The Top 100 Cubs Of All Time - #10 Billy Herman

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 10:17 AM CST in Top 100 Cubs

The much-anticipated and discussed top ten all-time Cub profiles begin today. I don't think any of you are too surprised to find out who #10 is.

Profile by BCB reader Ihatethecards (with additions by Al)

William Jennings Bryan Herman was born in New Albany, Indiana, right across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky, on July 7, 1909. As we have seen in some other top 100 profiles of players born in that era, he was named after a popular politician of his day. During his playing career he was known for his stellar defense and consistent batting; in fact, he still holds many National League defensive records for second basemen.

He attended New Albany High School, and began playing in the minor leagues in 1927, right out of high school. He broke into the majors in 1931 when the Chicago Cubs purchased his contract from Louisville for $50,000. He asserted himself as a star the following season, starting all 154 games in 1932 and had 206 hits, scored 102 runs and had a .314 batting average.

A fixture in the Chicago lineup over the next decade, Herman was a consistent hitter and solid producer. He regularly hit .300 or higher (high of .341 in 1935) and drove in a high of 93 runs in 1936.

After a sub-standard offensive year in 1940, Herman was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers early in their pennant winning 1941 season for Johnny Hudson, Charlie Gilbert, and $65,000. Along with the earlier trade of Augie Galan, this was one of the deals which started the Cubs on their decline of the 1940's, stemmed only by the 1945 pennant. Meantime, Herman had one of his finest offensive season with the 1943 Dodgers, when he batted .330 with 100 RBI's. Herman missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons to serve in World War II, but returned to play in 1946 with the Dodgers and Boston Braves (where he was traded midseason for Stew Hofferth). He was traded again prior to the 1947 season to the Pittsburgh Pirates in one of those multi-player deals so popular in those days, along with Elmer Singleton, Stan Wentzel and Whitey Wietelmann, in exchange for Bob Elliott and Hank Camelli. Herman assumed managerial duties (managing, among others, Hank Greenberg in his final major league season), and finished his playing career; that deal worked out better for the Braves and Elliott. Elliott won the 1947 NL MVP, and the Braves won the pennant in 1948.

Herman then managed in the minor leagues, beginning in June 1948 with the American Association's Minneapolis Millers, then became a major league coach with the Dodgers (1952-57), Braves (now in Milwaukee) (1958-59) and Boston Red Sox (1960-64), before managing the Red Sox to mediocre records in 1965 and 1966; his 1965 Boston club lost 100 games. He coached for the California Angels (1967) and late in his career served in player development roles with the Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres. His final record as a major league manager was 189-274 (.408).

Herman finished his career with a .304 batting average, 1163 runs, 47 home runs, 839 RBI and a minuscule 428 strikeouts. He played on four National League pennant winners (in 1932, 1935, and 1938 with the Cubs, and 1941 as a Dodger), but never on a World Champion. As a Cub he hit .309 (tied for 9th on the all-time team list); his 5532 Cub at-bats are 15th; and his 1712 Cub hits rank 12th all-time for the team. He hit 346 doubles as a Cub, 10th all-time.

Herman still holds the National League record for most putouts in a season by a second baseman and led the league in putouts seven times. He also shares the major league record for most hits on opening day, with five, set April 14, 1936. His 666 at-bats in 1935 set the Cubs' club record for a season; it stood for 71 years until Juan Pierre broke it in 2006.

During Herman's time with the Dodgers, he befriended writer Ernest Hemingway, as Hemingway lived in Cuba, where the Dodgers trained in the 1940's. In Herman's words:

"Hemingway was a baseball fan. He used to come out to the park every day to watch us train. We got friendly and he invited us out to a gun club to shoot with him. They had live pigeons and clay pigeons. It was one of the few places where they had traps under ground.

"He was a good shot, better than any of us. We shot with him every day for a week or 10 days until we had this safari to his house. We had dinner and we sat around and talked. He wanted to talk baseball. We were more interested in hunting. Larry French was an avid game hunter. He was interested in seeing pictures of a lion hunt--there were about a thousand of them--that Hemingway had been on.

"He was one of the most interesting men I ever talked to," Herman said. "This was in March, 1942, when the war was in Burma. He had covered that whole area as a newspaperman once, he said, and he told us what would happen. He said how far the Japanese would go and where they could be stopped. He was pretty much right as I recall."

At the time Hemingway had recently written "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Herman said, "It had just come out. He gave us each an autographed copy of the book. I guess I've lost it with all the moving around I've done since then."

Herman was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975 by the old Veterans Committee. He died in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 5, 1992. He is buried in Riverside Memorial Park in Tequesta, Florida. In 2005, the park district in his hometown of New Albany, Indiana renamed the playing fields of Falling Run Park in his honor. Recently, another graduate of New Albany High School, Steve Stemle, made the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals.

Billy Herman's career stats at baseball-reference.com

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Comments

Hemingway

I realize that this is slightly off topic, but was Hemingway a Cubs fan? Does anyone know? After all, he did go to OPRF.

by alwaysacub on Feb 9, 2007 10:45 AM CST reply actions

Good question.

I have no idea. Anyone else?

He would have been a kid (born in 1899) during the Cubs' title years of 1906-1910. He lived in Chicago until 1921. So who knows?

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 10:53 AM CST up reply actions

Hemingway

Very interesting to read Herman's observations about Hemmingway. I know it's probably unfair, but my hunch is that there aren't too many baseball players, then or now, who would have similar (even moderate) erudite aspirations.

RICK SCHWAB!

by ExNorthsider on Feb 9, 2007 10:53 AM CST reply actions

Yogi and Hemingway

Not all players back then were particularly erudite. Not Yogi Berra, anyway. The story goes that someone introduced Hemingway to Berra, saying, "Yogi, I want you to meet Ernest Hemingway. He's a writer."

Yogi replied, "Hi there Ernie. What paper do you write for?"

"Eighty-five percent of the $#@&$ world's working! The other 15 come out here! A %&$&# playground for the $&&*@!"

by danimal15 on Feb 9, 2007 11:41 AM CST reply actions

Herman's fielding

Maybe I'm being too hard on the guy, but Herman doesn't seem like a great fielder to me. He made 30 errors or more in four seasons and 29 in another. His high was 45 errors in 1933. His career FP at 2B was just one point above the league average for the years he played there, and in some years, his FP was far below the league average.

Looking at Herman's fielding stats just reinforces how great Sandberg was at 2B by comparison. His .989 career FP at the position was eight points higher than the league average.

Interesting to see how errors declined and FP rose over the years at that position. League FP during Herman's years at 2b was .966, compared with .981 for Sandberg's years. I think this speaks to much better gloves and also better maintenance of fields. Astroturf, which was common during Sandberg's career, probably also made a difference. However, FP at 2B hasn't gone down with the removal of so many artificial turf stadiums over the last decade. It was .982 last year.

"Eighty-five percent of the $#@&$ world's working! The other 15 come out here! A %&$&# playground for the $&&*@!"

by danimal15 on Feb 9, 2007 11:51 AM CST reply actions

It's not only that...

... it's better gloves. As you likely know, FP isn't a very good measure of how good a fielder a player is.

Look at Herman's range factors compared to the league average, especially during his Cub career. That, and the fact that he still holds the total chances record, imply that he had tremendous range -- which also would tell you why the error total was so large.

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 11:54 AM CST up reply actions

Just FYI

I did mention better gloves. Go back and read my comment again.

"Eighty-five percent of the $#@&$ world's working! The other 15 come out here! A %&$&# playground for the $&&*@!"

by danimal15 on Feb 9, 2007 12:18 PM CST up reply actions

Range

Indeed, his range may very well explain a lot of the errors. Sandberg always got criticized for having poor range, especially to his left. But I do remember a lot of circus plays he made going behind the bag at second.

"Eighty-five percent of the $#@&$ world's working! The other 15 come out here! A %&$&# playground for the $&&*@!"

by danimal15 on Feb 9, 2007 12:19 PM CST up reply actions

Sorry...

.. I did see the field maintenance part, but missed the word "gloves" in there.

Sandberg had way better range when he was younger. A lot of his later-career GG's were won on reputation, not fact.

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 12:35 PM CST up reply actions

The Put-out record

Is also another fact that shows that Herman had range. Hard to believe that no one has broken that record yet.

Al - Thanks for the additions. You made the story much better.

by Ihatethecards on Feb 9, 2007 1:27 PM CST up reply actions

You're welcome.

Herman's really one of the most forgotten Hall of Famers. If only he could have played his whole career in a Cub uniform, as Stan Hack did.

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 2:41 PM CST up reply actions

Astroturf and "new" grass

Yes, Astroturf (and its successors) have been removed. But the grass in most fields, isn't your grandparent's or even your parent's grass. All sort of new "technology" which causes grass to grow and which improves drainage, have made today's grass fields far more "reliable" than the fields of yore.

by frustratedfan on Feb 9, 2007 12:00 PM CST up reply actions

I was CERTAIN

it would be Joe Kmak. He must be #9.

PTBNL!

by gravedigger on Feb 9, 2007 12:05 PM CST reply actions

You'll just have to wait and see!

n/t

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 12:38 PM CST up reply actions

Williams Jennings Bryan Herman?

No kidding. That blows me away, for some reason.

Nice job!

HENDRY!

by cubbiejulie on Feb 9, 2007 12:37 PM CST reply actions

There are so many examples of that...

... some of which we have already seen on this list (Grover Cleveland Alexander, for example). For some reason people wanted to do this in those days.

There's another upcoming in this list -- Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown, born in 1876.

My all-time favorite is Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish.

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 12:39 PM CST up reply actions

How about

Theodore Roosevelt Lilly - also known as Ted Lilly?

No joke. Check baseballreference.com

"Eighty-five percent of the $#@&$ world's working! The other 15 come out here! A %&$&# playground for the $&&*@!"

by danimal15 on Feb 9, 2007 1:16 PM CST up reply actions

Good point, and true.

n/t

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 1:18 PM CST up reply actions

Herman's #10

seems deserved. The disastrous trade to the Dodgers showed how valuable he was, as I think many Dodgers attributed their '41 pennant--2.5 games over the Cards--to the trade and Herman's presence. Meanwhile, the Cubs dropped from 75 wins in '40 to 70-84 in '41 and finished in 6th, 30 games back.

As for Herman's fielding, I think his assists totals are more telling than his fielding pct. He made 10 all-star teams, finished in the top-5 in the MVP 3 times, hit .309 as a Cub, and had 2345 hits (although fewer than 2000 with the Cubs). If you give him some credit for missing two prime years due to the war, his Hall of Fame status is understandable.

Comparing him with Stan Hack, though, still makes you wonder how the Hall has overlooked Smilin' Stan, who had 2193 hits and 1092 walks, and that glittering .394 career OBP (Herman's was .367). Hack is the franchise leader in walks, 6th in hits, 7th in runs and 2Bs, and 10th in total bases. His OPS was .791 compared to Herman's .774. He made only half as many all-star teams as Herman's 10, and he did play through the war. But I don't think there's any question he is in the top-10 all-time of 3Bs; I don't think Herman quite makes the top 10 of 2Bs, although it might be close.

by bleacher on Feb 9, 2007 1:24 PM CST reply actions

Are Other BLOGs doing this?

If so, it would be interesting to compare the number 10's, for example. I have always felt that the White Sox, for being an old team, have one of the weakest list of "best" players in Franchise history, but with Herman at number 10, the Cubs really aren't showing a lot of "umph" either... particularly as it is likely that most of the Cubs top ten have played for the team in the last 40 years -- Santo, Williams, Banks, Jenkins, Sosa and Sandberg.

by frustratedfan on Feb 9, 2007 2:46 PM CST reply actions

Halos Heaven...

... did this last year, search for the profiles on their site.

That's where I got the idea.

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 2:48 PM CST up reply actions

Angels

I wonder who they rated the best Angel in history? Rod Carew had some great years there, but his best years were in Minnesota. Reggie Jackson also played there when he was past his prime. When you look at their 2002 champion team, no player really stands out. I suppose Darren Erstad has played his entire career there, and had some good years, but he's really gone downhill. Back in the 70s, the Angels had one of the most feared pitching staffs ever with both Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana. I imagine both of them were high on the list.

"Eighty-five percent of the $#@&$ world's working! The other 15 come out here! A %&$&# playground for the $&&*@!"

by danimal15 on Feb 9, 2007 4:03 PM CST up reply actions

Well...

... looking at their list, which is on their left sidebar (same as ours), would have answered this question.

It's Tim Salmon.

"[BCB] is much better than... well, everything." -- gravedigger, January 21, 2007

by Al Yellon on Feb 9, 2007 4:06 PM CST up reply actions

Angels

Hmm - they rated Tim Salmon number one and Nolan Ryan number two. The site calls Salmon "Mr. Angel." I'm so disconnected to California and to the AL - I hadn't really thought of him at all, and would probably have had trouble telling you which team he played on.

"Eighty-five percent of the $#@&$ world's working! The other 15 come out here! A %&$&# playground for the $&&*@!"

by danimal15 on Feb 9, 2007 4:06 PM CST up reply actions