Avitus Bernard "Vedie" Himsl (April 2, 1917 – March 15, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, manager,

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

. Born in

Plevna, Montana Plevna is a town in Fallon County, Montana, United States. The population was 179 at the 2020 census. Plevna was founded in 1909 along the Milwaukee Road transcontinental rail line known as the Pacific Extension. Bulgarian railroad workers name ...

, Himsl was a member of the class of 1938 from

Saint John's University St John's University may refer to: *St. John's University (New York City) ** St. John's University School of Law **St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus * College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and C ...

in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Career

Himsl was listed as tall and . A right-handed pitcher in minor league baseball in his playing days (1938–42; 1946; 1950–51), he peaked at the top level of the minors with the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

of the American Association, where he won 51 games over four seasons. Himsl managed and scouted for the St. Louis Cardinals' organization before joining the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in the mid-1950s as a scout and minor league skipper. In , he was named to the coaching staff of the MLB Cubs, when the team struggled to a 60–94 record, one game out of last place in the National League. The offseason resulted in a management overhaul and owner

Philip K. Wrigley Philip Knight Wrigley (December 5, 1894 – April 12, 1977), often called P. K. Wrigley, was an American chewing gum manufacturer and a Major League Baseball executive, inheriting both of those roles as the quiet son of his much more flamboyant fa ...

's creation of the College of Coaches, in which (rather than hiring a full-time manager) all of the team's coaches would rotate as "head coach" of the Major League Cubs and their farm teams. Himsl was named the first head coach in the history of the College of Coaches. He posted a 10–21 win–loss record (.323) over three different terms during the season (April 11–23; May 12–30; June 5–7). His first term, from Opening Day through the club's first 11 games, produced a 5–6 mark. But in his subsequent turns as the Cubs' pilot, the team lost 15 out of 20 games. Himsl also spent part of the 1961 season managing the Cubs' Wenatchee Chiefs affiliate in the Class B Northwest League. He coached for the Cubs through , although he spent all of that campaign as the manager of the Triple-A Salt Lake City Bees 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 ...

. In 1965, Himsl turned to scouting and front-office administration in the Chicago organization, with time out for two years as director of MLB's Central Scouting Bureau, and retired in 1985 as the Cubs' director of scouting. He was listed as a scouting consultant for the Cubs as late as 1999,Simpson, Allan, ed., ''1999 Annual Directory;''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

, page 63 and continued to live in Chicago until his death in 2004.

References

External links

Major League coaching/head coaching page
from Retrosheet
Watterson, Jeremy, ''Vedie Himsl.''
Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Himsl, Vedie 1917 births 2004 deaths Alexandria Aces players Baseball coaches from Montana Baseball players from Montana Chicago Cubs coaches Chicago Cubs executives Chicago Cubs managers Chicago Cubs scouts College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni Hamilton Cardinals players Major League Baseball pitching coaches Major League Baseball scouting directors Minor league baseball managers People from Fallon County, Montana St. Louis Cardinals scouts St. Paul Saints (AA) players