Al Hermann

Al Hermann
Second baseman / Third baseman
Born: (1899-03-28)March 28, 1899
Milltown, New Jersey
Died: August 20, 1980(1980-08-20) (aged 81)
Lewes, Delaware
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 13, 1923, for the Boston Braves
Last MLB appearance
April 20, 1924, for the Boston Braves
MLB statistics
Batting average.234
Home runs0
Runs batted in11
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Albert Bartel "Ab" Hermann (March 28, 1899 – August 20, 1980) was a Major League Baseball infielder. He played two seasons with the Boston Braves from 1923 to 1924.[1] Later in life, he was active in Republican Party politics.

Baseball career

Hermann attended New Brunswick High School and Colgate University where he played for the school's baseball, basketball and football teams.[2][3] As a baseball player, he reportedly had a .472 batting average and, in 1921, was the highest-scoring guard in college basketball.[4] He graduated from Colgate in June 1923,[3] after which it was reported he would spend the summer in Maine before reporting to Suffield Academy in Connecticut where he would serve as the athletic director.[5]

Within days, however, Christy Mathewson, president of the Boston Braves, announced that Hermann had signed with the club.[6] He was in uniform with the team at Braves Field by June 28.[7] He nearly made his debut on July 9 when third baseman Tony Boeckel was ejected for kicking dirt on home plate umpire Ernie Quigley. Hermann was sent out to third base to warm up before the next inning but manager Fred Mitchell chose instead to substitute Gus Felix.[8] Hermann made his debut a few days later on July 11 against the St. Louis Cardinals[1] in Boston. He entered the game as a pinch hitter for Boeckel in the seventh inning and was struck out by Bill Sherdel.[9] He recorded his first two hits in a game at Ebbets Field on July 22, both singles against Dutch Henry of the Brooklyn Dodgers.[10] In the same game, he also recorded his first two runs batted in and his first stolen base. Hermann stayed with the Braves for the remainder of the season, accumulating a .237/.237/.280 slash line.[11] Within eight days of the end of the 1923 season, Hermann was reportedly on the sidelines coaching the Suffield football team in its season opener against the freshman team of Tufts University.[11][12]

Hermann left Suffield in early March 1924 to join the Braves in St. Petersburg, Florida for spring training. He was one of several young infielders competing to fill the void left by the offseason death of Tony Boeckel.[13] He made his season debut on April 20, 1924 at the Polo Grounds against the New York Giants. In a one-run game with two runners on base in the ninth inning, the Braves inserted Earl Smith as a pinch hitter for Mickey O'Neil against Walt Huntzinger. However, when the Giants countered by substituting Art Nehf to face Smith, the Braves swapped out Smith in favor of Hermann in order to regain the platoon advantage. Nehf struck out Hermann and the following batter and the Braves lost.[14] This would be Hermann's final game in the major leagues.[1] Fellow 25-year-old, second-year infielder Ernie Padgett wound up filling the vacancy at third base.[15]

Within days of his lone appearance of the 1924 Major League season, Hermann was farmed out to the New Haven Profs of the Eastern League.[16] Hermann reportedly found great success in his brief time in New Haven. In less than a month, the Braves had him moved to the Eastern League's Worcester club where they could watch him more closely.[17] During the 1924–1925 offseason, the Braves traded Hermann to the Albany Senators of the Eastern League, for whom Hermann initially refused to play. He wanted to be given the opportunity to play in a classification higher than Class A because, if he found he could not succeed at a higher level, he would quit baseball and begin a career using his college education instead.[18] By that April, however, he left his coaching job at Suffield to end his holdout and join the team[19] and would continue to play for Class A teams for the next several years.[20] In 1929, he played for the Wichita Falls Spudders and, according to a columnist for the Wichita Falls Times, would "be remembered for a long, long time as the worst third baseman in the history of the club." After the season, he was sold to a club in the lesser New York–Penn League.[21] He split the 1930 season, his last in minor league baseball, between Elmira, New York and Allentown, Pennsylvania.[20]

His daughter was U.S. representative Jo Ann Emerson.

Political career

During his time playing and living in Albany, Hermann became affiliated with a life insurance company and began studying law.[21]

Electoral history

New Jersey's 3rd congressional district election, 1936[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William H. Sutphin (incumbent) 68,189 50.61
Republican Albert B. Hermann 64,237 47.68
Townsend Elizabeth Halleck 2,176 1.62
Communist Willie Lee Johnson 132 0.10
Total votes 134,734 100.00
Democratic hold

References

  1. ^ a b c "Al Hermann Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  2. ^ "Two Captaincys Perhaps For "Ab" Hermann". The Central New Jersey Home News. January 17, 1922. p. 12. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Colgate Loses 17 Athletes, One A Three Letter Man, By Graduation". Daily Sentinel. June 16, 1923. p. 8. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  4. ^ "Suffield's Coach Star at Colgate". Hartford Courant. July 26, 1923. p. 11. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  5. ^ ""Ab" Hermann in City". The Oneonta Star. June 22, 1923. p. 5. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  6. ^ "Hermann, Colgate, Signs With Braves". The Springfield Daily Republican. June 24, 1923. p. 25. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  7. ^ "A. B. Hermann". The Boston Globe. June 29, 1923. p. 17. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  8. ^ O'Leary, James C. (July 10, 1923). "Bruins Win Final by Batting Barnes". The Boston Globe. p. 10. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  9. ^ "St. Louis Cardinals vs Boston Braves Box Score: July 13, 1923". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  10. ^ "Boston Braves vs Brooklyn Robins Box Score: July 22, 1923". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  11. ^ a b "Al Hermann 1923 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
  12. ^ "Suffield School opened its football season". Transcript-Telegram. October 15, 1923. p. 10. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  13. ^ "Suffield School Coach Off With Braves Next Sunday". The Morning Union. February 26, 1924. p. 15. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  14. ^ "Boston Braves vs New York Giants Box Score: April 20, 1924". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  15. ^ "1924 Boston Braves Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  16. ^ "Hermann Is Farmed out to New Haven Team". The Central New Jersey Home News. April 24, 1924. p. 14. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  17. ^ "Hermann Now with Worcester Baseball Club". The Central New Jersey Home News. May 7, 1924. p. 16. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  18. ^ "Hermann Asserts He Will Not Join the Albany Club". The Morning Union. February 6, 1925. p. 23. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  19. ^ "Ab Hermann Leaves Suffield to Join Albany Ball Team". The Central New Jersey Home News. April 15, 1925. p. 12. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  20. ^ a b "Al Hermann Minor Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  21. ^ a b Parker, Al (December 18, 1929). "The Lookout". Wichita Falls Times. p. 16. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  22. ^ "Our Campaigns - NJ District 3 Race - Nov 03, 1936". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved July 16, 2025.



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