Greg Herman

Gregory C. Herman

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 5", Weight 210 lbs.
• High School Lakewood (CA) High School

• Born April 30, 1956 in USA

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Tall southpaw Greg Herman was drafted out of high school by the St. Louis Cardinals organization in the 3rd round of the June 1974 Amateur Draft. He spent that summer with two teams in their chain - the GCL Cardinals of the rookie Gulf Coast League, and Class A Modesto Reds of the California League. Between the two teams, he started nine games and posted high ERA of 7.31 and an unsightly WHIP of exactly 2.000. In 32 innings, he walked 18, allowed 46 base hits, hit 3 batters, let loose 4 wild pitches, and balked once while striking out 24.

The Cardinals kept him at the rookie league level for his age 19 season, 1975, but moved him to their affiliate Appalachian League, the Johnson City Cardinals. He seemed to find his footing, posting a vastly improved 2.90 ERA and 1.161 WHIP in 93 innings across 14 games (13 starts). He didn't hit a batter or toss a wild pitch that year, and his walk rate went from 5.1/9IP to 2.1/9IP. While his strike out rate also went down (from 6.8/9IP to 5.5/9IP), his hit rate plummeted from 12.9/9IP to a very manageable 8.3/9IP.

These encouraging results prompted the Cards to move him back up to A ball for 1976, but the Florida State League's St. Petersburg Cardinals. He was moved to the bullpen and only made 10 appearances with no starts, covering 14 innings. While his ERA was a respectable 3.86, his hit rate went up to 10.9/9IP, his walk rate increased to 4.5/9IP, fueling a 1.714 WHIP. Still, while records of injuries in the low minors in the 70s are hard to find, that few innings and appearances in a full-season league points to an injury of some sort.

Also, the Cardinals gave up on him at some point either during or after the season. He spent 1977, his final professional season, in the Seattle Mariners chain, appearing in 32 games (3 starts) on loan to the Appleton Foxes of the class A Midwest League in the Chicago White Sox chain [1], covering 74 innings. Results were mediocre - an ERA of 4.38, a 1.595 WHIP, a walk rate of 5.5/9IP, a career high 8 home runs allowed, 5 wild pitches, and 4 hit batsman. On the plus side, his hit rate went back down (to 8.9/9IP) and his strikeout rate went back up a little (to 6.6/9IP).

A decade after his playing career ended, he was a contestant on High Rollers, winning $6,950 in cash and prizes in early October, 1987. During his first contestant interview with host Wink Martindale, he mentioned he spent time in the Milwaukee Brewers' system in addition to his time with the Cards and Mariners. This was actually because he was in spring training with them in 1977, despite having been signed by the Mariners [2]. In his final contestant interview, Martindale asked him about players with whom he played who were still in the majors; he mentioned being roommates with Steve Trout, Garry Templeton, and Bill Caudill. It was also noted on the show that he was "originally from Aberdeen, SD," but no place of birth is listed on Baseball Reference.