On Episode 9, we talked about milestones. In my research, I found that Herman Long is the leader on the most errors in MLB. He tops the list at 1,096. This made me want to know more about Herman Long. Herman Long was born in April 13, 1866 in Chicago, Illinois. He spoke fluent German which probably led to his nickname Germany. He was also called the “Flying Dutchman”. He played 15 seasons as a short stop. He played for the Kansas City Cowboys, Boston Beaneaters, New York Highlanders, Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite topping the all time errors list Herman’s fellow players had a different view of him.

In 1903, (future Hall of Fame) pitcher Kid Nichols said of Long, “Herman Long is the greatest shortstop of them all. You can speak of your [Hughie] Jennings, and write of your [Jack] Glasscocks all you want, but this man Long at his best had them beat by a city block. Jennings was a brilliant ball player, and without doubt one of the leading players of the age, but this talk of his being better than Herman Long is all rot.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Long_(baseball))

Long died on September 16, 1909 in Denver, Colorado. He had tuberculosis and had moved to Denver for the fresh air. Friends paid for his body to be taken back to Chicago. He is buried in Concordia Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.