Loading...
 

Lee Herring Excerpts

The following are contemporary newspapers Excerpts concerning Lee Herring, sorted chronologically.


"Herring, the Indians' star pitcher, will work against the Washington Giants in the first game"1

"Scout Mike Kahoe, of the Washington Baseball Club, yesterday secured two young hurlers for the Nationals, and they will be out at the park this afternoon. Herring, who was seen in action in the District during the past month, pitching for the Cherokee Indian team, and Fisher, of the Nebraska Indian club, are the lads in question. Fisher is a left-hander and looks to have the goods, while Herring has been pitching gilt-edged ball for the Indians all season. Herring, on the Indians' first appearance of the season, worked behind the bat, but Sunday he pitched for and defeated the Washington Giants at Union League Park. The locals who have seen Herring work say that he has all the earmarks of developing into a corking good pitcher, and Scout Kahoe liked him well enough to hold him over until the team arrived. The youngsters will be in uniform today, and will more than likely be used in morning practice for some little time. Should they show ability enough to warrant giving them a thorough trial, they will be kept. Otherwise, manager Griffith will ship them to some minor league club."2

" Herring, a big right-hand pitcher recommended by Scout Mike Kahoe, who saw the pitcher work with the Cherokee Indians, a strong Independent club . . . Griff is looking this . . . talent over carefully. He has them out at National Park every morning and uses them against the regulars in batting practice. "3

"Musser toiled for four innings when he, too, gave way to let Herring, the Nebraska Indian, win a passed ball on him, though nothing serious resulted . . . Griff sent Herring, his Nebraska Indian, to tho box in the eighth and he didn't look so bad, though Ainsmith worked in a passed ball on him merely so that the other three hurlers wouldn't have any complaints to make." 4

"Herring got into the game, to pitch the eighth, because a pinch runner had replaced Musser. This twirler was the only one of the four who did not figure at all in allowing Boston runs . . . Herring pitched the eighth inning, and was touched for a single and handed out one pass. But he kept the home plate untouched . . . Herring pitched only one inning and face five batters. No man hit out of the infield, but one was safe on an error and another walked. Two were down before either got on."5

""Why do you hang onto this pitcher Herring?" Griff was asked the other day, and replied unhesitatingly: "Herring will some day be a real major leaguer. He has a two pronged spitter --a ball that breaks out and in --and if he ever gets control of the blamed thing he will stop any club in the country. The youngster is awfully green, but I am carrying him around so that he may get a little experience. There may come time when he will be of use to me." Herring is the young man picked up by Scout Kahoe, who saw the pitcher work for the Nebraska Indians, an itinerant band of ball tossers. He is a big, rangy chap, and, like most youngsters, lacks the necessary control. The tutoring of Herring by the Old Fox is characteristic of Griff's methods, and he never overlooks a bet where young pitchers are concerned. Griff works on the theory that a young flinger may develop into a star overnight, and that when he does come through with big league stuff the Old Fox wants him within reach. The chances are that Herring will report at Charlottesville next spring, and if he shows anything at all will either be carried as a regular or farmed out to some minor league team, as was the case with Joe Boehllng."6

"Pitcher Herring, the former Nebraska Indian, who is with the Nationals, and of whom great things are expected some day, has to stand a lot or good-natured joshing. To be perfectly frank, Herring is unsophisticated, and "Guile" is his middle name. Walking back from the ball park in Boston with Gallia after that memorable Wood-Jonnson pitching duel, Herring said to Gallie: "Where do we play next?" Gallie replied: "We go to Albany. N. Y.. and play there Sunday." "I didn't know Albany was in the American League," retorted Herring. And then he wondered why Gallia laughed softly to himself. During the game against Cleveland which Walter Johnson pitched last Wednesday, Walter was getting bumped hard in the early rounds, and Herring, who was sitting next to Griff, spoke up: "Say, manager, let me go in. This Cleveland bunch can't hit me as hard as they are hitting Johnson. I can stop 'em. Let me go in the box." Griff, of course, refused, but he admired Herring's ambition, and confidence and believes that some day Herring will be of much use to the Nationals."7

""I don't very often make predictions," mused Mike Kahoe, the Nationls' scout, last nigtht, "but I'll miss my guess if a young man named Herring doesn't show enough stuff to make some of these experts wake up and take notice." "Herring has something," continued the scout; "of course he is awfully green; doesn't hardly know how to put on a uniform, but I have watch him carefully, and, believe me, Herring is going to be a regular pitcher next season if he gets any kind of a break at the starts." Griff also believes that there is a future for Herring or the Old Fox would never have carried him during the remaining weeks of the season. According to Kahoe and Griff, the youngster has a remarkable spitball, one which breaks two ways. Herring is a six feet and weighs 175 pounds, and also possesses an easy delivery."8

"Joe Agler, the first basemen, and "Red" Herring, the pitcher obtained from the Nebraska Indians, last summer, have been sold to the Atlanta club of the Southern League, under optional agreements, which may bring them both back to the Climbers in they make good with Billy's Smith's aggregation . . . Herring is green as a twirler, though he showed signs of having a good spitter. He was signed on his showing here with the Nebraska Indians, an independent team."9

"There are Indians and Indians even among the palefaces, and the Sporting News is asked to make a correction concerning the particular brand of redskin Lee Herring was when he was when he was pastiming in war paint and feathers. It was stated that he played with the Nebraska Indians. That is a mistake. He was a member of Spencer's Cherokee team all this past season until he joined the Washington Americans August 12. Spencer notes also that Herring is not the only papoose he has turned into organized ball, among his former list of Cherokees begin Bert Maxwell, Rabbit Powell, Paddy Mayes, Pitcher Schultz, who was with Toledo and Dayton, and others of lesser note."10

"Pitcher herring has been sent to the Atlanta team for a little pickling."11

"Pitcher Herring, who was given a try-out by Washington last Fall, is to be turned over to Atlanta for 1913. Of course, Griffith has a string attached to him."12

"Pitcher Lee Herring, who also joined the Nationals during the close of the season, and who gave promise of future greatness, has been turned over to the Atlanta club, and will report to manager Billy Smith for spring training. Herring possesses all the requirements which go to make up the successful twirler, lacking only the experience. It is believed that Griff has a string on the youngster."13

" . . . the Atlanta Club . . . will also develop Clark Griffith's Indian pitcher, Herring. A hook and line are attached to Herring"14

"Herbert Lee Herring, dubbed by his playing associates as Joe, is said to be one of the most promising of the young pitchers that manager Billy Smith has picked up for a trail with his 1913 Crackers. Herring was to the Crackers by Billy's friend, Clark Griffith, of the Washington Senators, who picked him up after he showed such promise in semiprofessional ranks around Washington last season, and used him in some of the games toward the end of the latter part of the season. Herring is 23 years of age. He was born at Shark, Ark., July 22, 1889. He weighs 175 pounds and is 5 feet 10 inches tall and single. Herring pitched for an Indian aggregation from Oklahoma that visited Washington last spring and summer, and pitched so well that all the teams in Washington looked like novices. Clark Griffith witnesses one of the games and promptly signed Herring up for a tryout. This was the youngster's first professional experience, and while he did well for an unseasoned recruit, manager Griffith thought that a season in the minors under the tutelage of his old side kick, Bill Smith, would be just what Herring needed to make him big league timber. Herring is reputed as being quite a sticker for a hurler, breaking up some of his own games while playing in the national capitol with timely drives. Herring in a letter to the sporting editor writes that he is glad of the opportunity to play with Atlanta where he will get a chance to work more regularly. "What I need is work," said Herring. "I thrive on plenty of work. I don't like to warm the bench, and I am sure that if I take a regular turn in the box with Atlanta I'll show them all something"15

"But the straight tip that is going the rounds is that Herring, who has looked less like a hurler in the first workouts than any of the other candidates, is the man that will edge into a regular berth. Herring has a "peck of stuff," so say those who know, and his "double-spitter" (an ability to break the moist delivery either side of the plate) is making him look more formidable every day. When he cuts loose with his moist delivery and is working long enough to get control, watch out."16

"HERBERT LEE HERRING. This fellow is said to be the only twirler outside of the majors who can make a spitter break either way. Most spitball twirlers send the saliva hurl shooting to the right, but Herring can break his down and to the right and left. With control, this hurl is expected to make him a formidable candidate for a regular berth."17

"Lee Herring, the Arkansas right-hander, who is said to be able to break a spitter either way and one of the few hurlers that can do that feat, is slated for discard. Herring has not shown as much stuff this spring as he did last, when the local manager saw him work in Washington, and this has caused the local chieftain to pass him up. Clark Griffith, to whom the twirler belongs, has been notified of the manager's decision and Griff has instructed Billy to farm him out somewhere in south if possible, though the Washington club will continue to hold claim to his services."18

"Lee Herring, the lengthy spitballer, is to go as soon as a place can be found for him. He belongs to the Washington Americans, and as Griffith has requested the local manager the local manager to whom he was farmed to place in this section, Billy will endeavor to do so."19

"Pitcher Lee Herring, sent down here by Clark Griffith, of the Washington Americans, has been given his outright release by the Crackers, under instruction from Griffith. The local mogul could not locate a place for Herring and he is now a free agent, privileged to sign when and where he sees fit."20

"Pitcher Lee Herring, who was with the Washington Americans long enough for major league paragraphers to have fun with his name, has caught on with the Fort Smith Club of the Western Association."21

"The Fort Smith Club has signed pitcher Lee Herring, formerly of the Washington American League team."22

"July 21. -Pitcher Lee Herring of the Fort Smith team of the Western Association was released today. He was formerly with the Washington Americans."23

"Pitcher Herring, who once had a trial with Washington, and this spring was given a chance with the Brooklyn Federals, caught on with the Fort Smith team of the Western Association, but found the pace too fast and was released last week."24

"HERRING, Herbert Lee, 72, of 716 E. 5th, passed away April 22. He was a professional ball-player with the Washington Senators in 1912, and a World War I Veteran., Surviving are his wife, Erin K.; brothers, R. L. Herring, of Holdenville, Okla., Joe Herring, of Traver, Calif. Rosary will be recited Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Tucson Mortuary North Chapel. Graveside services will be held Saturday 9 a.m. at. the Holy Hope Cemetery"25
1 Washington Post, 8/9/1912
2 Washington Herald, 8/13/1912
3 Washington Herald, 8/18/1912
4 Washington Herald, 9/5/1912
5 Washington Post, 9/5/1912
6 Washington Herald, 9/15/1912
7 Washington Herald, 9/17/1912
8 Washington Herald, 10/27/1912
9 Washington Times, 11/12/1912
10 Chester Times, 11/20/1912
11 Chicago Eagle, 11/23/1912
12 Sporting Life, 11/23/1912
13 Washington Herald, 12/5/1912
14 Sporting Life, 12/7/1912
15 Atlanta Constitution, 2/12/1913
16 Atlanta Constitution, 3/17/1913
17 Atlanta Constitution, 3/22/1913
18 Atlanta Constitution, 4/1/1913
19 Atlanta Constitution, 4/2/1913
20 Atlanta Constitution, 4/6/1913
21 The Sporting News, 5/27/1915
22 Sporting Life, 5/29/1915
23 Dallas Morning News, 7/22/1915
24 The Sporting News, 7/29/1915
25 Tucson Daily Citizen, 4/24/1964