Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog dies, as does Carl Erskine of ‘Boys of Summer’
Whitey Herzog, the Hall of Fame manager of the 1982 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, died Tuesday at 92.
Herzog is survived by Mary Lou, his wife of 71 years, along with three children, nine grandchildren and 10 greatgrandchildren.
Herzog compiled a record of 1,281-1,125-3 (.532) across 18 seasons as manager of the Texas Rangers (1973), California Angels (1974), Kansas City Royals (1975-79) and Cardinals (1980-90).
He guided the Cardinals to a seven-game triumph against Milwaukee in the ’82 World Series and led St. Louis to two more National League pennants in 1985 and ’87. His 822 wins with St. Louis rank third in franchise history behind fellow Hall of Famers Tony La Russa (1,408) and Red Schoendienst (1,041).
Herzog was NL Manager of the Year in 1985 and was inducted into Cooperstown in the Class of
2010. He is also a member of the Royals’ and Cardinals’ Halls of Fame.
As a manager, his strategy that became known as “Whiteyball” was based on valuing pitching, speed and defense over home runs. He prioritized base stealers and patient hitters with high on-base percentages.
An outfielder, Herzog played eight seasons in the majors with the Washington
Nationals/Senators (1956-58), Kansas City Athletics (1958-60), Baltimore Orioles (1961-62) and Detroit Tigers (1963). He batted .257 with 25 homers and 172 RBI in 634 games.
Herzog had been the second-oldest living Hall of Famer. Willie Mays, also 92, was born six months before Herzog.
ERSKINE A DODGER IN BROOKLYN AND L.A.
Carl Erskine, who made the move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles with the Dodgers, died Tuesday at his home in Anderson, Ind. He was 97.
One of the “Boys of Summer,” as immortalized by author Roger Kahn, Erskine appeared in 335 games (216 starts) between 1948 and 1959 with the Dodgers and had a 122-70 record with a 4.00 ERA and 13 saves. The right-hander won 20 games in 1953 and was an All-Star the following season.
In all he threw 1,7182 ⁄3 innings and had 71 complete games and 14 shutouts. Among his wins were two no-hitters – against the Chicago Cubs in 1952 and four years later against the New York Giants. That 1956 game was the Saturday game of the week on TV, and it became the first televised no-hitter.
He also pitched in five World Series with the Dodgers, winning the 1955 championship. In all, he had a 2-2 record in 11 postseason games.
But Erskine was defined by much more than wins and losses. After growing up in a diverse neighborhood in Anderson with a Black best friend, Johnny Wilson, Erskine became a champion for human rights.
Erskine joined the Dodgers a year after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier, and the two became forever friends.
Erskine told the IndyStar in 2015 about the day Robinson approached him in the locker room.
He recalled the conservation this way, with Robinson asking, “Hey Erskine, how come you don’t have a problem with this Black and white thing?”
“I said, ‘Well, I grew up with Johnny Wilson,’”
Erskine recalled. “’I didn’t know he was Black. He was my buddy. And so I don’t have a problem.’”
TUESDAY’S EARLY GAME
Tigers 4, Rangers 2: Gio Urshela had an RBI single and Matt Vierling scored on a wild pitch in the eighth inning to put Detroit ahead, and the Tigers' pitchers continued their solid work.
On Monday night, Michael Lorenzen made his Rangers debut and pitched five scoreless innings to set the tone in a 1-0 victory over the Tigers. He represented the Tigers at the All-Star Game last season before he was traded to Philadelphia on Aug. 1. Lorenzen signed a one-year, freeagent deal this spring.
Atlanta Philadelphia New York Washington Miami Central
Milwaukee Pittsburgh Chicago Cincinnati St. Louis West
10 9 8 7 3 W
10 11 10 9 8 W
5 8 8 9 14
L
5 6 6 7 9 L
.667 .529 .500 .438 .176
Pct
.667 .647 .625 .562 .471
Pct
— — 2 11⁄2 21⁄2 2 31⁄2 3 8 71⁄2 GB WCGB
— — — 11⁄2 1 3 21⁄2 GB WCGB
— —
Los Angeles San Diego Arizona S.F. Colorado
WEDNESDAY AMERICAN LEAGUE
Minnesota (Lopez 1-2) at Baltimore (Wells 0-2), 1:05
Texas at Detroit (Skubal 2-0), 1:10
Kansas City (Wacha 1-1) at Chi. White Sox (Fedde 0-0), 2:10
N.Y. Yankees (Stroman 1-1) at Toronto (Gausman 0-2), 3:07
L.A. Angels (Detmers 3-0) at Tampa Bay (Littell 1-0), 6:50
Cleveland (Lively 0-0) at Boston (Houck 2-1), 7:10
NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Francisco (Winn 0-3) at Miami (Rogers 0-2), 12:10
Pittsburgh (Falter 1-0) at N.Y. Mets (Severino 1-1), 1:10
San Diego (King 2-0) at Milwaukee, 1:10 Washington (Irvin 0-1) at L.A. Dodgers, 3:10
Chi. Cubs (Wicks 0-2) at Arizona (Pfaadt 1-0), 3:40
Colorado (Feltner 1-1) at Philadelphia (Sanchez 0-2), 6:05
INTERLEAGUE
Atlanta (Fried 1-0) at Houston (France 0-2), 2:10
St. Louis (Matz 1-0) at Oakland (Blackburn 1-0), 3:37
Cincinnati (Abbott 1-1) at Seattle (Miller 2-1), 4:10
11 10 8 7 4
8 9 9 10 13
.579 .526 .471 .412 .235
TUESDAY
AMERICAN LEAGUE Detroit 4, Texas 2 Minnesota at Baltimore L.A. Angels at Tampa Bay N.Y. Yankees at Toronto Cleveland at Boston
— 1 2 3 6
— 11⁄2 21⁄2 31⁄2 61⁄2
S.F. AB R H BI BB SO Avg. J.Lee cf 4 1 2 1 1 1 .258 Wade Jr. 1b 3 0 1 0 0 2 .372 Flores 1b 2 0 1 1 0 1 .250 Soler dh 3 0 1 0 0 2 .233 Conforto lf 4 0 1 1 0 1 .295 M.Chapman 3b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .188 Estrada 2b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .227 Yastrzemski rf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .125 Bailey c 2 0 0 1 1 1 .289 Ahmed ss 311011 .265
Totals 32 4 8 4 4 12
Miami AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Arraez 1b 4 1 3 0 0 0 .284 B.De La Cruz lf 5 0 1 2 0 1 .278 Bell dh 4 0 0 0 0 0 .190 Ti.Anderson ss 3 0 1 0 1 0 .278 Chisholm Jr. cf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .228 Av.Garcia rf 4 1 1 1 0 2 .200 Rivera 1b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .200 Gordon ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .214 Brujan 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .100 Fortes c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .103 J.Sanchez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .161 O.Lopez 3b 4 1 1 0 0 2 .250
Totals 36 3 10 3 1 5
S.F. 000 100 300 — 4 82 Miami 030 000 000 — 3 10 0
E—Ahmed 2(2).LOB—S.F. 7, Miami 8.2B—B.De La Cruz (3), Estrada (3).HR— Av.Garcia (2), off Harrison.RBIs—Bailey
(4), Conforto (14), B.De La Cruz 2 (8), Flores (5), Av.Garcia (2), J.Lee (5).SB— Chisholm Jr. (4).CS—Ti.Anderson (1), J.Lee (2), Wade Jr. (1).S—Arraez, SF—Bailey.
Runners left in scoring position—S.F. 3 (Conforto 2, Estrada); Miami 5 (Bell 2, Chisholm Jr., Fortes, Gordon).
S.F. IP H RERBBSO ERA Harrison W,2-1 6 8 3 3 1 2 4.70 Ty.Rogers H, 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.26 R.Walker H, 1 1 0 0 0 1 1.93 Doval S, 2-2 11⁄3 1 0 0 0 2 4.50
Miami IP H R ER BB SO ERA E.Cabrera 6 5 1 1 110 1.50 G.Soriano 1 3 3 2 0 10.29 L,0-1
Nardi BS,2-2 2 0 0 0 0 11.74 Hoeing 2 0 0 0 1 2 1.54
Inherited runners-scored—Nardi 2-2, Doval 1-0.HBP—by Nardi (Soler).WP— G.Soriano. Umpires—Home, Lazaro Diaz; First, Tripp Gibson III; Second, Mike Estabrook; Third, Erich Bacchus.
T—2:36.A—8,290 (37,000).