Former Cardinals player and manager Solly Hemus, the last big-league manager alive who had managed in the 1950s and the last Cardinals player-manager in 1959, died at age 94 on Monday in Houston. He had been in ill health.
Solomon Joseph Hemus, a 5-foot-9, hard-nosed infielder, had a lifetime batting mark of .273 in an 11-season career with the Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies from 1949-59.
After he was traded to the Phillies in May 1956, Hemus wrote a letter to Cardinals owner Gussie Busch saying how proud he had been to be a Cardinal. After the 1958 season, Busch re-acquired Hemus and named him player/manager.
Hemus filled the dual role only for 24 games in 1959,, mostly as a pinch hitter, before turning to managing full time. The Cardinals started out 5-15 in 1959 and finished seventh in an eight-team league at 71-83. The next year, they finished third at 86-68 but he was fired and replaced by coach Johnny Keane after the club started 71-83 in 1961.
Later, Hemus was a coach with the New York Mets and Cleveland Indians and then managed in the Mets’ system in 1966 before entering the oil business in Houston.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseb...0e5e4ec5c.html