Billy Herman

William Jennings Bryan Herman

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• High School New Albany (IN) High School
• Debut August 29, 1931
• Final Game August 1, 1947
• Born July 7, 1909 in New Albany, IN USA
• Died September 5, 1992 in West Palm Beach, FL USA

Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1975

BR page

Biographical Information

Hall of Fame second baseman Billy Herman played 15 years in the major leagues and was a perennial All-Star. He was in the top five in MVP voting three times and played in four World Series, ending up on the losing end each time.

Named after William Jennings Bryan, Herman played parts of four years in the minors with the Louisville Colonels (and never hit below .305 during that span) before his contract was purchased by the Chicago Cubs for $30,000 in August 1931. He made his debut on August 29th against the Cincinnati Reds and hit a single off Si Johnson in his first at-bat. The next summer, in 1932, he appeared in all 154 games as his team won the National League pennant. He had perhaps his best season at the plate in 1935, when he hit .341 and led the NL with 227 hits and 57 doubles, as Chicago captured another NL crown. The Cubs won another pennant with Herman in the lineup in 1938.

Herman was dealt to the Brooklyn Dodgers in May 1941 and helped them win their first pennant that year since 1920. However, his playing time in the World Series was limited by a torn muscle and Brooklyn fell to the crosstown New York Yankees. After driving in a career-high 100 runs for the Dodgers in 1943, he entered the Navy in March 1944. According to Baseball in Wartime, he played service ball at various Pacific islands. He was discharged in December 1945.

Coming back to the Dodgers in 1946, Herman was traded to the Boston Braves later that year. After that season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he spent 1947 as the club's player-manager. Following his major league playing career, he was a player-manager with the Minneapolis Millers in 1948 and played for the Oakland Oaks in 1950 (hitting .307 as a 40-year-old).

Herman didn't usually lead the league in offensive categories but he was often in the top ten, as indicated by his Gray Ink score of 134. Defensively, on the other hand, he was often #1 in the league in put-outs, assists, range factor or fielding percentage at second base.

After his playing days ended, Herman managed the Richmond Colts in 1951. He was a Brooklyn Dodgers coach from 1952 to 1957 and a member of the Milwaukee Braves staff in 1958 and 1959. He became a Boston Red Sox coach in 1960 and took over as their manager late in the 1964 season. After managing the Red Sox for almost two years, but with little success - in 1965, the team had its only post-1932 100-loss season under his guidance - he was a California Angels coach in 1967. He managed the Tri-City A's in 1969 and was a member of the San Diego Padres staff in 1978 and 1979.

Herman was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975 and in the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. His granddaughter, Cheri, is Indiana First Lady, the wife of Governor Mitch Daniels. His first Baseball Card appearance was in the 1933 Goudey set.

"If I were managing a team, I'd never let my catcher give signals with Herman on second base. I'd have some other player give them. But even then I couldn't bet Billy wouldn't steal them." - Larry MacPhail.

Notable Achievements

• 10-time NL All-Star (1934-1943)
• NL Hits Leader (1935)
• NL Doubles Leader (1935)
• NL Triples Leader (1939)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1943)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 5 (1932, 1935-1937 & 1939)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 3 (1932, 1935 & 1936)
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1975

Preceded by Spud Davis

Pittsburgh Pirates Manager 1947

Succeeded by Bill Burwell

Preceded by Johnny Pesky

Boston Red Sox Manager 1964-1966

Succeeded by Pete Runnels

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1947	Pittsburgh Pirates	National League	61-92	--	Pittsburgh Pirates		replaced by Bill Burwell on September 28
1948	Minneapolis Millers	American Association	46-44	5th	New York Giants		replaced Frank Shellenback
1951	Richmond Colts	Piedmont League	42-44	--	none		replaced by Roy Allen on July 16
1964	Boston Red Sox	American League	2-0	8th	Boston Red Sox		replaced Johnny Pesky (70-90) on October 3
1965	Boston Red Sox	American League	62-100	9th	Boston Red Sox
1966	Boston Red Sox	American League	64-82	--	Boston Red Sox		replaced by Pete Runnels on September 9
1969	Tri-City A's	Northwest League	41-38	2nd	Oakland Athletics

Related Sites

• Billy Herman at the SABR Bio Project
• BR Manager page
• Veterans of Wars who are Baseball Hall of Fame Members