With a flattop haircut, pointed opinions and a Midwestern sensibility, Whitey Herzog forged a Hall of Fame career managing Major League Baseball's two Missouri teams by implementing a style that bears little resemblance to today's game.
Herzog's signature 1982 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals team followed several successful yet ultimately frustrating seasons with the Kansas City Royals and was followed by two more World Series appearances with the Cardinals. All were built on speed, defense and a deep bullpen with Herzog not caring a whit about home runs.
He also managed the Angels for four games in 1974 and was something of an absentee front office executive from 1991 until he abruptly resigned a month before 1994 spring training, the club no closer to giving popular owner Gene Autry a World Series than when Herzog came aboard.
Herzog died Monday at age 92.
“Whitey spent his last few days surrounded by his family,” the Herzog 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.”
Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog grew up in New Athens, Ill., to working-class parents. As a teen, Herzog, called Relly by family and friends, would hitchhike to Sportsman's Park to watch Cardinals games, arriving early enough to snatch up batting practice balls that he…
