Last Player-Managers In The Major Leagues by Todd Newville
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Last Player-Managers In The Major Leagues by Todd Newville
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Former major leaguer Solly Hemus should be added to the endangered species list. Actually, until another guy like Hemus comes around, you could say his breed has become extinct in baseball.
Players who also managed used to be quite common in the major leagues in the early part of the 20th century. However, since 1959, there have been only seven player-managers in baseball - and none since Pete Rose in 1986.
Hemus is part of that elite fraternity.
He was a rare bird.
Hemus never made the post-season either as a player or as a manager. But, he was well respected among his peers for his knowledge and passion for the game. For sure, he certainly appreciated the chance to be a manager at the big league level.
“I think being named manager of the Cardinals was the biggest thing that ever happened to me,” said Hemus, now 83. “I was honored to become a manager. They didn’t have that many at the time so if you got hired… well, that said something about what others thought of your ability in baseball.”
Indeed, with only eight teams in the National League during Hemus’ major league career, being named manager of an organization like the Cardinals was something to be proud of. The Cards, after all, have won nine world championships as well as 16 National League pennants. Since 1900, St. Louis has made an impressive 21 playoff appearances.
“I was originally signed by the Dodgers,” Hemus said. “They released me in spring training after I got in an argument with the manager going to Fort Worth. It was my fault because I shouldn’t have been popping off at the mouth. But, I was a young guy and I didn’t know nothing anyway.”
The incident that Hemus is referring to happened on a bus trip from Sanford, Fla., to Texas. Hemus wanted to make a pit-stop, but the team’s manager expressed his desire to continue on down the road. Choice words were evidently exchanged.
“He said something about loud-mouthed ballplayers,” Hemus remembered, “and I said something the same about managers. He told me to get off the bus and I said, ‘You get me a plane ticket and I’ll get off the bus.’ I really thought I knew something back then. It wasn’t too bright of a statement.”
Hemus did have an injured arm as a result of a collision during an earlier exhibition game. Playing second base, “I collided with a guy at first base,” Hemus said. “I couldn’t do anything with my left arm for a while. I jammed it when the first baseman went in and the pitcher got the ball and threw it to me. He threw it to the inside (of first base) and as the runner went by, he hit my arm and jammed it. When Branch Rickey called a meeting (after the incident with the manager), they just decided to let me go.”
In 1947, Hemus (who spent four years in the Navy stationed in San Diego) moved up to Houston in the Double A Texas League, where he .277 with 89 runs scored in 141 games as that club’s second baseman. In ‘48, Hemus batted .288 with 70 RBI, 27 doubles, 101 runs scored and 164 hits in 156 games. In ‘49, he hit .328 with 55 RBI, 79 runs, and 126 hits in just 109 games at second and shortstop.
Hemus made his major league debut on April 27, 1949, against the Pittsburgh Pirates during a 7-1 loss at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. He didn’t play much for the Cards that year, but when he did, he did well. With a .333 average in 20 games at second base, Hemus showed he could indeed handle the big leagues.
In 1950, Hemus hit just .133 in 11 games for the Cardinals. He spent most of the season honing his skills at Columbus (Ohio) in the American Association, where he regained his stroke by hitting the ball at a solid .297 clip with 51 runs scored, 23 doubles and 49 ribbies in 84 ballgames. By ‘51, Hemus was in the majors to stay.
That year, he hit .281 with 68 runs scored in 120 contests. He walked 75 times and had a nice .395 on-base percentage which ranked sixth in the league. He also had nine triples which ranked fourth in the league. On Sept. 15, during a 10-1 victory over the Boston Braves, Hemus walked five times as the Cards drew a total of 11 bases on balls during the win.
In 1952, Hemus improved upon his previous campaign in many respects. He hit .268 with a career-high 15 home runs along with 52 ribbies. His .392 on-base percentage was third in the Senior Circuit, behind only Jackie Robinson of the Dodgers (.440) and Cardinal teammate Stan Musial (.432.) His 96 walks tied Musial for fourth in the NL, behind only Pittsburgh’s Ralph Kiner (110), Brooklyn’s Gil Hodges (107), and Robinson’s 106.
Hemus ranked among the league leaders in games played with 151. He also ranked near the top of the league with his eight triples. Hemus tied Musial for the league lead in runs scored with 105. He also led the Senior Circuit in being hit by pitches with a painful 20 free passes that way. Only Musial (292) and Robinson (277) got on base more times than Hemus in ‘52.
Today, Craig Biggio of the Houston Astros is perhaps the best at getting hit by pitches - with little repercussions to his physical well-being because he wears a protective plastic guard on his left arm. Biggio reached base 273 times via being hit by pitches prior to the 2006 season. Hemus didn’t have such body armor to protect his limb.
“I couldn’t do what Biggio with the Astros does,” said Hemus, who was born in Phoenix, Ariz., and now lives in Houston. “He’s got one of those things on his arm and I don’t know if I could take a fastball on the arm like he does at 90-plus miles an hour. We didn’t even have (batting) helmets to begin with when I played in the majors.”
In 1953, Hemus again led the National League in being hit by pitches with 12. He also hit a solid .279 and reached career highs in several departments: games played (154), runs batted in (61), runs scored (110), hits (163), doubles (32), and triples (11).
Hemus reached base 261 times in ‘53. Only Musial (305), Duke Snider (283), Mathews (276), Ashburn (271), and Gilliam (271) reached base more times than the 5-foot-9, 175-pound Hemus - who had proved he had a good eye for the ball and was adept at creating scoring opportunities for his team.
“It didn’t bother me at all to hit with two strikes in the count,“ said Hemus, who scored five runs in one game against the Pirates on May 20, 1953, during an 11-6 victory. “I got a piece of the ball most of the time. Yeah, I thought I had a pretty good eye for the ball.”
By 1953, Hemus had been the Cardinals’ regular shortstop for three seasons. It didn’t seem to faze him at all to be the successor to one of the all-time greats in the St. Louis infield - a guy named Marty Marion.
“He encouraged me very much,” said Hemus of Marion, who was nicknamed “The Octopus” for his fielding gems. “Marty Marion was a great guy and I really liked him. My first year up, he was the regular shortstop and then he became manager. That’s how I took over after him. He worked with me at shortstop and tried to help me every way that he could. He was a likable person and he did everything to help me feel comfortable at that position.”
Hemus goes one step further in his evaluation of Marion’s impact on the game, saying, “Needless to say, I could never fill his shoes. I believe he should be in the Hall of Fame. I can’t believe that he’s not. He was a great guy to play ball for and a great instructor. He was just somebody that I admired very much.”
In 1954, Hemus hit a career-high .304 and had a .453 on-base percentage in 124 games. He also ranked fourth in the league with five hit-by-pitches. But, he only had 214 at-bats as slick-fielding rookie Alex Grammas got the bulk of the playing time between third and second. In ’55, Hemus hit .243 in 96 games - a big majority of which were stationed at third base.
In ‘57, Hemus hit just .185 in 70 games for the Phils. But, the next year, he contributed a .284 average and resumed his ability to get on base any way possible. He tied Chicago’s Walt Moryn and Lee Walls for the league lead in hit-by-pitches with eight. He also hit eight home runs with 53 runs scored and 36 ribbies in 105 contests.
Toward the end of the ’58 season, Hemus was traded back to St. Louis for third baseman Gene Freese. The Cards had grand things in store for Hemus as they wanted him to manage their ball club - taking over for Fred Hutchinson in the dugout. Hutchinson was let go and replaced in the final 10 games of that campaign by interim manager Stan Hack. The Cards finished fifth at 72-82.
In 1959, Hemus played in 24 games (mostly in pinch-hitting duty) and compiled a .235 average. The Cardinals (a team in transition) finished in seventh place in the National League with a 71-83 record under Hemus’ guidance. The final result may not have been very “Cardinal” like, but Hemus’ squad didn’t embarrass themselves.
The ‘59 campaign was Hemus’ last as an active player. In 1960, he concentrated his duties solely on managing. The Cardinals went 86-68 in a competitive National League race - finishing in third place behind Milwaukee (88-66) and Pittsburgh (95-59). The Bucs upset the New York Yankees in the World Series that year on a dramatic Series-ending homer from Bill Mazeroski.
In 1961, Hemus’ club went 33-41 and was stuck in fifth place when the front office decided to go with coach Johnny Keane as the head man in the dugout - firing Hemus on July 6. Keane (who went 47-33 the rest of the way) later would lead the Cards to a World Series title in 1964.
“That’s a telling thing on a manager and I don’t know how prolific I was in doing that. But, my forte was getting on base. Managing was more important to me at the time than playing. I gave it my best shot and I had coaches that would remind me of certain things when I needed them to.”
Even with his departure from St. Louis, Hemus was a valued commodity as far as his baseball intelligence was concerned. In 1962, the National League expanded to 10 teams - adding the Houston Colt 45s and the New York Mets to the schedule.
After the Giants and Dodgers bolted the “Big Apple” for the West Coast in 1958, the biggest city in the United States clamored for a replacement franchise in the National League. Fans got their wish with the addition of the Mets, who were built primarily on name and not necessarily on talent for their inaugural campaign.
“Casey Stengel was a great baseball man,” said Hemus of Stengel, who won seven World Series and 10 American League pennants with the Yankees in 12 years. “He had a lot of ballplayers who could do two or maybe just one thing well. They weren’t complete ballplayers and they were older and had lost some of their glitter.”
The original version of the Mets in ’62 featured former stars like Ashburn, Frank Thomas, and Roger Craig. Ashburn (a Hall of Famer) won two batting titles with the Phillies by hitting .338 in 1955 and .350 in ’58. Thomas (a three-time All-Star with the Pirates) hit 34 homers and garnered 94 RBI in ’62 to lead the Mets in both categories.
Craig (a pitcher who pitched in three World Series for the Dodgers prior to his arrival) led the Mets with 10 wins in ’62. However, he also had 24 losses during New York’s disastrous 40-120 season. Craig (once a quality starter) proved to be an even better pitching coach later in his baseball career.
“We had a lot of great names like Frank Thomas, who had a pretty good year,” Hemus said. “Richie Ashburn also had a good year. Now, Roger Craig lost over 20 games. He wasn’t the pitcher he was with the Dodgers. But, he had good stuff; he just had a lot of balls kicked behind him and lots of mental errors.”
“Casey and George Weiss wanted name ballplayers on account of being in New York,” Hemus said. “We wanted to make a name for ourselves and get some good crowds. Things didn’t work out the way they were planned.”
Craig’s struggles were a microcosm of the way the ’62 campaign unfolded for the Mets. So were the misfortunes of Marv Throneberry - himself once a promising power-hitting first baseman for the Yankees.
Throneberry hit .244 with 16 homers and 49 RBI for the Mets in ’62 after being traded from the Baltimore Orioles for catcher Hobie Landrith. But, he was clumsy at times with his glove and had several mental lapses on the base paths during the season.
Throneberry particularly exemplified New York’s futility one afternoon while running the bases on an apparent run-scoring triple.
“Augie Donatelli was the umpire. Casey came running out there to get on the umpire who called him out. Donatelli was on first base and he told Casey, ‘You better get out of here because he missed first base, too, and you won’t get any runs at all!’ That is a very true story.”
Despite the lackluster results, Hemus is proud to call himself one of the original New York Mets. “Overall, it was a good experience as far as I was concerned,” said Humus, who also coached the Mets in 1963 when they went 51-111. “It was humiliating at times but it was just a ball club that didn’t do all the things they wanted to do.
Hemus (who also coached the Cleveland Indians in 1964-65) saw his last experience in professional baseball in ‘66, when he was the manager of the Mets’ Triple A minor league affiliate in Jacksonville (Fla.) of the International League. There, he helped tutor a couple of future mainstays on the mound for the Mets - Tom Seaver and Tug McGraw.
Hemus ended his 11-year playing career with a .273 average along with 51 homers, 263 RBI, 459 runs scored, 736 hits, 456 walks, and a .390 on-base percentage in 961 games. Hemus also had a career .962 fielding percentage as a major league infielder.
“I think Musial is in a class by himself,” said Hemus, who was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. “I also played with Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter, Harry Brecheen, and Ken Boyer. There were numerous ballplayers that were good in St. Louis. But, Musial was up there by himself.
“Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were all-around ballplayers. Brooklyn had some good ballplayers with Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider and all those guys. Del Crandall in Milwaukee at catcher was a good one and Johnny Logan was good, too. Joe Adcock would hit the ball a country mile as big as he was. The Braves had some strong teams. It was a very impressive time for baseball.”
Koufax threw four no-hitters, won three Cy Young Awards, and was the National League MVP in 1963 when he went 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA and 306 strikeouts. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1972.
“You had Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette in Milwaukee,” Hemus said, “and they were tough. Nobody wanted to hit against Don Drysdale or Preacher Roe on the Dodgers. The Dodgers had some good pitchers then. There were only so many teams and you got to know the pitchers pretty well. But, they got to know you pretty well, too.
“Koufax was wild and I was pretty much established when they brought him up his second or third year. They sat him on the bench because he was a bonus player. He was one of the first ones like that and they didn’t want to lose him. You could tell that he was going to be great, though, because he had overpowering stuff. His curveball fell off the table. If you had to hit it, you were really in trouble. He might have had the best curveball of all time.”
“I buy oil and gas royalties, put deals together, and drill wells,” said Hemus, who has one daughter named Peggy. “I made more money the first year in business for myself than I did in 20 years in baseball. I just do a little bit of anything as it relates to the oil business.”
The oil business may have treated Hemus well the last several years. But, he certainly recognizes that he once hit it rich with a gusher-full of stout accomplishments on the baseball diamond, too. Hemus appreciates all the opportunities that baseball afforded him during his marvelous career.
And, his fans no doubt appreciated his contributions to the game, too.
Solly Hemus (as he appeared on his 1952 Bowman baseball card)It takes a special baseball mind to both play and manage a ball club at the same time. Not all good players make good managers. Not all good managers were good players. But, Hemus seemed to be pretty good at both for the St. Louis Cardinals. With one of the best names in the history of the game, Hemus almost never made it to the majors - ironically because of his feisty nature. The quality that made him such a menace in a Cardinals uniform nearly cost him a chance to play professionally when he was in the Brooklyn Dodgers' minor league system in the early 1940s.
Solly Hemus (as he appeared on his 1953 Topps baseball card)
Solly Hemus (as he appeared on his 1954 Topps baseball card)That wasn’t the end of Hemus’ career, though. In fact, he hooked up with the Cardinals before the 1946 season and promptly started his climb up the organizational ladder. In ‘46, he hit a blistering .363 for Pocatello (Idaho) in the Class C Pioneer League along with 112 runs scored, 163 hits, 24 doubles, 58 RBI, and 20 stolen bases in 120 games primarily at second base. The five free passes enabled Hemus to tie the existing National League record for most walks received by a batter in a game. Since 1900, only Jimmie Foxx in 1938 for the Boston Red Sox and Andre Thornton in 1984 for the Cleveland Indians drew more walks in one game than Hemus. Both Foxx and Thornton (in a 16-inning game) walked six times in one game for the current major league mark.
Solly Hemus (as he appeared on his 1955 Bowman baseball card)“We used to have those big blousy shirts,” Hemus explained of his prowess for getting hit by pitches. “If you could get your shirt out there, you’d get hit by a few pitches that way. But, I didn’t want to get out of the way too fast. With a curveball, for example, I would just slowly let it hit me if I could.”
Solly Hemus of the Cardinals was one of just seven men since 1959 to be a player-manager.
Marty Marion and Solly Hemus.In ‘53, Hemus tied for fifth in the NL in runs scored - along with Richie Ashburn of Philadelphia and Eddie Mathews of Milwaukee. Only Jim Gilliam of Brooklyn with 17 triples and Bill Bruton of Milwaukee with 14 had more three-baggers in the National League that season than Hemus, who also ranked fifth in bases on balls with 86. Musial (105), Gilliam (100), Kiner (100), and Mathews (99) were the only ones with more walks in ‘53 than Hemus. Marion played over 1,500 games at shortstop in his 13 seasons with the Redbirds and had a career .969 fielding percentage. A career .263 hitter, Marion was the National League’s MVP in 1944 when he led the Cards to a World Series championship over their cross-town rivals (the St. Louis Browns) in an exciting six-game match up.
Solly Hemus got on base the hard way many times. He led the National League three times in being hit by pitches - including 20 in 1952.
Solly Hemus (second row, third from left) played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1956.In 1956, Hemus was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on May 14 for Bobby Morgan, who was the MVP of the International League in 1949 as a member of Brooklyn’s top minor-league farm club in Montreal. Hemus hit a combined .286 that season in 86 games. He ranked second behind Cincinnati’s Frank Robinson (20) with eight hit-by-pitches. By becoming player-manager for the Cardinals, Hemus became one of seven men in the last 47 years to be a player-manager in the major leagues. The others include Hank Bauer with the Kansas City A’s in 1961, Elvin Tappe in 1962 with the Chicago Cubs, Frank Robinson with the Cleveland Indians in 1975 and ‘76, Joe Torre with the New York Mets in 1977, Don Kessinger with the Chicago White Sox in 1979, and Rose with the Cincinnati Reds from 1984-86.
Solly Hemus (as he appeared on his 1957 Topps baseball card)
Solly Hemus played 11 seasons in the big leagues and hit .273 for his career.“The main thing about being a player-manager is you manage basically after the fifth inning,” said Hemus, who had a three-year managerial record of 190-192. “You try to figure out which pitchers you’re going to use. I wouldn’t leave them in quite that long if it didn’t look like a guy didn’t have his good stuff or he got some bad breaks. As a player-manager, you might have to pinch-hit or play some other position you’re not used to. 
Solly Hemus (as he appeared on his 1958 Topps baseball card)The legendary Casey Stengel was manager of the Mets. For the maiden voyage in ‘62, the skipper selected Hemus as one of his coaches - along with Cookie Lavagetto and Rogers Hornsby. Lavagetto (a former World Series performer for Brooklyn) had prior managerial experience with the Washington Senators. Hornsby (a seven-time NL batting champion and a Hall of Famer) also had prior managerial skills with six different clubs in both leagues. Stengel and general manager George Weiss (who was fired by the Yankees in 1960 two weeks after Stengel was let go) were intent on drawing fans to the Mets. So, they picked players like Gil Hodges, Don Zimmer, Gus Bell, Felix Mantilla, Thomas, Ashburn, Craig, and others who could give them instant name recognition.
Cookie Lavagetto, Casey Stengel, and Solly Hemus.
The 1962 New York Mets won 40 and lost 120.“We had the bases loaded in the eighth inning with two outs,” Hemus remembered. “(Throneberry) hit a ball into right center and slid into third base with a perfect slide. They called him safe. Then, they picked up the ball and threw it to second and called him out. “They gave their best effort. They might have got some pictures where they were kidding around but they weren’t joking all the time. They had a lot of pride. We didn’t win very many games but that’s just one of those things. I’m proud to be one of the original guys on the Mets.”
Solly Hemus (as he appeared on his 1961 Topps baseball card)
Solly Hemus
(circa 1960)Not many ballplayers in the history of baseball were better than Musial, according to Hemus. Musial won seven National League batting titles, three MVP awards, and had 3,630 hits in 22 seasons with the Cardinals. He also played on 20 NL All-Star teams. Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers might have been the most intimidating pitcher Hemus faced. Though Koufax was still trying to harness his talent when Hemus was in his prime, it was apparent that the lefty was going to have a Hall of Fame career.
Solly Hemus with his fellow Cardinal coaches before a game in 1960.
Solly Hemus (as he appeared on his 1960 Topps baseball card)When Hemus was still playing, he had a friend who introduced him to the oil business. After retiring from baseball, Hemus (who has been married to his second wife Betty for 15 years) became actively involved in petroleum exploration and production. He now owns his own company called Hemus, Inc.
