He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder between 1926 and 1945, most prominently as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers who were known as the Robins at that time.

Herman was one of the most impressive power hitters of the late 1920s and early 1930s, accumulating a career batting average of .324 and a number of Dodger franchise season records still in effect.

Along with his hitting ability, Herman was one of baseball’s most colorful characters whose occasional baserunning mishaps and defensive lapses infuriated, and later endeared him to Brooklyn fans.

In a 1922 spring training game, he was used as a pinch hitter for Ty Cobb; but the Tigers, with no outfield vacancies, returned him to the minors, where he hit .416.

Herman was an outstanding hitter, but a markedly below-average fielder who led the National League in errors in 1927 as a first baseman and in each of the next two years playing in right field.

Herman developed a self-deprecating attitude about his shortcomings; when informed by a local bank that someone had been impersonating him and cashing bad checks, he said, "Hit him a few flyballs.

In the seventh inning of a game on August 15, 1926, against the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field, Herman tried to stretch a double off the right-field wall into a triple with one out and the bases loaded.

The slow-footed Vance had been a major contributor to the situation, but according to the rules, because he was the lead runner and not forced to advance, he was entitled to third base, so umpire Beans Reardon called Herman and Fewster out.

He bounced back with a solid year, leading the National League with 19 triples and tying Sam Crawford's 1901 Reds' team record for left-handed hitters of 16 home runs, which was broken in 1936 by Ival Goodman with 17.

He received a strong ovation from the Ebbets Field crowd in his first turn at bat and tripped over the first base after hitting a single.