William Arthur Herring (September 24, 1911 – September 29, 1996) was an American minor league baseball pitcher, player-manager and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Early life

Herring was born in

Seven Springs, North Carolina Seven Springs is a town in Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. It lies next to the Neuse River. The 2012 population was estimated at 111. It is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The town ...

in September 1911 and graduated with a law degree from Wake Forest but decided to pursue a baseball career. He debuted in 1935 with the

Portsmouth Truckers The Portsmouth Truckers were a Virginia League baseball team based in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States that existed on-and-off from 1895 to 1928. They also played in the Piedmont League in 1935, when they were affiliated with the Chicago Cubs. I ...

of the

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Teams The following teams were members of the Piedmon ...

. He played three seasons in Portsmouth, going 29-29 on the mound and posting a .281

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

at the plate in 1937.

Career

The next two seasons were spent in the

Coastal Plain League The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league, featuring college players recruited from throughout the nation. The league takes its name from the Class D level Coastal League which operated in the area from 19 ...

. 1938 saw Herring in Ayden, and in 1939, he pitched for Kinston. In Kinston, Herring was called on to take over as player-manager for

Snake Henry Frederick Marshall "Snake" Henry (July 19, 1895 – October 12, 1987) was a major league baseball first baseman and minor league manager. Henry played in a total of twenty nine games for the Boston Braves during the and seasons. He compiled a ...

, who had been suspended for a year after an ugly on-field altercation with an umpire. He rose to the challenge by leading the Eagles to a 43–29 record after he took over, and he helped himself out by going 22-11 with a 1.94

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. When he took over, Herring's team was in last place. At the end of the year, they advanced to the championship round of the playoffs only to lose to Williamston. 1940 turned out to be a disappointing campaign for Herring, who went 3–7 for

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

and

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. The next two seasons were spent with the

Wilson Tobs The Wilson Tobs are an amateur baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League, an NCAA-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league. The team plays its home games at Fleming Stadium in Wilson, North Carolina Wilson is a city in and the ...

where he compiled a 32–7 record with an ERA under 3.00, helping Wilson achieve a Coastal Plain League championship as a player-manager in 1941. Hinting at his future career path in the front office, Herring also held the position of club president. After an 8–5 season with

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

and some service in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Herring returned for another stint in the Coastal Plain League. This time he played for the

Goldsboro Goldbugs The Goldsboro Goldbugs were an Eastern Carolina League (1929) and Coastal Plain League (1937–1941, 1946–1949) baseball team based in Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States. Don Heffner played for the Goldsboro Goldbugs. The 1928 Goldsb ...

, where he had the last three great seasons of his playing career going 54-24 with an ERA under 2.50. He also served as Goldsboro's general manager. Herring finished up his playing career with seasons in

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

, Wilson,

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

, and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. He ended his career with 187 minor league wins. Herring became the General Manager for the Western League

Lincoln Chiefs Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

in 1954. In 1955, he returned to managing with the Piedmont League's

Norfolk Tars The Norfolk Tars were a minor league baseball team that existed on and off from 1906 to 1955. Based in Norfolk, Virginia, they played in the Virginia League from 1906 to 1918 and from 1921 to 1928, in the Eastern League from 1931 to 1932 and in the ...

. He later joined the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

organization, where he served two stints as manager of the Burlington Indians in 1961 and 1964. He then served as a scout for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

from 1965 until 1973.

References

Lincoln page
* The Professional Baseball Players Database 5.0 *
Minor League Baseball: History: TOP 100 TEAMS
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herring, Bill 1911 births 1996 deaths Baseball pitchers Portsmouth Truckers players Portsmouth Cubs players Ayden Aces players Kinston Eagles players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Montreal Royals players Wilson Tobs players Portland Beavers players Valley Rebels players Goldsboro Goldbugs players Pensacola Fliers players Panama City Fliers players St. Petersburg Saints players Baseball player-managers United States Navy personnel of World War II Minor league baseball managers Baltimore Orioles scouts Cleveland Indians scouts New York Mets scouts Wake Forest University alumni