Why McGraw Traded For Herzog
Winning Was More Important for Little Napoleon
Winners may not like those who help them win, but they prefer teammates whom they hate if they help them win.
The goal is to win – period. Winners may not like those who help them win, but that is irrelevant. Winners prefer teammates whom they hate but who help them win over teammates who are great to be with after the game but are not winners, which brings us to John McGraw and Buck Herzog, two men who despised each other.
Trading Herzog Infuriated McGraw
Herzog was a third baseman who also played second and shortstop. He joined the Giants in 1908 and 1909 before being sent to Boston in April, 1910, only to return a little over a year later before being traded in December, 1913 to the Reds by Giants’ owner Harry Hempstead, a move that infuriated Giants’ manager John McGraw, who vowed to get Herzog back. It took three years, but McGraw got his man, who had become the Reds’ playing manager.
McGraw Traded Mathewson, Whom He Loved Like a Son
McGraw thought that Herzog could help the Giants win. He offered the Reds two players plus an aging Christy Mathewson, whom he loved like a son and who would replace Herzog as Reds’ manager, but first McGraw had to speak to Herzog.
Winning Baseball Games Mattered Most
"I don’t like you and you don’t like me," McGraw told Herzog, who agreed and responded, "We don’t have to be friends. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the greatest manager in baseball and I’ll play my heart out for your team." The Giants made the deal. The closeness of McGraw and Mathewson didn’t carry over to winning baseball games. If Herzog would be more valuable to the Giants than Mathewson, the Giants would prefer Herzog.
Cobb Responded to the Taunts
In those days, most players were fierce competitors, and few were tougher than Herzog, McGraw, and the great Ty Cobb. During spring training, 1917, the Giants and Tigers traveled together on the way back north. The Giants were a rough and tumble team that wouldn’t take garbage from anyone. They rode Cobb unmercifully until finally, in an exhibition game in Dallas, Ty barreled into second base with his spikes in the air. Herzog was covering second on the play.
A Real Baseball Fight
Cobb gashed Herzog’s leg badly. The two went at each other as the bench’s cleared and a real brawl ensued. That night, as McGraw entered the hotel lobby, he spotted Cobb. This was not like Joe Torre spotting Mike Piazza after Game 2 of the 2000 World Series. Cobb didn’t mince words. "If you were younger, I’d kill you." And he meant it. But Herzog was also there.
Cobb Almost Killed Herzog
"I’m young enough. Try killing me. I’ll be up in your room at 10 o’clock and we’ll settle this thing then. Have one player with you and I’ll have one with me." Herzog brought Heinie Zimmerman but there were eight Tigers in the room. Cobb and Herzog, who gave up about 20 pounds to Cobb, stripped to the waist. Buck dropped Cobb with a right to the jaw. Cobb was wild as he got up and destroyed Herzog, demonstrating the merciless intensity he showed on the field. Tiger’s trainer Harry Tuttle stopped the fight.
Buck Herzog didn’t have a chance against Ty Cobb, and he probably knew it. So did John McGraw. But Herzog had to challenge Cobb, and that is why McGraw had to have Herzog on his team.
References:
Daley, Arthur. "Sports of the Times: The Man Who Fought Cobb." New York Times. 21 September 1953, p. 30.
