Whitey Herzog - # 322

Whitey Herzog, Hall of Fame manager who led Cardinals to 3 pennants, dies at 92

 

He was number 322 on the list.

Herzog both batted and threw left-handed. He was originally signed by the New York Yankees by scout Lou Maguolo. While playing for the McAlester Rockets in the Sooner State League in 1949 and 1950, a sportscaster gave Herzog the nickname "Whitey" due to his light blonde hair and resemblance to blonde Yankees pitcher Bob "The White Rat" Kuzava, (rather than the light blonde Yankee starter and future Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, then on the way to a 9–1 rookie season. In 1953, during the Korean War, Herzog served the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, during which time he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and managed the camp's baseball team.

While still a minor league prospect, the Yankees traded Herzog to the Washington Senators on April 2, 1956, to complete a February trade in which the Yankees had sent Lou Berberet, Bob Wiesler, Dick Tettelbach, and Herb Plews to Washington for Mickey McDermott. He made his major league debut with the Senators in 1956 and played for them until May 15, 1958, when he was sold to the Kansas City Athletics. Before the 1961 season, the Athletics traded Herzog and Russ Snyder to the Baltimore Orioles for Wayne Causey, Jim Archer, Bob Boyd, Clint Courtney, and Al Pilarcik. After the 1962 season, the Orioles traded Herzog and Gus Triandos to the Detroit Tigers for Dick Brown. Herzog retired after playing for the Tigers in the 1963 season. In 634 games spread over eight seasons, Herzog batted .257 with 25 home runs, 172 runs batted in, 213 runs scored, 60 doubles, 20 triples, and 13 stolen bases. In reference to his relative success as a player versus being a manager, Herzog said, "Baseball has been good to me since I quit trying to play it."

After his playing career ended, Herzog rejoined the Athletics for two seasons, as a scout in 1964 and a coach in 1965.

The next seven years were spent with the New York Mets, the first, in 1966, as the third-base coach for manager Wes Westrum. Beginning in 1967 Herzog then made his mark with the club during his six-year tenure as its director of player development. On his watch, the Mets produced young talent that either appeared on one or both of its 1969 and 1973 World Series teams in or were dealt and had successful major league careers elsewhere. Among it was Gary Gentry, Wayne Garrett, Jon Matlack, John Milner, Amos Otis and Ken Singleton. Herzog was a candidate to become the Mets' manager after the death of Gil Hodges prior to the 1972 season, but was passed over in favor of first-base coach Yogi Berra, a future Yankee Hall of Fame catcher and brief ex-Met player, by chairman of the board M. Donald Grant. He had been ordered to not attend Hodges' funeral by Grant's associates to avoid speculation.

Herzog's style of play, based on the strategy of attrition, was nicknamed "Whiteyball" and concentrated on pitching, speed, and defense to win games rather than on home runs. Herzog's lineups generally consisted of one or more base-stealing threats at the top of the lineup, with a power threat such as George Brett or Jack Clark hitting third or fourth, protected by one or two productive hitters, followed by more base stealers. This tactic kept payrolls low, while allowing Herzog to win consistently in stadiums with deep fences and artificial turf, both of which were characteristics of Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) and Busch Memorial Stadium during his managerial career.

A less noticed (at the time) aspect of Herzog's offensive philosophy was his preference for patient hitters with high on-base percentages: such players included Royals Brett, Hal McRae, and Amos Otis, and Cardinals Clark, Keith Hernandez, José Oquendo, and Ozzie Smith, as well as Darrell Porter, who played for Herzog in both Kansas City and St. Louis. However, in St. Louis, Herzog also employed free-swinging hitters who were less patient, but speedy runners and fielders, such as six-time NL stolen base champion Vince Coleman and 1985 NL MVP Willie McGee.

 

Teams

As player

Washington Senators (1956–1958)

Kansas City Athletics (1958–1960)

Baltimore Orioles (1961–1962)

Detroit Tigers (1963)

As manager

Texas Rangers (1973)

California Angels (1974)

Kansas City Royals (1975–1979)

St. Louis Cardinals (1980–1990)

Career highlights and awards

World Series champion (1969, 1982)

NL Manager of the Year (1985)

St. Louis Cardinals No. 24 retired

Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame

St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame