KMOV TV Ch. 4 report on former St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog resigning as manager, 1990 (Zip Rzeppa, Larry Conners)
(WikiPedia) Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog (born November 9, 1931) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager, most notable for his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial career. Died: Apr 15, 2024 (age 92 years)
Born in New Athens, Illinois, Herzog made his MLB debut as a player in 1956 with the Washington Senators. After his playing career ended in 1963, Herzog went on to perform a variety of roles in Major League Baseball, including scout, manager, coach, general manager, and farm system director. As a big-league manager, he led the Kansas City Royals to three consecutive playoff appearances from 1976 to 1978. Hired by Gussie Busch in 1980 to helm the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cardinals won the 1982 World Series over the Milwaukee Brewers and made two other World Series appearances, in 1985 and 1987 under Herzog's direction. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 25, 2010, and was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum on August 16, 2014.
Herzog continued building his managerial credentials with the Kansas City Royals (1975-79) and St. Louis Cardinals (1980-90). He succeeded Jack McKeon as Royals manager on July 24, 1975. At the time, the Royals were in second place in the American League West but trailed the defending and eventual division champion Oakland Athletics by 11 games. He had his greatest success in Kansas City, where he won three straight American League Western division titles from 1976 to 1978, and in St. Louis, where he won the 1982 World Series and the National League Pennant in 1985 and 1987. In total, he led six division winners, three pennant winners, and one World Series winner in compiling a 1,281-1,125 (.532) career record.
With his extensive background in player development, Herzog also was a general manager with both the Cardinals (1980-82) and the California Angels. He succeeded interim skipper Jack Krol as manager of the Redbirds on June 9, 1980, managed for 73 games, then moved into the club's front office as GM on August 26, turning the team over to Red Schoendienst. During the offseason, Herzog reclaimed the manager job, then held both the GM and field manager posts with St. Louis for almost two full seasons, during which he acquired or promoted many players who would star on the Cardinals' three World Series teams of the 1980s. In a 1983 poll of MLB players by The New York Times, Herzog was voted best manager in baseball.
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 hitters with lesser power, 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 fast runners, such as Vince Coleman and Willie McGee.
Whitey Herzog's number 24 was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2010.
Herzog's final season with the Cardinals, and in his managerial career, was the 1990 season; he resigned on July 6 of that year with the team at 33-47 and in last place in the NL East. He jokingly stated, "I came here in last place and I leave here in last place. I left them right where I started." His overall Cardinals record is 822 wins and 728 losses. His career managerial record is 1,281 wins and 1,125 losses.
6 сен 2024
