."
The Reds outfielders were "as busy as a cow's tail in fly time," according to Binkley, while Sidney's infielders "guarded the infield like watch dogs fed on electricity." In the end, Long Bob and the Reds absorbed a 14 to 2 beating. Mr. Binkley appropriately summed up the event: "In short, the Reds were outclassed, the spectators were given a treat of rare sport, and the visitors gracefully acknowledged the corn."
The Cincinnati Reds
returned to Sidney the next year for what the Wapakoneta newspaper described as "Ewing Day in Sidney." Fifty wagons circled the court square, and banners proclaiming 'Ewing Day' were hung everywhere. A local baker sold 'Ewing pies' and bartenders served 'Ewing highballs.' Two thousand fans jammed the ball field. As the first Sidney batter whiffed, the crowd screamed: "Don't throw so hard, you'll kill the catcher!" Ewing and the Reds prevailed, 6 to 1.
In professional baseball after the turn of the century, the spitball
was a legal pitch and Ewing was known as having one of the best in the majors. By late 1904 Ewing became one of the National League
's first notable exponents of the wet one. A newspaper writer of the era described him as also having "great speed and a puzzling drop curve." With that new weapon he enjoyed his best year in 1905, securing his 20th victory in the last game of the season. Long Bob won 20 games in 34 starts with only 11 losses during the 1905 season. He still batted over .250.
September 11, 1906, Ewing duels Deacon Phillippe
and Vic Willis
to a scoreless tie in Pittsburgh, scattering eight hits over fifteen innings. He ended 2006 with an ERA of 2.38 and almost 300 innings pitched.
The highlight of the 1907 season came early when he was handed the ball for opening day on April 11, 1907. The opponent was the Pittsburgh Pirates
, led by the immortal future hall-of-famer Honus Wagner
. Ewing pitched a complete game, four hit, 4 to 3 victory. In what he always viewed as the highlight of his career, Ewing fanned the first six Pirate batters he faced, including such outstanding hitters as Wagner, Fred Clarke
and Ginger Beaumont
. The Cincinnati Enquirer
reported that "He used the spitball when he found himself in a tight place and it was very effective in his hands." The Reds come from behind with two runs in the ninth inning.
Long Bob did his best to ensure his own success in 1907. Pitching over 330 innings, he compiled a career-best ERA of 1.73 and averaged almost twice as many strikeouts as bases on balls. Although he won 17 games, little offensive help from his teammates resulted in 19 losses. Ewing accomplished all this at the age of 34 that year.
Bob Ewing concluded his career with the Reds after the 1909 season. In his eight year stint with the Cincinnati club, he compiled an overall earned run average of 2.37. Almost 90 years later, it still stands as the best Reds' career ERA record ever compiled.
traded Ewing to the Philadelphia Phillies
in a two-for-two swap of pitchers-Ewing and Ad Brennan
for Harry Coveleski
and Frank Corridon
. In Philadelphia, Long Bob was an afterthought in manager Red Dooin
's plans. But when other pitchers faltered, Ewing stepped up. The oldest regular starting pitcher in the league, he went 16-14 for a fourth-place team which led the Phillies in complete games and pitching three games in which he allowed three hits or fewer. Philadelphia dropped him in September 1911.
gave Ewing a brief look in St. Louis in 1912, the aging spitballer returned to the minor leagues. Now 39 years old, Long Bob appeared in just one game. He reached the end of the line in 1913, failing in a trial with Minneapolis and drawing his release two weeks after his 40th birthday without appearing in a single game.
Beginning in the 1890s, she attended what was at the time a major league record of more than 60 straight opening day games of the Reds. She had equal measures of loyalty and superstition, however. Nelle watched several games in 1905 that her husband lost. After that, she refused to go to the park when Ewing pitched, claiming her presence would 'hoodoo' him, according to the newspaper accounts.
Bob and Nelle had a son Robert who in turn married Sylvia Metzger. They had nine children: Christine, Coleen, Charles, Carol, Chris, Charlotte, Cliff, Cindy and Connie.
To turn the pressure up a notch on Botkins, Wapak declared game day to be 'Ewing Day'. As he stepped in for his first at bat, time was called and Ewing was presented with a horn-grip, gold-mounted umbrella engraved "Bob, 1913." The crowd cheered lustily. Ewing struck out. Wapak eked out a 4 to 3 win. It was Long Bob's last local pitching appearance.
After hanging up his baseball spikes, Ewing returned to his off-season occupation of farming. He was an expert horseman as well, raising trotters which competed in races throughout the Midwest. Bob Ewing was elected to two terms as the Auglaize County Sheriff
and later ran the Brunswick Cigar Store in Wapak.
Long Bob Ewing died of cancer on June 20, 1947, at age 74.
Nelle, his wife of 42 years, survived him by a quarter-century, becoming something of a celebrity in Wapakoneta. She also remained an avid Reds fan, living to meet Pete Rose
and Johnny Bench
and to see the dawn of the Big Red Machine dynasty of the 1970s. She attended more than 60 consecutive opening day games before her own death Feb. 15, 1972 at age 91.
Bob and Nelle Ewing are buried in Walnut Hill Cemetery near New Hampshire, Ohio
under a common headstone decorated with a baseball and bat.
for his induction into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame along with Mario Soto
.
New Hampshire, Ohio
New Hampshire is a census-designated place located in central Goshen Township, Auglaize County, Ohio, United States. The community is served by the Waynesfield-Goshen Local School District.Located between Wapakoneta and Lakeview at the intersection of U.S...
- June 20, 1947 in Wapakoneta, Ohio
Wapakoneta, Ohio
Wapakoneta is a city in and the county seat of Auglaize County, Ohio, United States with a population of 9,474 as of the 2000 U.S. census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Wapakoneta, Ohio Micropolitan S A, which is included in the Lima-Van Wert-Wapakoneta, Ohio CSA...
), is a former Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
. He played in the majors from 1902-1912 for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
, Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
, and St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
.
Early life
Bob Ewing was born on April 24, 1873 as George Lemuel Ewing in New Hampshire, OhioNew Hampshire, Ohio
New Hampshire is a census-designated place located in central Goshen Township, Auglaize County, Ohio, United States. The community is served by the Waynesfield-Goshen Local School District.Located between Wapakoneta and Lakeview at the intersection of U.S...
. He grew up on a farm in Auglaize County where as a young boy, he pitched potatoes against a target on a barn. The nickname Long Bob came about due to him being 6'6". Later he would be given the moniker of 'Old Wapak', in reference to the town he called home.
Bob started his baseball career at a relatively late age, 24, before signing his first contract. Long Bob played his first fame away from New Hampshire in 1895 at the Wapakoneta fairgrounds. He came played for Wapakoneta from 1896-1897.
Ewing's first semi-pro experience was in August 1897, when he joined the Toledo Mud Hens
Toledo Mud Hens
The Toledo Mud Hens are a minor league baseball team located in Toledo, Ohio. The Mud Hens play in the International League, and are affiliated with the major league baseball team the Detroit Tigers, based approximately 50 miles to the north of Toledo. The current team is one of several...
team in the Interstate League
Interstate League
The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. The longest tenured of these was the last incarnation, which played in the Middle Atlantic States from 1939 through 1952, and was one of the few mid-level minor...
. His professional debut with a 9-4 victory over Springfield, OH. He was consistently the best pitcher in the league, going 21-9 and 25-13 in consecutive seasons. Over the next three seasons, Ewing pitched nearly 900 innings and won more than 20 games annually for Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
.
In 1901, he next went out to Kansas City in the Western League
Western League (defunct minor league)
The Western League is a name given to several circuits in American minor league baseball. Its earliest progenitor, which existed from 1885 to 1899, was the predecessor of the American League...
where he went 21-5 and led the Western League in winning percentage. With Ewing, the Blues won the pennant by 10 games. Ewing later recalled that Kansas City was "...the only pennant winning team I ever played on."
The Cincinnati Reds
While at home from Kansas City, Bob played ball with a local club in Sidney, OhioSidney, Ohio
Sidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, United States. The population was 20,211 at the 2000 census. It is named after English poet Sir Phillip Sidney and is the county seat of Shelby County.Sidney was the recipient of the 1964 All-America City Award...
. On October 10, 1901, the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
arrived in Sidney after going through local Ohio teams looking to find some competition with the Sidney semi-pro team. As the Reds warmed up, they could not have anticipated what they were about to see. The visitors were up to bat first. On the mound stood all six feet six inches of Long Bob Ewing. Ewing dueled Schwab, his Reds counterpart, to a 3 to 3 tie when the game was called because of darkness after eight innings. Ewing struck out many more batters than Schwab. Within two weeks he was under contract to the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
.
Long Bob Ewing made his major league game debut on April 19, 1902. He walked ten batters, seven of them in one inning, in a 9-5 loss to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. It was nearly a month before he gained his first victory; then he missed the second half of the season with a sore arm.
Bob fought for a place on the roster the next two seasons before establishing himself as one of the Reds' top pitchers. Ewing finished with a 6 and 6 won-lost record. He pitched ten complete games in twelve starts and compiled a fine 2.98 earned run average. A sore arm limited his playing time toward the end of the season.
In 1903, Long Bob developed into the workhorse of the staff. Completing 27 of the 28 games he started, Ewing posted 14 wins and lowered his ERA to 2.73. He delivered at the plate as well. That season, Ewing hit an impressive .253.
The season's highlight came on August 18, 1903. The headline in the "Cincinnati Post" told the story: "Kelley Claims Ewing Pitched a No-Hitter" He blanked the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
7 to 0, giving up one infield hit by Jack Dunn
Jack Dunn
John Joseph Dunn was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball at the turn of the 20th century who later went on to become a minor league baseball club owner....
in the eighth inning. The official scorer recorded the play as an out, but was ordered to score it as a hit. A dispatch from New York after the game stated: "Long Bob Ewing, fed on raw meat and clams for a week, was taken out of his cage and sent against the Giants...Old Wapak fired the leather down the alley so fast that the haze in its wake looked like the smoke in a shooting gallery." A seasoned and confident Bob Ewing barnstormed with the Reds after the season concluded.
On September 30, 1903, the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
came to Sidney for a rematch. Long Bob was on the mound for Reds, which had just pummeled Lima 9 to 1 the day before. After the game, the "Journal's" editor, William Binkley, wryly observed that the Reds came to town to show "...what a difference there is between a professional team and pumpkin puller aggregations in smaller towns...and to prick what bubbles of vanity they entertain." After Long Bob took his seat at the end of the first inning, Sidney led 5 to 1. Binkley chortled: "The Reds were amazed, and in a figurative sense, more blue than red."
The Reds outfielders were "as busy as a cow's tail in fly time," according to Binkley, while Sidney's infielders "guarded the infield like watch dogs fed on electricity." In the end, Long Bob and the Reds absorbed a 14 to 2 beating. Mr. Binkley appropriately summed up the event: "In short, the Reds were outclassed, the spectators were given a treat of rare sport, and the visitors gracefully acknowledged the corn."
The Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
returned to Sidney the next year for what the Wapakoneta newspaper described as "Ewing Day in Sidney." Fifty wagons circled the court square, and banners proclaiming 'Ewing Day' were hung everywhere. A local baker sold 'Ewing pies' and bartenders served 'Ewing highballs.' Two thousand fans jammed the ball field. As the first Sidney batter whiffed, the crowd screamed: "Don't throw so hard, you'll kill the catcher!" Ewing and the Reds prevailed, 6 to 1.
In professional baseball after the turn of the century, the spitball
Spitball
A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of saliva, petroleum jelly, or some other foreign substance....
was a legal pitch and Ewing was known as having one of the best in the majors. By late 1904 Ewing became one of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
's first notable exponents of the wet one. A newspaper writer of the era described him as also having "great speed and a puzzling drop curve." With that new weapon he enjoyed his best year in 1905, securing his 20th victory in the last game of the season. Long Bob won 20 games in 34 starts with only 11 losses during the 1905 season. He still batted over .250.
September 11, 1906, Ewing duels Deacon Phillippe
Deacon Phillippe
Charles Louis "Deacon" Phillippe was a turn-of-the-century pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates....
and Vic Willis
Vic Willis
Victor Gazaway Willis was a Major League Baseball player nicknamed "The Delaware Peach." He was a starting pitcher...
to a scoreless tie in Pittsburgh, scattering eight hits over fifteen innings. He ended 2006 with an ERA of 2.38 and almost 300 innings pitched.
The highlight of the 1907 season came early when he was handed the ball for opening day on April 11, 1907. The opponent was the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
, led by the immortal future hall-of-famer Honus Wagner
Honus Wagner
-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....
. Ewing pitched a complete game, four hit, 4 to 3 victory. In what he always viewed as the highlight of his career, Ewing fanned the first six Pirate batters he faced, including such outstanding hitters as Wagner, Fred Clarke
Fred Clarke
Fred Clifford Clarke was a Major League Baseball player from 1894 to and manager from 1897 to 1915. A Hall of Famer, Clarke played for and managed both the Louisville Colonels and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a left fielder and left-handed batter.Of the nine pennants in Pittsburgh franchise...
and Ginger Beaumont
Ginger Beaumont
Clarence Howeth "Ginger" Beaumont was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Braves . He was born in Rochester, Wisconsin, and attended Beloit College...
. The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a daily morning newspaper, is the highest-circulation print publication in Greater Cincinnati (Ohio) and Northern Kentucky. The...
reported that "He used the spitball when he found himself in a tight place and it was very effective in his hands." The Reds come from behind with two runs in the ninth inning.
Long Bob did his best to ensure his own success in 1907. Pitching over 330 innings, he compiled a career-best ERA of 1.73 and averaged almost twice as many strikeouts as bases on balls. Although he won 17 games, little offensive help from his teammates resulted in 19 losses. Ewing accomplished all this at the age of 34 that year.
Bob Ewing concluded his career with the Reds after the 1909 season. In his eight year stint with the Cincinnati club, he compiled an overall earned run average of 2.37. Almost 90 years later, it still stands as the best Reds' career ERA record ever compiled.
Philadelphia
On January 20, 1910, the RedsCincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
traded Ewing to the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
in a two-for-two swap of pitchers-Ewing and Ad Brennan
Ad Brennan
Addison Foster Brennan was a pitcher in Major League Baseball.-External links:...
for Harry Coveleski
Harry Coveleski
Harry Frank Coveleski was a Major League Baseball pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, and Detroit Tigers. Born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, he began his career with the Phillies in 1907...
and Frank Corridon
Frank Corridon
Frank Joseph Corridon [Fiddler] was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three different teams between the and seasons. Listed at 6' 0" 170 lb., Corridon was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He was born in Newport, Rhode Island.The invention of the spitball has been credited...
. In Philadelphia, Long Bob was an afterthought in manager Red Dooin
Red Dooin
Charles Sebastian "Red" Dooin was an American catcher and manager in Major League Baseball during the first two decades of the 20th century. He played 1,219 of his 1,290 games as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies and managed the Phils from 1910 through 1914.-Biography:Born in Cincinnati, Ohio,...
's plans. But when other pitchers faltered, Ewing stepped up. The oldest regular starting pitcher in the league, he went 16-14 for a fourth-place team which led the Phillies in complete games and pitching three games in which he allowed three hits or fewer. Philadelphia dropped him in September 1911.
St. Louis & Minneapolis
Roger BresnahanRoger Bresnahan
Roger Philip Bresnahan , nicknamed "The Duke of Tralee" for his Irish roots, was an American player in Major League Baseball who starred primarily as a catcher and a player-manager...
gave Ewing a brief look in St. Louis in 1912, the aging spitballer returned to the minor leagues. Now 39 years old, Long Bob appeared in just one game. He reached the end of the line in 1913, failing in a trial with Minneapolis and drawing his release two weeks after his 40th birthday without appearing in a single game.
Married Life
On Nov. 5, 1905, Bob married Nelle Hunter, the daughter of a prominent Auglaize County physician. The society pages of a Cincinnati paper described as being a "handsome and clever society girl." She was an avid baseball fan in her own right.Beginning in the 1890s, she attended what was at the time a major league record of more than 60 straight opening day games of the Reds. She had equal measures of loyalty and superstition, however. Nelle watched several games in 1905 that her husband lost. After that, she refused to go to the park when Ewing pitched, claiming her presence would 'hoodoo' him, according to the newspaper accounts.
Bob and Nelle had a son Robert who in turn married Sylvia Metzger. They had nine children: Christine, Coleen, Charles, Carol, Chris, Charlotte, Cliff, Cindy and Connie.
Life After Baseball
Ewing returned home and agreed to pitch two games for his hometown team, the Wapakoneta Reds. He had just turned forty years old when he took the mound to face the Findlay semi-pro team on May 17, 1913. Five hundred paying fans saw Ewing strike out twelve batters while strolling to a 10 to 0 win. The most important game was to follow, for next up was Wapak's dreaded arch rival, the Botkins Reds.To turn the pressure up a notch on Botkins, Wapak declared game day to be 'Ewing Day'. As he stepped in for his first at bat, time was called and Ewing was presented with a horn-grip, gold-mounted umbrella engraved "Bob, 1913." The crowd cheered lustily. Ewing struck out. Wapak eked out a 4 to 3 win. It was Long Bob's last local pitching appearance.
After hanging up his baseball spikes, Ewing returned to his off-season occupation of farming. He was an expert horseman as well, raising trotters which competed in races throughout the Midwest. Bob Ewing was elected to two terms as the Auglaize County Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
and later ran the Brunswick Cigar Store in Wapak.
Long Bob Ewing died of cancer on June 20, 1947, at age 74.
Nelle, his wife of 42 years, survived him by a quarter-century, becoming something of a celebrity in Wapakoneta. She also remained an avid Reds fan, living to meet Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
and Johnny Bench
Johnny Bench
Johnny Lee Bench is a former professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983 and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame...
and to see the dawn of the Big Red Machine dynasty of the 1970s. She attended more than 60 consecutive opening day games before her own death Feb. 15, 1972 at age 91.
Bob and Nelle Ewing are buried in Walnut Hill Cemetery near New Hampshire, Ohio
New Hampshire, Ohio
New Hampshire is a census-designated place located in central Goshen Township, Auglaize County, Ohio, United States. The community is served by the Waynesfield-Goshen Local School District.Located between Wapakoneta and Lakeview at the intersection of U.S...
under a common headstone decorated with a baseball and bat.
Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame
On August 12, 2001, all eight of Ewing's surviving grandchildren were present at Cinergy FieldCinergy Field
Riverfront Stadium , later known as Cinergy Field , was the home of the Cincinnati Reds National League baseball team and the Cincinnati Bengals National Football League team. Located on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, the stadium was best known as the home of "The Big Red Machine," as the...
for his induction into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame along with Mario Soto
Mario Soto (baseball)
Mario Melvin Soto , is a former Major League pitcher, mostly as a starter, for the Cincinnati Reds from through . He currently works in the Reds' front office.-Major league career:...
.