Herb Conyers

Herbert Leroy Conyers

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 205 lb.
• School Central Missouri State College
• Debut April 18, 1950
• Final Game October 1, 1950
• Born January 8, 1921 in Cowgill, MO USA
• Died September 16, 1964 in Cleveland, OH USA

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Biographical Information

Herb Conyers was in the majors for seven games, posting a batting line of .333/.400/.667 in ten plate appearances with the 1950 Cleveland Indians at age 29. His minor league career ran from 1941-52, although it was interrupted by WWII.

Before the 1941 season, Herb Conyers was signed by the Cleveland Indians. After hitting .362 with the Wausau Timberjacks to win the Class C Northern League batting title in 1942, he was in the Army Air Corps for three years flying over 50 bomber missions in the Pacific during World War II. He continued his strong hitting in the minors winning the 1947 Class B Inter-State League batting title with a .357 average for the Harrisburg Senators, the 1948 Class A Central League batting crown for the Dayton Indians with .354, and, to top things off in 1949, he won Most Valuable Player of the AA Texas League for the Oklahoma City Indians where he hit a league-leading .355. On May 15, 1949, Herb hit four consecutive doubles as he led his club to an 11-4 win over the Beaumont Exporters. Conyers collected five RBI with his quartet of two-base hits.

After the 6' 5" left-handed hitting first baseman led four different minor leagues in hitting, Herb finally got a chance with the Cleveland Indians in 1950 and hit .333 (3-for-9) in seven games, with one of his hits a home run. It was his only big league appearance. Herb returned to Central Missouri State University and completed work on his bachelor's degree in 1951, later earning a master's degree.

Conyers had been a four-year basketball player for the Mules from 1938-1942 and was the second leading scorer on the Mules MIAA championship team of 1941-1942 and earned first team All-American recognition. He also played football for two years and competed in track one year during his college career. In 1995, Conyers was inducted into the Central Missouri State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

Herb was a math teacher and coached the baseball and basketball teams at Collinwood High School in Cleveland, where he died of cancer on September 16, 1964, at 43.

Notable Achievements

• 1949 Player of the Year Texas League Oklahoma City Indians

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com
Baseball Players of the 1950s