When Whitey Herzog became Cardinals manager, he replaced a friend who had been his roommate and teammate with the Mets.
On June 8, 1980, the Cardinals fired manager Ken Boyer and hired Herzog to succeed him.
Boyer, an all-star and Gold Glove Award winner as Cardinals third baseman in the 1950s and 1960s, was their manager since April 1978. Herzog managed the Royals to three consecutive division titles before being fired after the 1979 season.
In 1966, the Mets had Boyer as their third baseman and Herzog as a coach. In his book, “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Herzog said he and Ken Boyer shared a New York apartment with Yankees players Roger Maris and Clete Boyer, Ken’s brother.
“When the Mets were on the road, Clete and Roger had the place, and when the Yankees were on the road, Kenny and I took it over,” Herzog said.
After Boyer was fired by the Cardinals, he told a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, “Wish Whitey Herzog good luck. I hope they can turn it around.”
The comment was relayed to Herzog, who said, “I appreciate that. We are very good friends.”
Time for a change
After Herzog left the Royals, Cardinals general manager John Claiborne called him occasionally to seek his opinions on players. Claiborne and Herzog had worked together for Bing Devine with the Mets.
At one point in their conversations, Herzog said, Claiborne asked whether he’d want to become a paid consultant to the Cardinals. “I told him I didn’t want to get tied up with something like that, but I’d be happy to give him my opinions when he asked for them,” Herzog said.
The 1980 Cardinals hit the skids early and Claiborne and club owner Gussie Busch determined Boyer needed to go.
On Saturday, June 7, 1980, Herzog said he got a call from Busch’s attorney, Lou Susman, who asked him to meet Busch in St. Louis the next morning. Meanwhile, Claiborne headed to Montreal, where the Cardinals were playing, to inform Boyer he was fired. Claiborne intended to get to Montreal on Saturday night and meet with Boyer the next morning, but a rainstorm canceled the connecting flight and Claiborne had to spend the night in Chicago.
On the morning of June 8, 1980, Herzog went to Busch’s estate at Grant’s Farm and Claiborne took a flight from Chicago to Montreal, where the Cardinals and Expos were to play a Sunday afternoon doubleheader.
Herzog met with Busch and Susman, and was offered a one-year, $100,000 contract to manage the Cardinals. When Herzog objected to the length of the contract, Busch countered with a three-year deal through the 1982 season. Herzog accepted and Busch made plans to announce the hiring in a news conference late in the afternoon.
At Montreal, the Cardinals lost Game 1 of the doubleheader, dropping their record to 18-33 and giving them 21 losses in their last 26 games.
Boyer was in the clubhouse, making out the lineup card for Game 2, when he looked up and was surprised to see Claiborne enter. “I thought for certain he had come here to discuss possible trades,” Boyer told the Montreal Gazette.
Instead, Claiborne told Boyer he was fired. “This is something you want to talk about to a man face to face, not over the telephone,” Claiborne said.
Claiborne offered Boyer another job within the organization, but Boyer said he wanted time to think it over.
“Boyer was on his way to St. Louis by the second inning of the second game,” the Gazette reported.
Coach Jack Krol filled in as manager for Game 2, and the Cardinals lost again.
Mourning in Montreal
In the locker room, after getting swept in the doubleheader, most Cardinals said they were sorry Boyer was gone and exonerated him of blame for the team’s record. Boyer was 166-191 as Cardinals manager.
In comments to the Post-Dispatch, first baseman Keith Hernandez said the 1980 Cardinals were “the worst team I’ve been on since I’ve been in the major leagues. The worst. We are bad. The manager is only as good as his horses and we don’t have the horses. I’m going to miss Ken Boyer.”
Second baseman Tommy Herr said, “There’s a lack of professionalism among certain players as far as guys running groundballs out, 100 percent all-out effort.”
Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons and pitcher Bob Forsch were two of the players most upset by Boyer’s firing, according to the Post-Dispatch. “Old Cardinals die hard,” Simmons said.
Pitcher John Fugham told The Sporting News, “Unfortunately, there were not 25 people on this team that were as intense as Kenny Boyer was. Therein lies the problem.”
Vern Rapp, who two years earlier was fired while the Cardinals were in Montreal and replaced as manager by Boyer, was a coach with the 1980 Expos. Asked his reaction to Boyer’s firing, Rapp told the Post-Dispatch, “I feel sorry for anybody it happened to. I know how it feels. It’s not a good feeling.”
Oh, brother
At the news conference at Grant’s Farm introducing him as Cardinals manager, Herzog said, “I’m going to take this dang team and run it like I think it should be run. I don’t think I’ve ever had trouble with players hustling. I understand that’s been a problem here. I think you’ll see the Cardinals running out groundballs.”
Asked whether the Cardinals needed a leader to emerge from within the team, Herzog said, “I don’t need a team leader. I’m the leader.”
Said Busch: “My type of manager, without any argument.”
Born and raised in New Athens, Ill., Herzog described himself as a “very opinionated, hardheaded Dutchman.”
At birth, he was named Dorrell Norman Elvert Herzog. His mother said she intended to name him Darrell, but the name got misspelled. In New Athens, where he excelled at basketball as well as baseball, everyone called him Relly. In the New Athens High School yearbook, it was noted, “He likes girls even more than basketball.” As a professional ballplayer, he got nicknamed Whitey because of his light blonde hair.
Herzog had two brothers _ Therron, who everyone called Herman, and Codell, who everyone called Butzy.
When Herzog was named Cardinals manager, Butzy, who “never played baseball in his life,” told Whitey what lineup he should use to help the Cardinals improve.
“I may play his lineup,” Whitey said.
“He better,” Butzy told the Post-Dispatch, “or we’ll have a fight.”
Whether or not it was with Butzy’s help, the Cardinals went on to win three National League pennants and a World Series championship during Whitey’s 11 years as their manager.
RetroSimba 
If there is one thing that brings back great baseball memories, it is the hiring of Whitey Herzog. It’s somewhat crazy, but you just knew it wasn’t some experiment or a move of desperation. No, when Whitey came on board, you knew the lost decade was over and soon, the franchise was going to turn the corner. We Cardinal fans, however, should never forget that if not for the fact that Herzog’s relationship with then owner Ewing Kauffman and GM Joe Burke went sour. Just one example was the controversy surrounding John Mayberry during the 1977 Alcs. Whitey was a perfect fit in KC and the fans adored him.
I always respected Whitey Herzog for understanding a basic and essential element of effective management: Having a clear philosophy and knowing how to communicate that philosophy. Herzog went into the job knowing he wanted a team that had a deep bullpen, defense and speed. He never wavered from that philosophy and there was never any confusion about it from him, his staff or those he managed. I am amazed and dismayed by how many people in managing roles, outside and inside of baseball, fail to understand that.
Great story! I remember the sports talk radio shows on KMOX were abuzz with the ‘hot rumor’ that Whitey was gonna be named the new manager, and what changes that might bring to the team’s willingness to hustle! Whitey’s teams were exciting to watch!
Thanks. He was a smart and effective leader. He watched and listened, and prepared himself for the role by learning from mentors such as Casey Stengel, Harry Craft and Ralph Houk.
I read that quote at the time by Keith Hernandez: “The manager is only as good as his horses and we don’t have the horses.” I was 19 and had been watching dull Cardinals teams for several years. KH’s comments seemed even more meaningful in 1982 when a complete “team of horses” pulled off the Word Series win. Whitey Ball epitomizes Cardinals baseball for me–steady pitching, sparkling defense, aggressive running, and hitting aimed at getting on base and moving runners into scoring position. MLB is still my game now, but the focus is on home runs and not much more. What ever happened to stolen bases, the hit-and-run, bunting, a rock-solid infield and outfield consistently preventing runs and dazzling the fans? And where did all the switch-hitters go?
Thanks for the great Whitey Herzog memories. I am not ashamed to say that for me, those times were the Good Old Days!
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.
Andy from AndyBsports.com saying your posts are detailed and fantastic. Please keep it going.
Thanks, Andy!
Yeah i wish he would have been included as well. While i may never have been a big baseball fan i came across this baseball in okc signed by what appears to be the 1974 farm team Tulsa oilers after winning the pennant that year. Ken Boyer was the manager and signed the sweet spot. Unfortunately keith Hernandez played almost all season on that team and right before the championship game he got called up and thus no sign. But if Ken got included maybe the ball would be worth more
Thanks for commenting. That’s a neat treasure you have from the 1974 Tulsa team.
To be honest in 1980 the pitching stunk. You had a starting lineup where only one or 2 guys were hitting under .300, but a group of pitchers with ERA’s in the 4.00’s. Simmons, Hendrick, Hernandez, Templeton and Oberkfell were hot that year. Sure there were a few holes like Reitz and Bobby Bonds, but common, everyone acted like Whitey was the second coming. He did tons of good and not discouning the work he did, but we could have won more that 1982 if he, G Busch and Dal Maxvill not been so awestruck by Porter and David Green and had just left Hernandez and Simmons in place for another few years. Andy Van Slyke was ready to come in and be a superstar, but we had to trade him to make up for stupid earlier trades.
Thanks for the thoughts.
I’m a lifelong Cardinals fan and my dad’s favorite player as a kid was Ken Boyer before Bob Gibson became the man. I’ve always been intrigued by Cardinals baseball in the 1970s. The only thing I heard about the 1970s Cardinals were that they were very bad. I was surprised to learn that there were a few seasons where they almost made the playoffs. If they would have made even one NLCS in the 1970s, that probably would have reshaped public perception that everything between 1968 and 1982 was beyond terrible.
Boyer becoming manager has also intrigued me. It seemed like they gave him a very short leash to turn things around after Vern Rapp’s reign. The Cardinals went from 69 wins in 1978 to 86 wins in 1979. That’s a probably quick turnaround. Then they get off to a bad start in 1980 and he has to go. It’s interesting to see the then-Cardinals lifers like Simmons and Forsch being the most upset by his firing. It seemed like they let him go because Whitey was available and they needed a quick scapegoat. For a Cardinals legend, it seemed like the front office really screwed him on that one. From what I’ve heard and read, Ken seemed like a really likable guy, too. Obviously, Whitey brought the team quick success and is responsible for Ozzie, so the call worked for ownership.
Years ago, my former girlfriend’s family were good friends with one of Ken Boyer’s children. They all grew up in the Hermann, MO area during the time when Ken was managing the team. My ex’s dad was a Cardinals fan so we would talk baseball a fair amount. He had one of Clete Boyer’s World Series bats. I asked him once about Boyer managing the team, since he knew the family back then, and he said it was just drugs; kind of like Ken was given an impossible task to fix by the team. Now that’s just one anecdote; this is just an interesting period in Cardinals history. I wonder if Lou’s farewell season in 1979 was the glue that keep the team together and then when he retired; things just fell apart?
Thank you for your thoughtful comments and insights. Your dad picked a good one for a favorite player. Ken Boyer was a classy talent. He was a good manager who was betrayed by some players who didn’t give their best and by a front office that failed to give him a quality bullpen corps.