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Those Who Died That Others Might Be Free

 

World War II Hero of the Minor Leagues 

 

Herman Bauer

 

Date and Place of Birth: 1918 East St Louis, Illinois
Date and Place of Death: July 12, 1944 France
Baseball Experience: Minor League
Position: Catcher
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Military Unit: 33rd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, US Army
Area Served: European Theater of Operations

 

Herman Bauer, older brother of Yankees' star, Hank Bauer, was in line to be a great catcher with the Chicago White Sox before WWII.

 

Herman A Bauer was born in East St Louis, Illinois in 1918. One of nine children, Bauer's father was an Austrian immigrant who worked as a bartender having earlier lost his leg in an aluminum mill.

 

After graduating from Central Catholic High School, Bauer played for the East St Louis AC Blue Jays semi-pro team and signed with the Chicago White Sox in 1939. He was assigned to the Grand Forks Chiefs of the Northern League in 1939 and batted .305 that year. Still with the Chiefs in 1940, Bauer helped the team to the Northern League championship with a .294 average, 12 home runs and 86 RBIs. He was voted the Northern League's Most Valuable Player that year, receiving the Linus Ebnet Trophy. "I was 12 years old when I first met Herman," recalls Grand Forks resident Bob Gilmour. "We lived only a few blocks from the ballpark and ballplayers would occasionally stop over. The Northern League was Class D at the time but the competition was anything but."

 

In 1941, Bauer was behind the plate for the American Association's St Paul Saints and batted .269 in 27 games. That year his younger brother, Hank, was repairing furnaces in a beer-bottling plant when Herman was able to get him a tryout that resulted in a contract with Oshkosh Giants of the Wisconsin State League.

 

"My father was a conductor for the Great Northern Railway," Bob Gilmour recently told me.  "He took me to a game in St. Paul in 1941 when Herman Bauer was promoted to the Saints of the American Association, next tier below the major leagues. Suddenly, my dad said, 'Let's go down and see Hermie.' I said they wouldn't let us in the dugout but Dad was on his way and I trotted along after. Hermie was amazed. His eyes were wide and said, 'Hi Bobby. Hello, Mr. Gilmour.'  Our short conversation was broken up by Red Kress, manager of the Saints. He said, 'Who are these guys, Hermie? They gotta get out of here.' I never saw Hermie again and all of his fans were convinced that the war deprived the Chicago White Sox of a great catcher and great person."

 

Herman Bauer entered military service after the 1941 season. On February 3, 1943 he married Margaret Hume in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and in September 1943, Staff Sergeant Bauer arrived in England with the 3rd Armored Division. On June 24, 1944, they landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy and were soon in combat. Herman Bauer was wounded in action and died on July 12, 1944. He is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.

 

His younger brother, Hank, who served with the Marines during the war and named his first born son Herman in 1956, went on to play with the New York Yankees and managed in the major leagues until 1969.

 

Thanks to Bob Gilmour for his contributions to this biography.

Read the biography of his brother, Hank Bauer.

Added August 17, 2006. Updated June 24, 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Gary Bedingfield (Baseball in Wartime). All Rights Reserved.