1981 Topps Tom Herr

 

The front: Nice spring training shot, with a chain link fence and some indeterminable activity in the background providing some visual interest.

The back: Herr scored the walk-off winning run on a sacrifice fly by Garry Templeton off of future Hall-of-Famer Bruce Sutter. But the big news that day was Lou Brock getting his 3,000th hit.

The player: Herr is listed as a shortstop on this card, but he was primarily a second baseman. He played 14 games at SS, 58 at 2B. He would only play SS for two more games in his career, both in 1988. On his 1979 rookie card, Topps got his position right. In 1982 they called him a third baseman. Herr never played third base in the major leagues until three games in his final season, 1991. As a second baseman Herr was a key member of the great Cardinals teams of the 1980. Like most of those Redbirds he was more of a speed/defense guy than a big hitter. In 1985, batting behind Vince Coleman, he hit .302 with just 8 HR but 110 RBI. In 1988 he was traded to Minnesota for slugger Tom Brunansky, a surprising trade at the time. He ended his career with brief stints for the Phillies, Mets and Giants. Overall in 1,514 games he hit .271 with 28 HR, 574 RBI and 188 SB. This May he was elected to the Cardinals Hall of Fame.

The man: After his retirement he was a minor league manager for a while, and also had a wine-rack business. He is now retired.

My collection: I have 73 of his cards, from 1980 to 1991. I would be interested in trading for 1986 Drake's #21.