The language of baseball reflects a more gentle, pastoral time in the United States. Players score by reaching “home” safely. If they don’t win, it’s “a shame,” not the end of the world. And players don’t get penalties. They get errors.
Some get more errors than others. None ever got so many as Herman Long, who spent 16 seasons as a shortstop in the early decades of Major League Baseball. While his peers considered him one of the best at his position, many remember him today the player with the most errors in MLB history: 1,096.
That’s too bad, because Long played the position as well as anyone. And many make the case he should get into the Hall of Fame.
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Herman Long’s Early Life
Herman Long has held the record for the most errors since his retirement in 1904, when Teddy Roosevelt sat in the Oval Office and less than one out of every 1,000 Americans owned a car. He looks like a lock to hold this record forever.
That’s OK, though, because it gives people the chance to learn that the man who made the most errors in MLB history actually was one of the best players of his time.
Even among baseball aficionados, Long is a bit of a mystery. He was born April 13, 1866 in Chicago, presumably the son of German immigrants as he spoke fluent German. Little is known of his life before he joined the Kansas City Cowboys in 1889.
But every baseball historian knows what happened then. In his rookie season, Long hit .275 and stole 89 bases. He stayed a regular at shortstop until 1904. Along the way, he stole more than 30 bases in seven seasons and had a lifetime batting average of .277.
Long spent the bulk of his career, from 1890 to 1902, playing for some of the great Boston Beaneaters clubs, including the team that won it all in 1892 (Long drove in a run in the championship series).
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Long jumped to the rival American League in 1903, joining the New York Highlanders, making him the first shortstop for the franchise that would later change its name to “Yankees.” New York traded Long to the Detroit Tigers after he played just 22 games in New York. He finished 1903 in Detroit and played his last season in 1904 with the Philadelphia Athletics.
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Why Herman Long Had So Many Errors
Most baseball experts believe Long had so many errors for two main reasons. One, he had great range and tried for everything hit to his side of the diamond. Second, he played in an era when scorekeepers awarded a lot more errors. Awarding 20 errors in a game was not an aberration in the late 19th century.
Certainly, Long was a great player. As pointed out by Keith Olbermann, contemporary players and those who saw Long play thought of him as one of the best of his time. In the first-ever Hall of Fame Veterans Committee vote in 1936, Long got more votes than 23 future Hall of Famers, including King Kelly and Jimmy Collins. But he’s not in the Hall of Fame.
Long died in 1909 of tuberculosis, just 43 years old. Chicago sportswriter Billy Phelan wrote of Long after his death, calling him a “jovial German” who was “well-liked by all who ever met him.”
He also wrote: “Herman Long was one of the most brilliant shortstops that ever made a throw and also one of the most reliable. There he was, year after year, somersaulting and leaping, gathering the miraculous plays with either hand, chasing the long flies, working in the double plays and the hurried pinches, holding up his end with the bat, stealing his full share of bases.”
According to Baseball Reference, Long ranks:
- 80th all-time in turning double plays
- 85th all-time in defensive WAR (wins above replacement)
- 30th all-time in stolen bases (537)
- 21st all-time for assists at shortstop
- 81st all-time for runs scored
Based on his statistics and impact on his team (Boston won five pennants while Long played there), the site says a comparable player is Pee Wee Reese.
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Whether he ever gets into the Hall of Fame, Herman Long deserves to be known as more than the player with the most errors in MLB history. The old saying is that “a pitcher must be pretty good to lose 20 games.” In the case of Long, it can be said that a shortstop must be pretty good to commit 1,096 errors.
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