After my most recent post about the hit and run, this 1941 Billy Herman suggestion by APBA Blog reader Tommie is very appropriate. I played Tommie at the Chicagoland APBA Tournament and he mentioned Herman’s card.
Right when I was working on the hit and run article, Tommie sent it. Great timing!
To be fair, Billy Herman did not have a monster year in 1941 in the traditional sense. He hit a sensible .285 and slugged .371 with only three homeruns. He drove in 41 runs while scoring 83.
He did however have good bat control striking out just 43 times in 649 plate appearances. In addition, he was one of the NL’s best fielders leading in key fielding categories throughout his career. In fact, his fielding stats are downright impressive in comparison to his colleagues.
In 1941, he was named an NL All-Star and actually came in 11th in MVP voting.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 Totals | 144 | 144 | 649 | 572 | 81 | 163 | 30 | 5 | 3 | 41 | 1 | 3 | 67 | 43 | .285 | .361 | .371 |
Herman’s hits
Billy Herman’s card from 1941 has two zeros and three 7s. He is rated as a slow baserunner. And his fielding is top notch as a 2B-9 (I will contend that any full-time player who is rated as a 2B-9 falls in the Monster category).
But let’s not avoid the elephant in the room. Billy Herman has five 31s on his card, a 23-31, a 26-31, a 34-31, a 46-31 and a 63-31. He is one of the only ones with that many (Ty Cobb might have done that as well). So, used correctly given the right scenario, this card can be very effective.
To his detriment, Herman does have two 13s to go with his four 14s. Even with the 31s, he would not be a good candidate to hit and run with runners on first and third since both result numbers would get the runner on first out.
The Dilemma
So if you are replaying the 1941 season, you should hit and run with Herman whenever you can, right?
Well, here’s the rub. I do not believe young Pee Wee Reese had a 15-11 on the 1941 set. Since Herman batted behind Reese, that might pose a problem. In fact, no Dodger had a 15-11.
The 1941 season had a dearth of stolen bases so you won’t see too many 11s on that set. Only one player in baseball stole more than 20 bases and that was George Case from the AL’s Washington Nationals.
But seriously, how could you not?
With only 47 career homeruns, Herman was voted in to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1975. He ended his career with a .304 batting average and 2047 hits.
Thanks Tommie!
One other interesting item of note, he is one of those rare everyday middle infielders who is rated (S).
For those who know this time frame better than I do, is this just from a very low stolen base percentage and slugging percentage, or was he just a solid defender without much speed?
Good point, Scott. I’m thinking Joe Cronin might have been slow too if memory serves.