Billy Herman, 1937
Source: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library Archive
Photo Subject: Billy Herman, second baseman for the Chicago Cubs, posing with a bat. Notice that the Cubs 1937 uniform has a zipper and not buttons. The zipper made its first appearance with the Cubs in 1937 and became popular with many MLB clubs for the next decade or so.
Fun Fact: Billy Herman was considered a hard-nosed player in an era known for hard-nosed players and managers, including his Cubs managers Rogers Hornsby, Charlie Grimm, Gabby Hartnett and Brooklyn Dodgers Leo Durocher.
In the third game of the 1935 World Series, Herman and fellow Cubs players were fined $200 each by Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis for using ''vile and unprintable language''.
One source cited a possible root cause for the incident as Detroit star Hank Greenberg trash-talking Cub first baseman Phil Cavaretta. Another source attributes the rhubarb as a reaction to abusive language toward the Cubs by umpire George Moriarty. Cub manager Charlie Grimm incited his team by saying “Don’t let the bully frighten you . . . Remember that Moriarty is not spelled Mussolini”
Landis assessed $200 fines to umpire George Moriarty, Cub manager Charlie Grimm, and three Cub players; Woody English, Bill Jurges and Billy Herman. At the time, the $200 fine was the heaviest ever given a player in the history of the World Series.
Painting Detail: Printed on 13” x 19” canvas and painted using Schmincke Mussini and Marshall’s oil paints. Finer details were made using Prismacolor pencils.
Acknowledgement: Art Barnum, Chicago Tribune.