The first six seasons (1926-31) of Babe Herman’s career were an impressive blend of Batting Average and power, leading to high popularity among the Robins fans.
Herman debuted in 1926, becoming an everyday player as a rookie, and he was a good batter with a .319, 35 Doubles, and 11 Home Runs. Dropping to .272, Herman went on a three-year streak where he batted at least .340. As good as he became as a hitter, he was also known for his eccentric behavior and basepath blunders; he twice stopped to watch Home Runs go over the wall and was passed on the basepaths, and once failed to watch what was happening ahead of him, leading to three men on Third Base.
Regardless of Herman's daffiness, he was still a player who batted .381 in 1929, and in 1930, he broke that by batting .393 with career-highs in Home Runs (35) and RBIs (130), and astoundingly, he never received a single Hall of Fame vote. Herman dropped to .313 in 1931 and was still very good offensively, but the Robins looked to go in a different direction and traded Herman to the Reds after the season.
Had Herman been a better defensive player (he never had a season with a positive Defensive bWAR in Brooklyn and was often error-prone), he would be ranked much higher, but as it stands, he was a very good player at a time when Brooklyn did not have much.
As a Robin, he batted .339 with 1,093 Hits and 112 Home Runs.
Comments powered by CComment