Hiram Ebright (Buck) was the second player to make his Major League debut from our list of 384 Cedar Rapids professional baseball alumni who have played in Cedar Rapids either before or after their MLB debut. Ebright made his big league debut on April 24, 1889 at the age of 30, playing for the Washington Nationals one year before Cedar Rapids fielded its first squad. Ebright hit .254 with two doubles, two triples, a HR and six RBI in 16 games for the 1889 Nationals squad in his only big league season. He served as a utility player appearing in games as a catcher, shortstop and outfielder.

Hiram Ebright played six seasons in the California League appearing in games for the San Francisco Haverlys, Stockton, Oakland Colonels, San Jose Dukes and San Francisco Friscos between 1888 and 1893. Ebright then spent four seasons as a player manager in the Western League. He served as manager for the Lincoln Treeplanters for two seasons (1894-95) before spending part of  a season each as the player manager for the Cedar Rapids Rabbits (1896) and the Peoria Blackbirds (1897). Ebright split playing the 1898 season between St. Joseph Saints and the Reading Coal Heavers. He played one final season with the Sioux City Cornhuskers at age 41.

Ebright served as an umpire in the Western League, American Association, Southern League and American League. In 1902, while working as a clerk at the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, Ebright was charged with laying out and setting up the diamond at new Athletic Park. He took over as the groundskeeper in May of 1903 before leaving the position for an umpiring opportunity in the Southern League.

Hi Ebright served as the Cedar Rapids Rabbits player manager for the beginning of the 1896 season before Beldin Hill took over. The Rabbits finished in fourth place in their first season in the Western Association with a 32-47 record.

Hiram C. Ebright died on October 24, 1914 at age 57 in Milwaukee, WI. where he was buried at Evergreen Cemetery.

The article above was from the June 29, 1896 edition of the Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette. It is a feature covering Hi Ebright’s resignation mid-season as the Cedar Rapids Rabbits player manager. Ebright suggested Beldin Hill as his successor. Hill piloted the Cedar Rapids squad to league championships in 1897 and 1906.