'The architect': Former Cardinals reflect on Herzog's impact

ST. LOUIS -- Fiery and competitive as a manager, and one who never left much gray area while being brutally blunt with players, coaches and umpires, Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog showed those around him another side of his unique personality at a gathering to celebrate a 1985 Cardinals club that came within two outs of winning the World Series.

• Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog passes away at 92

The year was 2005, and that 1985 team reconvened to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of one of the franchise’s best teams. That club led 1-0 in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the World Series against the Royals, just one win away from the title, only to lose 2-1 and fall in Game 7. First base umpire Don Denkinger played a key role in the Cards' collapse, missing a call to lead off the ninth in Game 6 -- a moment that led to him receiving hate mail and death threats for years.

Herzog, the manager of that heartbroken Cardinals team, sought to heal those wounds with a gesture that, quite frankly, surprised some who remembered him as a relentless competitor.

“Whitey had a golf tournament and invited us to play,” recalled Cardinals radio analyst Ricky Horton, a reliever on that 1985 team. “Whitey had invited Don Denkinger to speak at the dinner. It was his way of telling Don, it was just a call. Everybody understood it wasn’t correct, but it wasn’t an easy call. It bothered Whitey we lost that World Series, but it never bothered him personally because, to him, Denkinger was a good umpire. Inviting Don said a lot about who Whitey was as a person.”

Former players remembered the managerial genius and likeable soul of Dorrel Norman Elvert “Whitey” Herzog, who died at the age of 92 in suburban St. Louis on Tuesday. Herzog, who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010, managed three Cardinals teams that reached the World Series in the 1980s, with the 1982 team winning it all while hitting just 67 homers and playing “Whiteyball.”

“Cardinals Baseball, or Whiteyball, was always about that constant pressure on the other team, it was artistry and something Whitey understood, and he was the architect of it all,” Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith said. “That brand of baseball was exciting and that’s why we still talk about it today.”

Herzog was at Busch Stadium on April 4 for Opening Day ceremonies even though he was unable to make the lap around Busch Stadium because of illness concerns.

“He was a guy who always had encouraging words,” current Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “Even last year, when things didn’t go well, he was very encouraging, and I was super appreciative of that.”

Said Marlins manager and former Cardinal Skip Schumaker: “You couldn’t just sit with him for five minutes; you’re getting an hour no matter what and you wanted it because he was funny, and his baseball mind was incredible.”

Hall of Famer Jim Kaat had a relationship that dated to 1958 when he and Herzog were in Spring Training together with the Washington Senators. That relationship stayed strong through the 1980s when Herzog acquired Kaat.

“By 1982, I asked Whitey, ‘Do I fit in next year?’” Kaat remembered. “Whitey said, ‘Yes, but this is how -- you’re going to be my lefty versus lefty guy.’ I really liked starting, but if Whitey told you that’s where you’d be best, you did it. It turned out to be a great move because I got to be a part of a team that Whitey put together piece by piece that won the World Series.”

John Stuper, who played for the Cardinals from 1982-84, marveled at how Herzog would have relievers warming long before trouble arose and how he would explain scenarios to pinch-hitters several innings before their at-bats would arise.

“I was only there in St. Louis for a couple of years, but even as a young player you could tell this guy knows what the hell he’s doing and he knows what he’s doing better than the guy across the way,” Stuper said. “It’s an overused cliché, but he was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.”

Even though he was a seldom-used infielder from 1985-88, Tom Lawless said Herzog made all players feel important. When Lawless made his biggest contribution as a Cardinal -- hitting a go-ahead homer in Game 4 of the 1987 World Series -- he was ready because of how Herzog prepared him and kept him on his toes.

“Whitey always had one foot up on that third step in the dugout and would be leaning against the wall,” Lawless remembered. “I hit the home run, I’m excited and I pass by Whitey, who says, ‘That ball didn’t go over by very far, did it?’ … We’re going to miss him and miss that camaraderie.”