Legendary Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog passes away

16/04/2024 22:04

Anyone who knows baseball history knows that legendary St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog was one of the best to ever do it. The National Baseball Hall of Famer was one of the most innovative minds in the sport, even popularizing a tactic called “Whiteyball” during his time in St. Louis.

Unfortunately, Herzog’s family announced on Tuesday that the 92-year-old passed away on Monday, April 15, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"Whitey spent his last few days surrounded by his family,” the family said in a statement released by the Cardinals. “We have so appreciated all of the prayers and support from friends who knew he was very ill. Although it is hard for us to say goodbye, his peaceful passing was a blessing for him.”

Herzog leaves behind a legendary legacy, one that will be cemented in the baseball world forever. How did the Illinois native manage to have such a big impact?

Herzog created a timeless version of “small ball” with the Cardinals

Former pitcher and fellow Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter summed up Herzog’s resume well, via USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

“He was a manager, a general manager, a farm director, a player personnel director, a scout, a coach,” Sutter said. “That tells you about his smarts right there.

After his seven-year playing career ended, Herzog became a scout for the Oakland Athletics in 1964. He got promoted to coaching the following year, and then jumped ship to the New York Mets.

Herzog’s time in New York was fruitful, as he helped the organization win the 1969 World Series. He started as a third-base coach before working his way up to director of player development.

Herzog then had coaching and managerial stints with the Texas Rangers, California Angels and Kansas City Royals before landing in St. Louis in 1980. From there, the rest is history.

The former Washington Senators player won the 1982 World Series as the Cardinals’ skipper and general manager in 1982, as well as the NL pennants in 1985 and 1987. This is when “Whiteyball” really took off and changed the game forever.

Since St. Louis didn’t have too many power hitters, they compensated by abusing the base paths. The Cardinals stole 200 bases in 1982 and even increased the total to a whopping 314 in 1985.

"I changed the whole concept of the way to play baseball because we couldn't hit a home run and we could neutralize the power of the other team in our ball park," said Herzog via the Post-Dispatch. "So I kind of just went with speed, which is the one thing in baseball you can use on both sides of the ball. You can use it on offense and defense."

This style of play captured the hearts of St. Louis fans, as attendance boomed to previously unforeseen levels.

"The fact that I'm most proud of in St. Louis is that for seven years in a row, we broke our own attendance record," Herzog said. "No one ever thought that we would surpass three million in attendance and we sold over three million tickets the last four years I was there. We were the first Midwestern team to have over three million in attendance. And in those days (in the National League), it was not tickets sold. It was turnstile count."

Herzog’s career is a reminder that hitting home runs is not the only exciting brand of baseball. Using contact hitting, speed and intelligence to squeeze runs will always be a fun and effective way to play the game, too. Any modern team that uses that style is a descendant of “Whiteyball,” a tactic that will forever be immortalized.

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