Joseph Herr

Joseph Herr

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 179 lb.

• Debut April 16, 1887
• Final Game June 25, 1890
• Born March 4, 1865 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died August 1, 1936 in St. Louis, MO USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Joe Herr played three years in the majors, getting most of his at-bats with the St. Louis Browns in 1888. He also managed several seasons in the minors. He also worked three American Association games as an umpire in 1888.

After retiring from baseball, Herr worked as a carpenter in St. Louis, MO. He apparently died in 1933, the victim of a drowning in the Mississippi River and his body was even identified by his ex-wife at the time, and a death certificate was issued in his name. However, a few days later, he turned up still alive; he had become homeless and estranged from his family by that point, and in spite of the positive identification by his former spouse, the drowned body was not his - in fact, it was never positively identified. Herr managed to live a few more years and died (for real) in 1936. However, compilers of the first encyclopedias only found the original (and erroneous) death certificate, and he was listed with the wrong death information for many decades.

There is a different player named Eddie Herr, who had a long minor league career and was named Edward Joseph Herr. Both were born and died in St. Louis, although the major league Herr lived from 1865-1936 while the minor league Herr lived from 1873-1943. The major leaguer was a position player while the minor leaguer was a pitcher. There are some baseball cards from 1887 on the web described as "Ed Herr", but at least in one case the actual name on the card is "J. Herr".

Further Reading

• "The Man Who Died Twice", in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, May/June 2019, p. 4.

Related Sites

• Joseph Herr at the SABR Bio Project