Ed Herrmann obit

 

Former big league catcher Herrmann dies at 67

Lauded for toughness, All-Star in '74 for White Sox battled prostate cancer

He was not on the list.

Former Major League catcher Ed Herrmann, who played seven of his 11 seasons with the White Sox, died on Sunday morning at age 67 after a lengthy battle with prostate cancer.

Herrmann, known by the nickname "Hoggy," first was diagnosed in 2009, and his condition took a turn for the worse late last year, according to Herrmann's page on the website caringbridge.org, which provided updates on his condition.

"Dear Friends. Ed lost his battle with cancer at 7:33am on December 22 after a very difficult 24 hours," read the latest post on the site. "Letting him go was easier than watching him suffer. We do have peace knowing he won his spiritual battle. This CHRISTmas, he is dancing in heaven with his Lord and Savior. For this we are grateful."

Herrmann's grandfather, Marty Herrmann, pitched one game for the Brooklyn Robins in 1918. But the San Diego native went on to a much longer career after signing with the Milwaukee Braves in 1964. He debuted briefly with the White Sox as a 21-year-old in '67, then stuck with the club from '69-'74 before moving on to the Yankees, Angels, Astros and Expos, retiring after the '78 season.

Herrmann built a reputation for toughness, work ethic and passion throughout his career. His friend and former White Sox teammate Bill Melton told the Chicago Tribune that Herrmann would insist on playing every day, no matter his condition.

"His famous words were, 'I'll be all right,'" Melton told the Tribune. "You never could get him out of the lineup. He never complained. 'They'll be all right.' That's the way he was."

Another former teammate, Dick Allen, wrote about Herrmann's toughness in a post on his personal website back in August, calling him "the very best I ever played with at blocking the plate."

"The most impressive thing about Ed Herrmann ... he loved the game," Allen wrote. "Even when he was given a day off from catching, he would go out to work with the pitchers in the bullpen."

Herrmann was a .240 career hitter, with 80 home runs, 320 RBIs and a .674 OPS, reaching double digits in homers every year from '70-'74. Although the left-handed hitter made the American League All-Star team in '74, his finest year with the bat came in '70, when he hit .283/.356/.505 with 19 homers and 52 RBIs in only 333 plate appearances.

His biggest contributions might have come behind the plate, rather than at it. According to a recent biography on the website hardballtimes.com, some teammates took to calling him "Fort Herrmann" for his prowess at protecting the dish, with The Sporting News once describing him as "a block of granite."

"I played high school football; I was a middle linebacker," Herrmann told the Hardball Times in an earlier interview, in 2011. "A lot of meanness was instilled me in that position. And I transferred that to the catching position."

Herrmann also drew praise as a receiver, particularly when it came to the knuckleball, which was a specialty of a few White Sox catchers of that time, including ace Wilbur Wood. Tigers executive Rick Ferrell, himself a Hall of Fame catcher with knuckleball experience, said Herrmann was the best he ever saw at handling the pitch, according to the Hardball Times piece.

Herrmann also had a hand in history on multiple occasions.

On July 9, 1976, while with the Astros, Herrmann caught Larry Dierker's no-hitter against the Expos at the Astrodome and also went 2-for-3 with a home run in a 6-0 victory. On July 4, 1972, he was involved in turning three double plays against the Orioles, setting a record for the most by a catcher in a single game.

After Herrmann's retirement, he continued to stay involved in baseball, writing on his personal website that he worked as a scout, tutor and coach, as well as a manager of a youth travel team that won four national championships. He also helped Melton during White Sox fantasy camps.

"Really his whole life was about baseball," Melton told the Tribune.

He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Chicago White Sox, the New York Yankees, the California Angels, the Houston Astros and the Montreal Expos from 1967 through 1978.

Herrmann was contracted as an amateur free agent by the Milwaukee Braves in 1964, and was then drafted from the Braves by the Chicago White Sox later that year. While playing for the Evansville White Sox in 1967, he led the Southern League in putouts, assists and in fielding percentage.

Herrmann made his Major League Baseball debut for the White Sox at the age of 20 on September 1, 1967. He returned to the minor leagues in 1968, before rejoining the White Sox in 1969, replacing Duane Josephson as their starting catcher. Herrmann had his best season offensively in 1970 when he posted a .283 batting average with 19 home runs and 52 runs batted in.

In 1972, Herrmann led the American League in intentional walks with 19, and led all American League catchers in baserunners caught stealing and in caught stealing percentage, as the White Sox battled the Oakland Athletics for the American League West Division championship, coming from eight and a half games behind on July 17 to take first place on August 20, before finishing the season five and a half games behind the eventual world champion Athletics. In a game against the Oakland Athletics on June 24, 1973, Herrmann hit a three-run home run, a two-run double and a two-run single, for a total of seven runs batted in, one short of the White Sox team record of eight.

Herrmann developed a reputation as one of the best knuckleball catchers in the American League from his work with such knuckleball pitchers as Hoyt Wilhelm, Wilbur Wood and Eddie Fisher. Wood won twenty or more games for four consecutive years between 1971 and 1974 with Herrmann as his catcher. Unfortunately for Herrmann, trying to catch the unpredictable knuckleball pitch also contributed to his leading American League catchers four times in passed balls allowed. In 1974, Herrmann was selected to be a member of the American League All-Star team.

Herrmann had a contract dispute with the White Sox during spring training in 1975, and after ten years with the White Sox organisation, he was traded to the New York Yankees on April 1 of that year. He served as a third-string catcher for the Yankees during the 1975 season, working behind Thurman Munson and ahead of Rick Dempsey, before he was purchased in February 1976 by the California Angels. Herrmann played only a half season with the Angels during which he platooned alongside right hand hitting catcher Andy Etchebarren. In June 1976, Herrmann was traded to the Houston Astros, where he replaced Milt May as the Astros' starting catcher. Herrmann was the Astros catcher on July 9, 1976 when pitcher Larry Dierker threw a no-hitter against the Montreal Expos. He worked as back up catcher to Joe Ferguson in 1977, posting a .291 batting average in 56 games. Herrmann was purchased by the Montreal Expos in 1978 where he was a reserve catcher, working behind Gary Carter.