Sherm Lollar

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Sherm Lollar

Lollar in about 1953.
Catcher
Born: August 23, 1924(1924-08-23)
Durham, Arkansas
Died: September 24, 1977(1977-09-24) (aged 53)
Springfield, Missouri
Batted: Right Threw: Right 
MLB debut
April 20, 1946 for the Cleveland Indians
Last MLB appearance
September 7, 1963 for the Chicago White Sox
Career statistics
Batting average     .264
Home runs     155
Runs batted in     808
Teams
Career highlights and awards

John Sherman Lollar (August 23, 1924 – September 24, 1977) was an American professional baseball player and coach.[1] He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians (1946), New York Yankees (1947–1948), St. Louis Browns (1949–1951), and the Chicago White Sox (1952–1963).[1] Although he was often overshadowed by his contemporary, Yogi Berra, Lollar was a nine-time All-Star, and was considered one of the best catchers in the major leagues during the 1950s.[2][3]

Contents

[edit] Major League career

Lollar was born in Durham, Arkansas.[1] He was a batboy for the Fayetteville Angels in the Class D Arkansas-Missouri League in the 1930s.[2] After studying at Pittsburg State Teachers College, Lollar both played and managed for the semipro Baxter Springs Miners, where he was a teammate of Mickey Mantle.[2] He worked as a brakeman in a local mine when he wasn’t playing baseball.[2]

Lollar was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent in 1943 at the age of 18.[4][5] In 1945, while playing for the Indians' minor league team, the Baltimore Orioles, he led the International League with a .364 batting average and won the league's Most Valuable Player award.[2][6] After making his major league debut in 1946, Lollar played infrequently behind catchers Frankie Hayes and Jim Hegan, so he asked to be sent back to the minor leagues.[2]

Lollar was traded to the Yankees where he competed with Yogi Berra for the catching position in 1947.[5] Lollar and Berra were considered excellent hitting prospects but defensive liabilities, although both eventually would become outstanding receivers. He started two games in the 1947 World Series for the Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers and went 3 for 4 with two doubles.[7] Yankee coach and former catching great, Bill Dickey, advised the Yankees that Berra's left-hand bat was more suited to Yankee Stadium than Lollar's right-hand bat. After seeing limited action in 1948 due to a hand injury following a foul tip, he was traded to the lowly St. Louis Browns and replaced Les Moss as their starting catcher for the 1949 season.[2][5] Lollar was hitting for a .314 batting average by mid-July in 1950 and, earned his first All-Star selection as a reserve for the American League team in the 1950 All-Star Game.[8][9] He ended the season with a career-high .391 on base percentage.[1]

Lollar was traded to the White Sox following the 1951 season, taking over the catching job from veteran Phil Masi.[5] For the next ten seasons, he was a mainstay at the catcher's position for the Go-Go White Sox teams of the 1950s and early 1960s that included future Hall of Fame members Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio and Early Wynn. His defensive skills improved under the tutelage of manager Paul Richards, who was himself a former major league catcher.[10] Lollar, who Richards called, "a manager on the field," was a quiet workhorse who led by example and was an excellent handler of pitchers.[3][11] In 1954, after allowing a stolen base to Al Smith on May 25, he threw out all 18 would-be base stealers during the remainder of the year. Lollar tied a major League record on April 23, 1955 when he hit safely twice in two different innings of the same game.[12][13]

After finishing in third place for five consecutive seasons, in 1957 the White Sox would hold first place until late June before finishing the season in second place behind the New York Yankees.[3][14] Lollar won the Gold Glove Award for catchers in 1957, the first year of the award, which initially had one recipient per position for both leagues.[15] That year he caught Bob Keegan's no-hitter on August 20.[16] In 1958, the White Sox would battle back from being in last place on June 14 to once again finish the season in second place behind the Yankees.[17] Lollar led the team with 20 home runs and 84 runs batted in.[18]

In 1959, the White Sox won their first American League pennant in 40 years, finishing the regular season five games ahead of the Cleveland Indians.[19] Lollar helped guide the White Sox pitching staff to the lowest earned run average in the league.[20] He also led the team once again with a career-high 22 home runs and 84 runs batted in and, won his third consecutive Gold Glove Award.[1][15] He had 5 hits and 5 runs batted in, including a home run in the 1959 World Series as the White Sox were defeated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a six-game series.[21]

Lollar remained the White Sox starting catcher through the 1961 season. In 1962, he appeared in only 84 games as Cam Carreon caught the majority of the games. Lollar retired at the end of the 1963 season at the age of 38.[1]

[edit] Career statistics

In an 18 year career, Lollar played in 1752 games, accumulating 1,415 hits in 5,351 at bats for a .264 career batting average along with 155 home runs, 808 runs batted in and a .357 on base percentage.[1] A nine-time All-Star, Lollar led American League catchers in fielding percentage four times over his career.[22] In 1961, he committed only one error over the entire season.[1] At the time of his retirement in 1963, Lollar's .992 career fielding percentage was the highest for a catcher in major league history.[23] During his career, Lollar threw out 46.18% of the base runners who tried steal a base on him, ranking him 5th on the all-time list.[24] At the time of his retirement, he ranked 9th all-time in home runs by catchers.[25]

[edit] Coaching and minor league managing career

When his playing career ended, he became a coach for the Baltimore Orioles from 1964 to 1968.[26] He won another World Series as a coach with the Orioles in 1966. He subsequently was a coach for the Oakland Athletics in 1969 and managed the Athletics' minor league affiliates the Iowa Oaks and the Tucson Toros in the 1970s.[26][27] He died of cancer at age 53 in Springfield, Missouri.[26]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Sherm Lollar". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lollash01.shtml. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g McMurray, John. "The Baseball Biography Project: Sherm Lollar". Society for American Baseball Research. http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1977&pid=8376. Retrieved 24 October 2011. 
  3. ^ a b c Terrell, Roy (May 13, 1957). "The Go-sox Go Again". Sports Illustrated. Sports-Illustrated.com. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1132285/index.htm. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  4. ^ Dexter, Charles (October 1953). It's General Sherman of the White Sox. http://books.google.com/books?id=KiwDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31&dq=sherm+lollar#v=onepage&q=sherm%20lollar&f=false. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  5. ^ a b c d "Sherm Lollar Trades and Transactions". Baseball Almanac. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=lollash01. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  6. ^ "1945 International League Batting Leaders". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/league.cgi?id=11891#league_batting. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  7. ^ "1947 World Series". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1947_WS.shtml. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  8. ^ "1950 Sherm Lollar Batting Log". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=lollash01&t=b&year=1950. Retrieved 21 November 2010. 
  9. ^ "1950 All-Star Game". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ALS/ALS195007110.shtml. Retrieved 21 November 2010. 
  10. ^ James, Bill (2001). The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York: Free Press. pp. 407. ISBN 0-684-80697-5. 
  11. ^ Grosshandler, Stan (October 1979). Sam Esposito Recalls White Sox Pennant Year. http://books.google.com/books?id=qzQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA79&dq=sherm+lollar#v=onepage&q=sherm%20lollar&f=false. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  12. ^ "April 23, 1955 White Sox-Athletics box score". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KC1/KC1195504230.shtml. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  13. ^ Letters To The Editor. July 2000. http://books.google.com/books?id=lysDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA11&dq=sherm+lollar#v=onepage&q=sherm%20lollar&f=false. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  14. ^ "1957 Chicago White Sox Season". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/1957-schedule-scores.shtml. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  15. ^ a b "Gold Glove Award winners". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/gold_glove_al.shtml. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  16. ^ "August 20, 1957 Senators-White Sox box score". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA195708202.shtml. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  17. ^ "1958 Chicago White Sox Schedule, Box Scores and Splits". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/1958-schedule-scores.shtml. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  18. ^ "1958 Chicago White Sox Season". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/1958.shtml. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  19. ^ "1959 American League Final Standings". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1959.shtml. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  20. ^ "1959 American League Team Statistics and Standings". baseball-reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1959.shtml#teams_standard_pitching::none. Retrieved 25 June 2011. 
  21. ^ "1959 World Series". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1959_WS.shtml. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 
  22. ^ Fielding Leaders. July 2001. http://books.google.com/books?id=LSsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA86&dq=july+2001+fielding+leaders+baseball+digest&cd=4#v=onepage&q=july%202001%20fielding%20leaders%20baseball%20digest&f=false. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  23. ^ "Catchers career fielding percentages". The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers. http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/8cfldfld.htm. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  24. ^ "100 Best Catcher CS% Totals". The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers. http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/100BestCSCar.pdf. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  25. ^ Most Home Runs By Catchers. October 1977. http://books.google.com/books?id=cTMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13&dq=baseball+digest+sherm+lollar#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  26. ^ a b c Baseball Digest. May 1995. http://books.google.com/books?id=cisDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15&dq=baseball+digest+sherm+lollar#v=onepage&q=&f=false. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 
  27. ^ "Sherm Lollar minor league manager statistics". Baseball Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lollar001joh#standard_managing. Retrieved 14 November 2010. 

[edit] External links
Iowa Oaks (1969-1981)
Williams • Lollar • Sparks • Babe • Sparks • LaRussa • Ward • Ewing • Hundley • Hartsfield
Iowa Cubs (1982–present)

Napier • Cox • Mackanin • Essian • Kelleher • Mills • Foley • Patterson • Clark • Johnson • Kennedy • Trembley • Kimm • Listach • Quade • Dickerson • Bailey • Listach • Dickerson • Sandberg
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