Three early-day big leaguers not only went by the name Buck Weaver but also were plagued with the “Buck Weaver Curse.” The most recognizable of these three is George Daniel “Buck” Weaver who began playing for the Chicago White Sox in 1912. He was a member of their 1917 World Series championship team and was one of eight Chicago players who were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in what became known as the Black Sox Scandal. Buck did not participate in the fix and received no money, but he was banned from the game for life because he knew the fix was on and didn’t come forward. Although the eight teammates were acquitted in 1921, the ban remained in place.
Then there was Arthur “Buck” Weaver who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, and St. Louis Browns. This Buck Weaver was born in Wichita in 1879 and was as well known for his physique as he was for his defense. Weaver’s tall and thin body garnered him such nicknames as Scissors, Stilt, the Human Hatpin, and the thinnest catcher in captivity. By 1909, Weaver was plagued with asthma attacks, and some in the sports world speculated he was suffering from TB. His health and his game continued to decline, and the announcement came in February 1915 that he had retired from the game. Art Weaver died at the young age of 37.
Kearny County’s Buck Weaver was born William Bond Weaver in West Virginia in 1865. He married Dora Dye in 1883, and in the fall of 1889, they settled on a 160-acre tract east of Lakin which became his off-season home. He started his baseball career around 1885 as a catcher for Olathe’s town team. Weaver then played with the Topeka Capitals, Wellington Browns and the Wichita Braves. When John J. McCloskey assembled a collection of star players from the Western and Kansas leagues in 1887 called the Joplins, Weaver joined them. He opened the 1888 season playing for the Austin Senators and went with the club when the franchise transferred to San Antonio mid-season. Adept with the bat, William led the league with 90 hits and 66 runs. While in Texas, he earned the nickname “Buck” from his teammates and McCloskey. The nickname was a flattering comparison to future Hall of Fame catcher Buck Ewing.
Major league teams came courting Weaver, but it was the Louisville Colonels who signed him as an outfielder/catcher. There the center fielder was known as “Farmer Weaver” and was dubbed as “one of the finest hitters in the Association, and a splendid fielder and base-runner.” Although Weaver was doing well, his team was not. The 1889 Colonels became the first major league team to record 100 losses, but rebounded the following year coming back to win the American Association pennant. Weaver led the league in fielding percentage, putouts and assists in 1891. He was released by Louisville but picked up by Pittsburg as a utility player in 1894, finishing out his major league career on September 29, 1894 as a catcher. He was 29 years old.
Weaver then went to the Class A Western League and played with the Milwaukee Brewers for five seasons. In 1900, he went from Cleveland to Syracuse to Denver. Then he landed in the Salt Lake Area where he played independent ball for the Lagoons and served as the team’s manager in 1902. Come fall of 1902, he joined the Butte Miners, a Class B team managed by his old pal McCloskey. He had stints with the San Francisco Pirates, the Salt Lake Elders, Boise Fruit Pickers and the Vancouver Veterans. Buck and Dora separated while in Boise, and in October of 1904, he filed for divorce on the grounds of infidelity. The couple had no children of their own but had been given custody of an orphan girl in 1901 that they called Hazel Weaver. Buck requested custody of the nine-year-old which he was granted. Buck withdraw his petition for a divorce, but the couple remained separated with Buck and Hazel in Kansas and Dora in Idaho.
Weaver continued to play amateur and semi-pro baseball and on the Lakin town team. In August of 1907, he accepted an invitation to play for Larned’s team and was immediately a hit with local fans just as he was in Utah and Idaho. In September of 1909, Weaver again filed for divorce from Dora claiming desertion and infidelity. Dora fought back this time, shedding light on a different side of the baseball player that shocked his adoring fans. She claimed she left Weaver because he abused her and tried to kill her and asked the court for a divorce on grounds of extreme cruelty and adultery. The court ruled in Dora’s favor; however, Buck retained custody of young Hazel. Buck managed Larned’s Wheat Kings in the Class D Kansas State League that season but resigned in June after an 11-game losing streak. He then had stints with the Wellington Dukes and Lyons Lions before retiring in August of 1910.
Hazel gave birth to a son the following month. Although widely speculated that the boy was Buck’s, Weaver blamed an unnamed Lakin boy for the girl’s pregnancy. He accepted a scouting assignment on behalf of the Lincoln Antelopes and then began trying his luck as an umpire. But Weaver’s luck was running out. Fans were unhappy with his officiating, and in 1911, 17-year-old Hazel went to the authorities. She claimed Weaver had abused her since she was 11, forced her to live with him and fathered her child. After Weaver was arrested and posted bond, he fled. He was captured, found guilty of statutory rape, and sent to the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing for a sentence of five to 21 years.
While in prison, Weaver was given an unusual privilege – the opportunity to coach a promising young pitcher by the name of Lore Bader. Buck also became a member of the prison’s Athletic Committee, serving as the program’s baseball advisor. and he coached and played for the prison team, the Black Sox. The 49-year-old Weaver was paroled in January 1915 after serving less than three years by Governor George Hodges, a former teammate of Weaver’s at Olathe. Buck moved to Ohio and went to work for Goodyear. According to Ancestry.com records, William “Buck” Weaver never remarried and died in 1943 at the age of 77. Whether he ever had contact with his son is unknown. The boy did not go by his father’s surname.
SOURCES: Society for American Baseball Research; Kansas State Historical Society; Archives of The Advocate, Investigator, Wichita Beacon, El Dorado Daily Republican, Lansing News and Larned Chronoscope; sportsecyclopedia.com; Wikipedia; Ancestry.com; ClearBuck.com; and History of Kearny County Vol. I.