Whiteyball is a style of playingbaseball that was developed by formerMajor League Baseball managerWhitey Herzog. The term was coined by the press during the1982 World Series to describe the style of Herzog'sSt. Louis Cardinals. The team won the Series without a typicalpower hitter, instead using speed on the base paths, solid pitching, excellent defense, andline drive base hits. Whiteyball was well-suited to the fast, hardAstroTurf surface thatBusch Memorial Stadium had at the time, which created large, unpredictable bounces when the ball hit it at sharp angles. In his book "White Rat", Herzog says the approach was a response to the spacious, artificial surface stadiums of the time. He said of the media's dismay at his teams' success:
They seemed to think there was something wrong with the way we played baseball, with speed and defense and line-drive hitters. They called it "Whitey-ball" and said it couldn't last.
— Whitey Herzog[1]
Herzog used this strategy for his team during the 1980s until he left the Cardinals in 1990.
A 2012 sports article described Whiteyball as follows:[2]
The '82 Series marked the start of Whiteyball, the Herzog style which stressed base running and pitching, though Herzog attributes that to the nature ofBusch Stadium II, which didn't reward the long ball.
Herzog used many switch-hitters such asOzzie Smith,Willie McGee,Tom Herr,Terry Pendleton,Vince Coleman,José Oquendo,Garry Templeton,Ted Simmons,Luis Alicea,Mike Ramsey,Tony Scott, andFélix José in St. Louis, along withWillie Wilson andU L Washington when he managed in Kansas City.[3] Kansas City Royals managerNed Yost used his own version of Whiteyball, often called Royalball, to get to the2014 World Series, and win the2015 series.
