Whitey Herzog Was a Pivotal Figure in The History of The New York Mets, Kansas City Royals & St. Louis Cardinals

Former MLB player, coach, scout, front office leader and manager Whitey Herzog passed away yesterday of a long illness. He was 92. 

Born Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog in New Athens, Illinois in 1931, the man who would become known simply as "Whitey" for his light locks, was signed by the New York Yankees out of high school in 1949. Herzog would play 8 undistinguished seasons as an outfielder and first baseman with the Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers between 1956 and 1963 with a lifetime batting average of .257. 

Herzog would make his mark on baseball after his playing career was over. Or as Herzog himself said, "Baseball has been good to me since I quit trying to play it."

Herzog would return to the A's in 1964 first as a scout and then the following season as part of the coaching staff. In 1966, Herzog would join the New York Mets as the third base coach under manager Wes Westrum. The following year, the Mets appointed Herzog as the team's director of player development. In this role, Herzog was critical in cultivating players like Gary Gentry, Jon Matlack, Ken Singleton and John Milner who either contributed to the 1969 World Series winning Miracle Mets or to the 1973 Ya Gotta Believe NL champion Mets. 

Following Gil Hodges sudden death in 1972, it was believed that Herzog would be named the team's manager. But Mets management didn't even want Herzog at Hodges' funeral much less in the dugout. The job would go to Yogi Berra who did manage the Mets to the NL pennant in 1973. Herzog would spend most of the 1973 managing the Texas Rangers but would be dumped before season's end.

Herzog was on the California Angels coaching staff in 1974 and even served as the team's interim manager after the team fired Bobby Winkles and before they hired Dick Williams. In the middle of the 1975 season, Herzog would get his chance to manage again this time with the Kansas City Royals replacing Jack McKeon. Herzog would lead the Royals to three consecutive AL West titles from 1976 through 1978. Unfortunately, the Royals could never solve the New York Yankees losing to them in three consecutive ALCS showdowns.

The Royals would dismiss Herzog following the 1979 season in favor of Jim Frey who would guide the team to their first AL pennant in 1980. In the middle of the 1980 season, Herzog would move across state to assume his best-known role as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. Emphasizing pitching, defense, lots of stolen bases and not much power, Herzog guided the Redbirds to a World Series title upending the slugging Milwaukee Brewers in 7 games. During his first three seasons as Cardinals manager, he also served as the team's GM. The Cardinals would also win two NL pennants under Herzog in 1985 and 1987 though they would fall in 7 games to the Kansas City Royals (in controversial fashion) and the Minnesota Twins, respectively. 

Herzog would leave the Cardinals in the middle of the 1990 season. He remains the third winningest manager in Cardinals history behind only Red Schoendienst and Tony La Russa. Herzog would soon join the front office of the California Angels and eventually become their GM during the 1993 and 1994 seasons before retiring from baseball. In 2010, the Veterans Committee voted him into the Baseball Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game as a manager and in the front office. 

Whitey Herzog was a pivotal figure in the storied history of three franchises - the New York Mets, Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals. Few can make that claim for one team much less three. R.I.P.