Calvin Coolidge Ermer of Baltimore, Maryland. Corporal Ermer served in the Marine Corps from 1943 through 1946.
← Return to the player directory

Cal Ermer

Marine Corps Service

Calvin Coolidge “Cal” Ermer earned the title of United States Marine at Parris Island in 1943. Corporal Ermer served stateside through 1946, first at Parris Island and then at Marine Barracks Quantico.

Baseball remained part of his service. Ermer played second base for a Parris Island team that compiled a 51–11 record in 1943. After his transfer to Quantico the following year, the 21-year-old Marine was selected to manage the base team, an early assignment in what became a remarkable managerial career.

Ermer was born on November 10, 1923. His birthday fell on the Marine Corps birthday, commemorating the Corps’ founding on November 10, 1775.

Baseball Career

Born and raised in Baltimore, Ermer signed with the Washington Senators organization after graduating from Patterson High School. He began his professional career with the Burlington Bees in 1942, then lost three seasons to military service.

Ermer returned to organized baseball in 1946 and became player-manager of the Charlotte Hornets during the 1947 season. At 23, he was among the youngest managers in professional baseball. He led Charlotte from last place to the league playoffs and a championship, earning a late-season call-up to Washington.

His sole Major League appearance came at Griffith Stadium on September 26, 1947, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics. Starting at second base, Ermer went hitless in three at-bats but handled all seven of his fielding chances without an error as Washington won 4–3.

Ermer’s greater mark came as a manager. He won pennants with Orlando, Charlotte, Chattanooga, and Birmingham, was named The Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year in 1958, and managed the Minnesota Twins in 1967 and 1968. He took over the 1967 club in June and guided it into a four-team pennant race that was not decided until the final day of the season. Across 26 minor-league seasons, Ermer won 1,906 games.

Cal Ermer with fellow Marines during his stateside World War II service

Later Life and Legacy

Ermer remained in professional baseball for more than six decades as a player, manager, coach, instructor, and scout. He worked in the Major Leagues as a coach for the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, and Oakland Athletics, and later helped develop players including Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, and Frank Viola. As a Twins scout, he signed future All-Star Matt Lawton.

Chattanooga became Ermer’s home after he began managing the Lookouts in 1952. The club dedicated its press box in his honor in 2008. Ermer died in Chattanooga on August 8, 2009, at age 85 and was buried at Chattanooga National Cemetery.

Sources and Further Reading

  1. Society for American Baseball Research, “Cal Ermer”
  2. Baseball Almanac, Cal Ermer statistics and biographical data
  3. Retrosheet, September 26, 1947 box score
  4. Chattanooga Lookouts, 2008 press-box dedication announcement
  5. United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps Manual, observance of the Marine Corps birthday