HOF manager, who led Cards to 3 pennants, dies at age 92
NEW YORK» Whitey Herzog, the gruff and ingenious Hall of Fame manager who guided the St. Louis Cardinals to three pennants and a World Series title in the 1980s and perfected an intricate, nail-biting strategy known as “Whitey ball ,” has died. He was 92.
Cardinals spokesman Brian Bartow said Tuesday the team had been informed of Herzog’s death by his family. Herzog, who had been at Busch Stadium on April 4 for the Cardinals’ home opener, died on Monday, according to Bartow.
“Whitey Herzog devoted his lifetime to the game he loved, excelling as a leader on and off the field,” Jane Forbes Clark, chair of the Hall of Fame’ s board of directors, said in a statement .“Whitey always brought the best out of every player he managed with a forthright style that won him respect throughout the game.”
A crew-cut, pot-bellied tobacco chewer who had no patience for the “buddy-buddy” school of management, Herzog joined the Cardinals in 1980 and helped end the team’s decadeplus pennant drought by adapting it to the artificial surface and distant fences of Busch Memorial Stadium. A typical Cardinals victory under Herzog was a low- scoring, 1- run game, sealed in the final innings by a “bullpen by committee,” relievers who might be replaced after a single pitch, or temporarily shifted to the outfield, then brought back to the mound.
For the ‘ 82 champions, Herzog didn’t b other rotating relievers, but simply brought in future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter to finish the job.
“They ( the m edia) seemed to t hink there was something wrong with the way we played baseball, with s peed a nd d efense and line- drive hitters,” Herzog w rote i n his memoir “White R at: A Life i n Baseball,” published in 1987. “They called it ‘ Whiteyball’ and said it couldn’t last.”
Under Herzog, the Cards won pennants i n 1982, 1985 and 1987, and the World Series in 1 982, when they edged the Milwaukee Brewers in s even games. Herzog managed the Kansas City Royals to division titles in 1976- 78.
Overall, Herzog was a manager for 18 seasons, compiling a record of 1,281 wins and 1,125 losses. He was named Manager of the Year in 1985 and voted into t he Hall by the Veterans Committee in 2010, his plaque noting his “stern, yet good- natured style,” and his emphasis on speed, pitching and defense.
Herzog is survived by his wife of 7 1 years, Mary Lou Herzog; their three children, Debra, David and Jim, and their spouses; nine g randchildren a nd 1 0 great- grandchildren.