Former Cardinals, Royals manager Herzog dies at 92

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 “Whiteyball,” has died. He was 92.

Cardinals spokesman Brian Bartow said Tuesday the team had been informed of his death by Herzog’s family. The team did not immediately have additional details about Herzog, who had been at the Cardinals’ home opener on April 4.

“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 decade-plus pennant drought by adapting it to the artificial surface and distant fences of Busch Memorial Stadium. A typical victory under Herzog was a low-scoring, onerun 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.

The Cardinals had power hitters, but they mostly relied on the speed and resourcefulness of switch-hitters Vince Coleman and Willie McGee, the acrobatic fielding of shortstop and future Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith and the effective pitching of starters such as John Tudor and Danny Cox and relievers Todd Worrell, Ken Dayley and Jeff Lahti. For the ’82 champions, Herzog didn’t bother rotating relievers, but simply brought in future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter to finish the job.

“They (the media) seemed to think there was something wrong with the way we

played baseball, with speed and defense and line-drive hitters,” Herzog wrote in his memoir “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” published in 1987. “They called it ‘Whiteyball’ and said it couldn’t last.”

Under Herzog, the Cards won pennants in 1982, 1985 and 1987, and the World Series in 1982, when they edged the Brewers in seven games. Herzog managed the Kansas City Royals to division titles in 197678, but they lost each time in the league championship to the New York Yankees.

Overall, Herzog compiled a record of 1,281 wins and 1,125 losses in 18 seasons.

Herzog is survived by his wife of 71 years, Mary Lou Herzog; their three children, nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

AP FILE Whitey Herzog led the St. Louis Cardinals to three National League pennants in the 1980s, including a World Series title in 1982. His distinctive managing style became known as “Whiteyball.”