Ronald Samuel Herbel (January 16, 1938 – January 20, 2000) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who appeared in 331 games, all but 79 in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

, for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

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 ...

and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. A right-hander born in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, he was listed as tall and . Herbel's .029 career

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 ...

is the lowest batting average in Major League history for a player with a minimum of 100 at-bats. Herbel set another record for batting futility, he accumulated the fewest hits of any pitcher or position player in major league history reaching his first 100 at-bats with one. He got his second hit on June 9, 1966 at the

Houston Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

, a fifth-inning single RBI single off of

Larry Dierker Lawrence Edward Dierker (born September 22, 1946) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher, manager, and broadcaster. During a 14-year baseball career as a pitcher, he pitched from 1964 to 1977 for the Houston Colt .45s/Astros and the St. Loui ...

. He was 1-for-108 (.009) in the majors up to that point and 0-for-12 beginning the 1966 season. It was his only safety of the season, going 1-for-38 (.026) overall. After his second hit, he went 4-for-97 (.041) thereafter, completing his major league career in 1971 to finish 6-for-206.

Biography

Herbel was raised in

Brighton, Colorado Brighton is a home rule municipality city located in Adams and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. Brighton is the county seat of Adams County and a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Ra ...

, and graduated from Brighton High School in 1956. He attended the

University of Northern Colorado The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) is a public university in Greeley, Colorado. The university was founded in 1889 as the State Normal School of Colorado and has a long history in teacher education. The institution has officially changed ...

. After two seasons at Northern Colorado, Herbel signed as an amateur free agent with the Giants in 1958, then spent six seasons in San Francisco's farm system when he received a September call up to the Giants in 1963. He made two

appearances with the Giants, both against the

, with his major league debut on September 10 at the Polo Grounds. Herbel was used both in relief and as a starter in 1964, as he made 22 starts and eighteen appearances out of the bullpen. In his first Major League at-bat on May 6, he struck out against

Larry Jackson Lawrence Curtis Jackson (June 2, 1931 – August 28, 1990) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies from to . In , ...

of the Chicago Cubs. His first major league start came on May 17 in the second game of a doubleheader against the

; he allowed seven hits but no runs, picking up the win in a 1–0 Giant victory. For the season, Herbel made 54 plate appearances without getting a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, and struck out thirty times. Herbel went 9–9 with a 3.07

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and 98

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

in 1964. His first major league win was a 1–0 complete game

shut out Shut Out may refer to: * Shutout, a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring * ''Shut Out'' (album), a 1977 album by Paul Jabara * "Shut Out" (song), a 1977 song by Paul Jabara and Donna Summer * "Shutout", a song by The Walk ...

of the New York Mets on May 17. In 1965 Herbel earned a spot in the starting rotation on his way to a 12–9 record for a Giants team that won 14 straight games in September, with Herbel pitching the best ball of his career, only to lose the pennant by two games to a Dodger team that won its last 15 games. He registered his first major league hit and RBI on May 21 in his first major league game on astroturf, while holding the Houston Astros to just five hits themselves in the complete game victory. It was Herbel's only hit of the season, though he was credited with a second

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

on July 28 when he walked with the bases loaded. If it could be said that he had a best season with the bat, it would be 1967. Herbel had three hits, two of which were doubles, two walks, three successful bunts and struck out only fourteen times for a .107 batting average. It was also Herbel's first real season as a reliever. Though he made eleven starts, he made 31 appearances out of the bullpen, earning one save. Over the next two seasons, Herbel made only six starts. Following the 1969 season, Herbel was traded with Bob Barton and

Bobby Etheridge Bobby Etheridge (25 March 1934 – 4 March 1988) was an English footballer who played for Gloucester City, Bristol City and Cheltenham Town. A wing half, Etheridge made over 250 Football League appearances. Career Etheridge started his car ...

to the

for

Frank Reberger Frank Beall Reberger (born June 7, 1944) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants from 1968 to 1972. Early life and amateur ...

. The Padres were 50–82, 34 games back of the Cincinnati Reds when they dealt Herbel to the reigning

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

champion New York Mets, who were in the midst of a play-off drive again in 1970 (two games back of the first place Pittsburgh Pirates in the

National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

at the time of the trade), and needed to add an arm to their bullpen. Herbel went 2–2 with a 1.38 ERA and one save in twelve relief appearances for the Mets, who finished in third place, six games back of the Pirates. Combined with his 64 appearances with the Padres, Herbel's 76 appearances on the mound led the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, and was only one less than major league leader

Wilbur Wood Wilbur Forrester Wood Jr. (born October 22, 1941) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched for the Boston Red Sox (1961–64), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1964–65), and the Chi ...

. He was traded to the

for

Bob Aspromonte Robert Thomas Aspromonte (born June 19, 1938) is an American former professional baseball player and business entrepreneur. He played as a third baseman in Major League Baseball in and then from to , most prominently as a member of the newly for ...

following the season on December 1, 1970."Bob Aspromonte Joins New York," ''The New York Times'', Wednesday, December 2, 1970.
Retrieved March 5, 2020 Herbel spent one season in Atlanta, where he went 0–1 with a 5.23 ERA and one save in 25 appearances for the third place Braves. He signed with the Minnesota Twins in 1972, and spent the entire season with their Triple-A Pacific Coast League affiliate before retiring. During 1964 spring training, he began wearing glasses because of nearsightedness. He died from a heart attack on January 20, 2000, in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

, at 62 years old.

{, class=wikitable style="text-align:center" , Seasons , W , L , PCT ,

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

, G , GS , CG ,

SHO Sho, Shō or SHO may refer to: Music * ''Shō'' (instrument) (笙), a Japanese wind instrument * ''Kane'' (instrument) (鉦), a Japanese percussion instrument * Sho?, a Dubai rock band People * Shō (given name), including ''Sho'' * Shō (su ...

, SV , IP , H , ER , R , HR , BB , K , WP , HBP , Fld% , Avg. , RBI , - , 9 , 42 , 37 , .532 , 3.83 , 331 , 79 , 11 , 3 , 16 , 894 , 945 , 380 , 442 , 81 , 285 , 447 , 40 , 20 , .958 , .029 , 3

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Herbel, Ron 1938 births 2000 deaths Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Denver Eugene Emeralds players Fresno Giants players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players Northern Colorado Bears baseball players Rio Grande Valley Giants players San Francisco Giants players San Diego Padres players Springfield Giants players Tacoma Giants players Tacoma Twins players