Herman G. Merritt (November 12, 1900 – May 26, 1927) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. A native of

Independence, Kansas Independence is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Kansas, Montgomery County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,548. It was named in commemoration of the ...

, he played

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in 1921, compiling a .370

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 ...

in his rookie year. He was paralyzed in an automobile accident the following spring and died five years later at age 26.

Early years

Merritt was born in

, in 1900.

Professional baseball

Detroit Tigers

Merritt had his major league debut on August 24, 1921, replacing

Donie Bush Owen Joseph "Donie" Bush (; October 8, 1887Sources differ as to Bush's date of birth. Sources listing the date as October 8, 1887, include (i) baseball-reference.com, and (ii) findagrave.com. Sources listing the date as October 3, 1887, include ...

as the Tigers' shortstop for the last month of the 1921 season. In 20 games, Merritt hit for an impressive .370 batting average with a .478

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. However, he did not perform well in the field, having an .882

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

(60 points lower than the league average in 1921 for shortstops) and a 2.65

range factor Range Factor (commonly abbreviated RF) is a baseball statistic developed by Bill James. It is calculated by dividing putouts and assists by the number of innings or games played at a given defense position. The statistic is premised on the notion ...

(2.50 points lower than the league average that year for shortstops).

Augusta Tygers

On March 31, 1922, after the Tigers signed

Topper Rigney Emory Elmo "Topper" Rigney (January 7, 1897 – June 6, 1972) was an American professional baseball player between 1920 and 1928. He played six seasons in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Detroit Tigers (1922–1925), Boston Re ...

at shortstop, Merritt was farmed out to the minor league

Augusta Tygers Augusta may refer to: Places Australia * Augusta, Western Australia Brazil * Rua Augusta (São Paulo) Canada * Augusta, Ontario * North Augusta, Ontario * Augusta Street (Hamilton, Ontario) France * Augusta Suessionum ("Augusta of the Suess ...

. Merritt was assigned to play as a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

for Augusta. In early April, one newspaper called Merritt as "the Kansas City flash" and added: "If in the league games that are to come, this boy shows a part of the class that he exhibited on Monday afternoon, etroit manager

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent ...

will have earned the enduring gratitude of the Augusta fans."

Automobile accident

On April 23, 1922, while returning with four teammates to Augusta after a three-game series in

Greenville, North Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. It is the principal city of the Greenville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 12t ...

, the Packard automobile in which they were traveling was overturned 15 miles south of Greenville. The other four players were unhurt. It was initially believed that Merritt had fractured his spine and would not survive, but he underwent surgery the next day, and it was discovered that his spine was not broken, but rather "was jammed between two bones of his broken back", and his lower body showed some sensitivity the next day. In May 1922, each of the six clubs in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

held a benefit game for Merritt with ten percent of the ticket sales going to Merritt and voluntary contributions also being solicited from fans. He remained in a Greenville hospital for a month, and when he returned to Augusta on May 25, he was greeted at Union Station by 500 baseball fans and admirers. A further benefit game was held for Merritt in Augusta in May, with fans contributing over $700.

Family and later years

Merritt was married. According to a newspaper account, he spent six months in a hospital "strapped to a cot" before finally being moved in December 1922 to his home in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. He died in Kansas City in May 1927 at age 26.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Herm Detroit Tigers players Baseball players from Kansas Sportspeople from Independence, Kansas Major League Baseball shortstops 1900 births 1927 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen