Image from Old Judge card set	Joseph Herr Born: March 4, 1865 Died: August 1, 1936 Goto Baseball Reference for Joseph Herr ss Majors: Yes
	St. Louis Position: ss First game: April 28, 1888 Last game: June 8, 1888 # of games: 29	Signed by St. Louis in early November, 1887. Transferred to the St. Louis Browns on June 9, 1888 after an injury to Chippy McGarr. Player profile from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (March 11, 1888). SABR biography for Joseph Herr

Joseph Herr was born in St. Louis in 1865 and grew up in the neighborhood where the St. Louis Maroons built their Park Palace in 1884. By that time he was playing for one of the top semi-pro teams in St. Louis, the Peach Pies. In 1886, he played professionally for a club in Bellville, IL, and then joined St. Joseph in the Western League. He signed with Syracuse of the International League for the 1887 season, but he was sold to Cleveland in the American Association in January of 1887. He made his major league debut with Cleveland on April 16, 1887. He played in 11 games with Cleveland, and left the club to join Lincoln in the Western League in mid-May 1887. The 1887 Lincoln team also featured future Whites Tom Dolan and Jake Beckley. They finished second in the league that year, behind the Topeka Giants.

Herr signed with the Whites in November of 1887. He was the starting shortstop for the club until he was sent to join the Browns in June of 1888 after an injury to Chippy McGarr, the regular second baseman. Herr became the starting shortstop for the Browns, with Yank Robinson moving to second base. There were concerns about his fielding at short stop. The Post-Dispatch reported that "The only failing Joe Herr has is timidity in throwing. If he would let the ball go on a dead line to Comiskey as hard as he can throw it, the champion's captain would take it in just as easily as when Herr 'lobes' the ball across the field." In early July, the Browns signed Bill White, and Herr was relegated to playing a few games in the outfield while Tommy McCarthy was sick. On July 24, the Post-Dispatch reported that Herr wanted out of St. Louis. However, he remained with the club the rest of the season as a backup player, playing a total of 29 games with them, hitting .254 with four home runs. Baseball-Reference credits him with 11 at-bats in the 1888 World Series, but zero games. Herr was released by the Browns along with Harry Lyons and Bill White in January of 1889 and immediately signed with Milwaukee. However, after the Browns retracted the release, it took until March for the deal to be finalized.

In 1889, Herr played with Milwaukee in the Western Association and then Evansville in the Central Interstate League. He started the 1890 season playing for Waco in the Texas League, and was signed by the Browns in June of 1890, as the club tried to fill holes created by the defection of players to the Players League. He lasted just about two weeks before he was released. After a brief stint with Jamestown in the New York League, he returned to St. Louis and quit baseball at the age of 25. The Inter Ocean reported in December of 1890 that Herr gave up baseball to work with his father as a stair-builder.

Herr remained in St. Louis, got married (twice) and had kids. It is widely reported that he died on July 12, 1933 by drowning in the Mississippi River, but an article in the Post-Dispatch on July 19, 1933 reports that he was in fact still alive, and that the body had been mistakenly identified as Joe Herr first by a friend, and then by his estranged wife. The police found Herr alive and living in Fairgrounds Park. One interesting thing about these articles is that they do not mention that Herr was a former baseball player with the Browns. It was almost 50 years prior, so it is possible no one remembered or connected him with those times.

A burial permit was issued in August of 1936 for a Joseph Herr, age 72, which would be the correct age (based on the age of 68 reported in 1933 on the burial permit). There is a gravestone for Joseph Herr, born March 4, 1867, died August 1, 1936, with wife Mary A., listed on Find-A-Grave.com. Baseball-Reference reports Herr's date of birth as March 4, 1865, and his wife name is given as Maria in the 1933 article about his not being dead.

Date	Pos	AB	R	BH	2B	3B	HR	SB	PO	A	E	BB	HPB	K
4-28-1888	ss	5	2	2				1	3	0	0
5-1-1888	ss	6	2	4	2		1	0	1	4	1
5-2-1888	ss	4	1	3		1		2	0	3	0
5-3-1888	ss	4	2	1	1			1	2	3	1		1
5-6-1888	ss	4	1	0				0	3	4	0			3
5-7-1888	ss	5	1	2	1			0	0	4	0			2
5-8-1888	ss	5	1	0				1	3	5	1			1
5-9-1888	ss	3	0	0				0	0	5	1	1		1
5-10-1888	ss	5	0	1				0	2	3	2			1
5-12-1888	ss	4	0	2				0	2	1	1
5-13-1888	ss & p	3	0	0				2	2	4	3	1		1
5-15-1888	ss	4	0	0				0	1	2	1
5-18-1888	ss	4	2	3		1	1	1	2	2	1
5-19-1888	ss	4	0	1				0	3	3	2
5-20-1888	ss	2	0	0				2	2	4	0	2		1
5-22-1888	ss	3	1	0				1	5	1	0	1
5-23-1888	ss	3	1	1			1	1	0	4	0	1
5-25-1888	ss	4	1	1				1	4	6	1
5-27-1888	ss	5	0	1				1	3	1	2
5-27-1888	ss	4	1	2				0	3	4	1
5-29-1888	ss	3	0	0				0	1	3	0			1
5-30-1888	ss	5	1	1			1	0	1	2	0			1
5-30-1888	ss	4	0	0				0	1	2	1			3
5-31-1888	ss	3	1	0				0	6	2	0	1
6-1-1888	ss	4	1	2				0	2	4	2
6-2-1888	ss	4	1	2	2			0	0	2	1
6-5-1888	ss	4	2	0				1	1	1	0
6-6-1888	ss	3	1	0				1	1	2	0	1
6-8-1888	ss	3	2	2	1			0	0	0	0	1
29 Games		114	25	31	7	2	4	16	54	81	22	9	1	15

Date	Pos	IP	H	R	ER	K	BB	HPB	WP
5-13-1888	ss & p	6	12	13	6	2	2	0	1
1 Games		6	12	13	6	2	2	0	1