TWO STRIKES
Two baseball fallers on the Reaper’s mound this update: Whitey Herzog may have become better known for artsy German cinema, but he was a force in America’s pastime for years. He was a forgettable player but a prestigious manager, steering the St. Louis Cardinals to three pennants and a World Series championship. He was 92 and unique for Captain Hemlock’s Twenty.
Carl Erskine was the last survivor of the “Boys of Summer”, the fabled 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers lineup that also featured Jackie Robinson and inspired the Don Henley classic. I know you probably thought I’m making that up because I insinuated that Whitey and Werner Herzog were the same person in the above paragraph, but no, it really did. Erskine’s 14 strikeouts in a 1953 game were a then-record, and after his youngest son was born with Down syndrome, he was a devout champion of the developmentally disabled. He was 97 and picked by two teams.
Whitey Herzog
9 November 1931 – 16 April 2024, aged 92
💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 9 POINTS
Carl Erskine
13 December 1926 – 16 April 2024, aged 97
2 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀 5 POINTS)