As manager Charles Lincoln "Buck" Herzog (July 9, 1885 – September 4, 1953) was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for four National League clubs between 1908 and 1920: the New York Giants, the Boston Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Chicago Cubs.

After attending the Maryland Agricultural College, he played one season in the minor leagues before the Giants selected him in the Rule 5 Draft.

Herzog spent 1918 with Boston, was traded to Chicago in the middle of 1919, and played one last year with the Cubs in 1920, a season that saw his reputation tarnished by unsubstantiated accusations of gambling on baseball games.

Following his playing career, Herzog managed the minor league Easton Farmers and coached the United States Naval Academy baseball team.

[1] Herzog began his professional career in 1907 when he joined the York White Roses of the Class B Tri-State League.

Herzog spent the whole season with the club, his strong play at shortstop and third base starting to build his reputation for versatility.

[1] Making his major league debut on April 17, 1908, against the Philadelphia Phillies, Herzog played shortstop for part of the game, recording a hit in his only at bat and scoring a run in the team's 14–2 victory.

[1] Herzog took what baseball historian Frank Russo called "a gigantic step back" in 1909, as he struggled to hit all season.

[5] Although Herzog spent spring training with the Giants in 1910, McGraw was tired of listening to him begging for playing time.

[5] This time the primary shortstop, Herzog got off to a strong start to the season, leading the team in hitting with a .310 average through July 15.

[2][10] Nevertheless, he got in trouble with manager Fred Tenney, who fined both Herzog and teammate Doc Miller for "laying down" during games.

[6] Herzog assumed the third base job, bringing a great deal of energy to the position as the Giants won the NL pennant by five games.

[12] Contemporary sportswriter Ring Lardner said he "was more peppery than Captain [Larry] Doyle himself and looked like an electric battery compared with [Art] Fletcher and [Fred] Merkle.

[14] Herzog's leadoff double in the fifth inning of Game 3 led to him scoring the Giants' second run in an eventual 2–1 victory.

Giants owner Harry Hempstead supervised the deal, thinking that McGraw, who was on an international vacation, would be thrilled to get the speedy Bescher.

"[12] Around the same time as they acquired Herzog, the Reds traded Joe Tinker, who had managed them the previous season.

McGraw sent a telegram to Reds president Garry Herrmann, offering to journey personally to Cincinnati to make a trade for his ex-player.

After the Tiger outfielder showed up late for a Dallas spring training doubleheader because of a golf outing, Herzog and several of his teammates called him names from the Giant bench.

[2][29] Both teams were staying at the Oriental Hotel, and at dinner that evening, Herzog walked up to Cobb and challenged him to a fight.

The two met an hour later in Cobb's room, where the Tiger outfielder had prepared for the fight by moving furniture out of the way and pouring water on the floor.

"I got hell kicked out of me, but I knocked the bum down, and you know that swell head, he’ll never get over the fact that a little guy like me had him on the floor," Herzog declared afterwards.

[5] However, the ballclub had another successful season, winning the NL pennant and facing the Chicago White Sox in the 1917 World Series.

[31] Falling out of favor with McGraw again after the blunder, Herzog was traded back to the Boston NL team (now known as the Braves) on January 8, 1918, for Doyle and Jesse Barnes.

[34] He became embroiled in controversy that August when he was one of a group of Cubs players accused of deliberately helping the team lose a game to the Phillies.

[5] After his release from the Cubs, Herzog played one final season of professional baseball, splitting the year between the Columbus Senators and the Louisville Colonels of the Class AA American Association.

[31] His $12,000 minor league contract was a record at the time, but Herzog stopped playing the next season when it was not renewed.

[2] The Newark Bears of the Class AA International League hired him as their manager in 1924, but they dismissed him before the start of the season.

Returning to Maryland, Herzog managed the Easton Farmers of the Class D Eastern Shore League in 1925 and 1926, his final two seasons in professional baseball.

[1][5] He was also an excellent bunter, and he displayed a good knowledge for the game, figuring out small things he could do that would help the team win.

[5] Continuing to live in Ridgely during his playing career, Herzog was well known among the baseball players for his skill at growing cantaloupes.