Whitey Herzog, Hall of Fame St. Louis Cardinals manager, dies at 92

Whitey Herzog, the gruff and ingenious Corridor of Fame supervisor who guided the St. Louis Cardinals to a few pennants and a World Sequence title within the Eighties and perfected an intricate, nail-biting technique generally known as “Whiteyball,” has died. He was 92.

Cardinals spokesman Brian Bartow mentioned Tuesday the workforce had been knowledgeable of his dying by Herzog’s household. The workforce didn’t instantly have extra particulars about Herzog, who had been at Busch Stadium on April 4 for the Cardinals’ house opener.

“Whitey Herzog devoted his lifetime to the sport he beloved, excelling as a pacesetter on and off the sphere,” Jane Forbes Clark, chair of the Corridor of Fame’s board of administrators, mentioned in an announcement. “Whitey at all times introduced the very best out of each participant he managed with a forthright fashion that gained him respect all through the sport.”

A crew-cut, pot-bellied tobacco chewer who had no persistence for the “buddy-buddy” college of administration, Herzog joined the Cardinals in 1980 and helped finish the workforce’s decade-plus pennant drought by adapting it to the synthetic floor and distant fences of Busch Memorial Stadium. A typical Cardinals victory beneath Herzog was a low-scoring, 1-run recreation, sealed within the remaining innings by a “bullpen by committee,” relievers who could be changed after a single pitch, or briefly shifted to the outfield, then introduced again to the mound.

The Cardinals had energy hitters in George Hendrick and Jack Clark, however they largely relied on the velocity and resourcefulness of switch-hitters Vince Coleman and Willie McGee, the acrobatic fielding of shortstop and future Corridor of Famer Ozzie Smith and the efficient pitching of starters reminiscent of John Tudor and Danny Cox and relievers Todd Worrell, Ken Dayley and Jeff Lahti. For the ’82 champions, Herzog did not trouble rotating relievers, however merely introduced in future Corridor of Famer Bruce Sutter to complete the job.

“They (the media) appeared to assume there was one thing flawed with the best way we performed baseball, with velocity and protection and line-drive hitters,” Herzog wrote in his memoir “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” printed in 1987. “They referred to as it ‘Whiteyball’ and mentioned it could not final.”

Underneath Herzog, the Playing cards gained pennants in 1982, 1985 and 1987, and the World Sequence in 1982, after they edged the Milwaukee Brewers in seven video games. Herzog managed the Kansas Metropolis Royals to division titles in 1976-78, however they misplaced every time within the league championship to the New York Yankees.

General, Herzog was a supervisor for 18 seasons, compiling a file of 1,281 wins and 1,125 losses. He was named Supervisor of the Yr in 1985 and voted into the Corridor by the Veterans Committee in 2010, his plaque noting his “stern, but good-natured fashion,” and his emphasis on velocity, pitching and protection. Simply earlier than he formally entered the Corridor, the Cardinals retired his uniform quantity, 24.

When requested in regards to the secrets and techniques of managing, he would reply with a humorousness and a superb bullpen.

Herzog is survived by his spouse of 71 years, Mary Lou Herzog; their three youngsters, Debra, David and Jim, and their spouses; 9 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog was born in New Athens, Illinois, a blue-collar neighborhood that may form him lengthy after he left. He excelled in baseball and basketball and was open to skipping the occasional class to absorb a Cardinals recreation. Signed up by the Yankees, he was a middle fielder who found that he had competitors from a prospect born simply weeks earlier than him, Mickey Mantle.

Herzog by no means performed for the Yankees, however he did get to know supervisor Casey Stengel, one other grasp shuffler of gamers who grew to become a key affect. The sunshine-haired Herzog was named “The White Rat” due to his resemblance to Yankees pitcher Bob “The White Rat” Kuzava.

Like so many profitable managers, Herzog was a mediocre participant, batting simply .257 over eight seasons and taking part in a number of positions. His finest 12 months was with Baltimore in 1961, when he hit .291. He additionally performed for the Washington Senators, Kansas Metropolis Athletics and Detroit Tigers, with whom he ended his taking part in profession, in 1963.

“Baseball has been good to me since I stop making an attempt to play it,” he favored to say.

After working as a scout and coach, Herzog was employed in 1967 by the New York Mets as director of participant growth, with Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan among the many future stars he helped deliver alongside. The Mets favored him effectively sufficient to designate him the successor to Gil Hodges. However when the supervisor died instantly in 1972, the job went to Yogi Berra.

Herzog as a substitute debuted with the Texas Rangers the next season, ending simply 47-91 earlier than being changed by Billy Martin. He managed the Angels for just a few video games in 1974 and joined the Royals the next season, his time with Kansas Metropolis peaking in 1977 when the workforce completed 102-60.

Many gamers spoke warmly of Herzog, however he did not hesitate to rid his groups of these he now not needed, dumping such Cardinals stars as outfielder Lonnie Smith and beginning pitcher Joaquin Andujar. One commerce labored out brilliantly: Earlier than the 1982 season, he exchanged .300 hitting shortstop Garry Templeton, whom Herzog had chastised for not hustling, for the Padres’ light-hitting Ozzie Smith, now extensively considered the very best defensive shortstop in historical past. One other deal was much less far profitable: Gold Glove first baseman Keith Hernandez, with whom Herzog had feuded, to the Mets in the course of 1983 for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. Hernandez led New York to the World Sequence title in 1986, whereas Allen and Ownbey have been quickly forgotten.

Herzog was simply as robust on himself, resigning in the course of 1990 as a result of he was “embarrassed” by the workforce’s 33-47 file. He served as a marketing consultant and normal supervisor for the Angels within the early ’90s and briefly thought-about managing the Pink Sox earlier than the 1997 season.

If the ’82 championship was the spotlight of his profession, his biggest blow was the ’85 collection. The Cardinals have been up 3 video games to 2 in opposition to his former workforce, the Royals, and in Recreation 6 led 1-0 going into the underside of the ninth, with Worrell introduced in to complete the job.

Jorge Orta led off and grounded a 0-2 pitch between the mound and first base. In one of the vital well-known blown calls in baseball historical past, he was dominated secure by umpire Don Denkinger, regardless that replays confirmed first baseman Jack Clark’s toss to Worrell was in time. The Cardinals by no means recovered. Kansas Metropolis rallied for 2 runs to tie the collection and crushed the Playing cards 11-0 in Recreation 7.

“No, I am not bitter at Denkinger,” Herzog informed the AP years later. “He is a superb man, he is aware of he made a mistake, and he is a human being. It occurred at an inopportune time however I do assume they must have immediate replay within the playoffs and World Sequence.”

As if testing Herzog’s humor, the Corridor inducted him alongside an umpire, Doug Harvey.

“I do not know why he ought to get in,” Herzog joked on the time. “Doug kicked me out of extra video games than every other umpire.”