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| Vedie Himsl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coach/Head coach | |
| Born:(1917-04-02)April 2, 1917 Plevna, Montana, U.S. | |
| Died: March 15, 2004(2004-03-15) (aged 86) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 11, 1961, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 7, 1961, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Games managed | 31 |
| Head coaching record | 10–21 |
| Winning percentage | .323 |
| Teams | |
As coach
| |
Avitus Bernard "Vedie" Himsl (April 2, 1917 – March 15, 2004) was an Americanprofessional baseballplayer,manager,coach andscout. Born inPlevna, Montana,[1] Himsl was a member of the class of 1938 fromSaint John's University inCollegeville, Minnesota.[2]
Himsl was listed as 6-foot-1-inch (1.85 m) tall and 180 pounds (82 kg). Aright-handedpitcher inminor league baseball in his playing days (1938–42; 1946; 1950–51), he peaked at the top level of the minors with theSt. Paul Saints of theAmerican Association, where he won 51 games over four seasons.
Himsl managed and scouted for theSt. Louis Cardinals' organization before joining theChicago Cubs in the mid-1950s as a scout and minor league skipper. In1960, he was named to the coaching staff of the MLB Cubs, when the team struggled to a 60–94 record, one game out of last place in theNational League. The offseason resulted in a management overhaul and ownerPhilip K. Wrigley's creation of theCollege of Coaches, in which (rather than hiring a full-time manager) all of the team's coaches would rotate as "head coach" of the Major League Cubs and theirfarm teams.
Himsl was named the first head coach in the history of the College of Coaches. He posted a 10–21win–loss record (.323)[2][3] over three different terms during the1961 season (April 11–23; May 12–30; June 5–7).[4] His first term, from Opening Day through the club's first 11 games, produced a 5–6 mark. But in his subsequent turns as the Cubs' pilot, the team lost 15 out of 20 games. Himsl also spent part of the 1961 season managing the Cubs'Wenatchee Chiefs affiliate in the Class BNorthwest League. He coached for the Cubs through1964, although he spent all of that campaign as the manager of theTriple-ASalt Lake City Bees of thePacific Coast League.
In 1965, Himsl turned to scouting and front-office administration in the Chicago organization, with time out for two years as director ofMLB's Central Scouting Bureau, and retired in 1985 as the Cubs' director of scouting. He was listed as a scouting consultant for the Cubs as late as 1999,[5] and continued to live inChicago until his death in 2004.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chicago Cubshead coach April 11–23, 1961 May 12–30, 1961 June 5–7, 1961 | Succeeded by |