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Ballplayers and Their Children, Part I

“Billy Herman won the 1941 pennant for us” – Dodger manager Leo Durocher

Today, I’m reintroducing a series I started a few years ago, which at the time I called Ballplayers and their Children. To start things off, here’s a wonderful photo of Hall-of-Famer Billy Herman with his son, little Billy, Jr. It’s from the George Brace collection and it’s one of my favorites.

What a Way to Start!

Billy Herman’s career started off with a bang – literally! His rather inauspicious debut was with the Cubs on August 29, 1931. In his first major league at-bat, the New Albany, Indiana native chopped a foul ball into the back of home plate. The ball bounced up and hit him in the head, knocking him out cold! Fortunately, Billy overcame this initial setback and went on to become a fixture in the Cub lineup for the next ten seasons.

Billy was considered a defensive wizard and one of the top second basemen of his era. He still holds numerous fielding records, including the National League record for most putouts by a second baseman in a season. He led the league in putouts seven times. And he was no slouch at the plate either…

What a Career!

In a 16-year career broken up by service in the Navy during World War II, Billy played for the Cubs (1931-’41), Dodgers (1941-’43, ’46), Braves (1946), and Pirates (1947).  Over his career, he compiled a lifetime .304 batting average, including 2,345 hits, 1163 runs scored, a .365 on-base percentage, and hitting over .300 eight times. He led the National League in hits, doubles, and triples once in each category. Billy was a 10-time All-Star and played on four pennant winners (1932, ’35, ’38, and ’41). Later as a coach with the Dodgers and Braves (1952-59), he was on the staff of five National League pennant winners in eight years, including the Dodgers’ World Series championship year, 1955.

A Lopsided Trade

A pivotal year in Billy’s career was 1941. That year, Gabby Hartnett was released as manager of the Cubs. After 10 years of stellar play at second base, the popular team leader, who was always considered managerial material, thought he should get the job. Instead, it went to outsider Jimmie Wilson. The disgruntled Herman was traded away to the Dodgers by new the Cub general manager, former newspaperman, Jimmy Gallagher.

This trade turned out to be a real disaster for the Cubs, one they would soon come to regret. Suffice it to say they got soaked. It’s considered one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history. In a precursor to the ill-fated Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio trade, the Cubs settled for two nameless players and $65,000 for their perennial All-Star, Billy Herman.

Just What the Dodgers Needed!

It didn’t take long for the dire realization to set in. The Cubs could only watch as the Dodgers went on to win the 1941 pennant, their first in 21 years, with newly-acquired Billy Herman solidifying their infield. Dodger manager Leo Durocher always maintained it was the deal for Billy Herman that put the Dodgers over the top. Here’s what he had to say about in his book, Nice Guys Finish Last, as Leo gleefully elaborated on just how much he coveted Billy Herman and just how much the newly-acquired All-Star second-baseman meant to the team:

“In Spring training in 1941, I was able to tell Dodger owner Larry MacPhail that we had a hell of a club there: ‘This is a good club. We could win the whole thing with one other player.’ ‘And who was that?’ he wanted to know. ‘Billy Herman,’ I said. Billy Herman had been the premier second baseman in the National League for nine years. He had become universally recognized as the classic #2 hitter in baseball. An absolute master at hitting behind the runner.”

Later, after MacPhail had landed Herman, and the Dodger won the 1941 pennant, Durocher added in no uncertain terms:

“For the best second baseman in the league, he had given them a second-string outfielder and a utility infielder and cash. The deal for Billy Herman won the pennant for us.”

Billy had one of his finest offensive seasons in 1943 with the Dodgers, when he batted .330 with a .398 on-base percentage and 100 runs driven in. He missed the 1944 and 1945 season, but returned to play for the Brooklyn in 1946, before a mid-season trade landed him with the Boston Braves. Then in 1947 he was traded to the Pirates for All-Star Bob Elliott and was promptly named the Pirates’ new manager.

In a reverse of his trade from the Cubs to the Dodgers, he was aghast at the price of the trade, Bob Elliott, saying “Why, they’ve gone and traded the whole team on me.” The Pirates promptly finished the 1947 season in seventh place. Meanwhile, Elliott won the 1947 National League Most Valuable Player award and led the Braves to the 1948 National League pennant.

Billy had little success as Pirates’ manager and later with the Red Sox, finishing with a 189-274 (.408) record. He was selected to the Hall of Fame in 1975 by the Veteran’s Committee. He passed away in 1992 at age 83.

Little is known about Billy, Jr. He lived his entire life in the Hermans’ hometown of New Albany, Indiana, working for a railroad company. One of Billy Herman, Sr.’s granddaughters, Cheri Herman Daniels, is married to former Indiana governor, Mitch Daniels. It’s not clear if she is Billy Jr.’s daughter or the daughter of another sibling.

Gary Livacari 

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Quotes from Nice Guys Finish Last, by Leo Durocher

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