Herb Plews

Herbert Eugene Plews (June 14, 1928 – December 12, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball second baseman.

Plews batted left-handed and threw right-handed; he was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and 160 pounds (73 kg).

Plews's time in the minor leagues was interrupted by his military service, but he had made it to the Denver Bears (the top affiliate of the Yankees' system) by 1955.

The older Plews was also a pitcher for the local town baseball team, and he taught his son the game.

Though the high school did not have a baseball team, Plews also batted .400 playing American Legion baseball and was once selected as the Montana representative in a National High School All-Star Game sponsored by Esquire; Ty Cobb coached his team.

A Helena resident told him that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had a very good baseball program, and Plews contacted Wally Roettger, the coach, who informed him he could play on the team as a freshman as a result of World War II just ending (most years, freshmen were not allowed to play).

[3] On June 17, 1950, Plews played in his first professional baseball game for the Class AAA Kansas City Blues of the American Association.

Plews spent more of the year with the Class B Quincy Gems of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, tallying 13 hits as part of a .298 batting average in 13 games.

[2] Plews's career was put on hold for the next two years as the Korean War broke out; he was drafted by the United States Army and sent to Camp Drake, located northwest of Tokyo in Japan.

[9] During 1954 spring training, Plews and teammate Jim Ludtka accomplished the rare feat of hitting two Inside-the-park home runs in a single game, both coming against pitcher Roger Higgins of the Little Rock Travelers.

[5] Plews ranked among the league leaders in runs scored (100, eighth), triples (11, tied with Don Blasingame for third), and stolen bases (nine, ninth).

[11] His strong year at Denver drew the attention of the Washington Senators, who traded Mickey McDermott and Bobby Kline to the Yankees for Plews, Lou Berberet, Dick Tettelbach, Bob Wiesler, and a player to be named later (eventually Whitey Herzog) before the 1956 season began.

He made his debut with the Senators against the Yankees, on April 18, 1956, at Griffith Stadium, pinch-hitting and driving in a run in the eighth inning, though New York won 9–5.

[13] In the first game of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox on August 28, Plews hit his first (and only) home run of the season against Bob Keegan as the Senators won 6–2.

[15][16] Bob Addie of the Washington Post speculated on August 29 that Plews, Bereberet, or Herzog might be contenders for the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award, though Luis Aparicio was the eventual winner.

[2][17] Plews played in 91 games in his rookie season and batted .270 with 24 runs scored, 69 hits, and 25 RBI.

[18] On June 15, he had three hits, including an RBI triple against Bill Fischer and scored three runs as the Senators beat the White Sox 9–1.

[26] Two days later, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Tigers, Plews hit a home run against Hall of Famer Jim Bunning in a 7–2 loss.

[15] On July 26, he pinch-hit for pitcher Tom Brewer and hit into a double play in a 5–4 loss to the Kansas City Athletics.

[31] Two days later, Plews and Wall were both sent to the minor leagues so Boston could call up Earl Wilson and Jim Mahoney.

He spent the 1960 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class AAA International League, hoping to get called up by the Cleveland Indians.

[5] From 1962 through 1964, Plews played for the Hawaii Islanders of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL).