Ed Herrmann is one of those players who I have only a passing acquaintance to. I had his 1976 Topps Yankees card. It was one of those cards like we all had back then, bent a million times over with folds and creases and was in extremely poor condition. But it was a card of a guy on the Yankees!
I later learned that Ed Herrmann wasn’t even a Yankee in 1976. he played for the Yankees in one season only, 1975.
And…he actually did pretty well.
A lefty-hitting catcher, Herrmann appeared in 80 games batting .255 with 6 homers and 30 runs batted in. Not bad!
Ed Herrmann arrived for good in the Major Leagues in 1969 and played with the White Sox from that year through 1974. Just before the 1975, season the White Sox traded Herrmann to the Yankees for four minor leaguers of little note. None of those four players reached the big show although, one of those players was John Narron who I have to assume was future Yankee Jerry Narron’s older brother. I guess the Yankees in that time drafted both of the Narron boys.
After his successful season in the Bronx, the Yankees sold Herrmann to the California Angels. He was then traded to the Astros. That 1976 season, the one with the card I had that was all folded and creased and an absolute mess was also a mess in actuality for Herrmann. Between the two clubs (California and Houston) he batted just .199.
In 56 games in 1977, Herrmann rediscovered his batting stroke as he put up a solid .291 in 56 games.
In 1978, after a .111 start in 16 games, he was sold to the Expos. It didn’t help. In 19 games for Montreal, he batted just .175. Somehow, he stayed with the club all season.
In his last big league at bat, Ed Herrmann came up as a pinch hitter for pitcher Darold Knowles of the Pirates. He singled off future Yankee pitcher Ed Whitson. Pepe Frias then pinch-ran for Herrmann… and that was that.
Ed Herrmann played 11 seasons batting .240 with 80 homers and 320 runs batted in.
Not bad for a guy I knew little of.
