
Excerpt from “Your 1948 Houston Buffs, Dixie Champions: Brief Biographies By Morris Frank and Adie Marks (1948).
From the time I first saw him play during my original season of watching the Houston Buffs at old Buff Stadium in 1947, Solly Hemus was my star, my first baseball hero. He just seemed to be the guy that got everything going on offense and defense. He played the game of baseball with a fire in his belly and a relentless hustle for whatever edge he could find. Houston writers and fans called him “the little pepper pot” as a tip of the cap to both his game time personality and his diminutive, but wiry physique. At 5’9″ and 165 lbs,, Hemus was all muscle and momentum, leaning into action as a force to be reckoned with.
As a second baseman for the 1947 Buffs, Hemus batted .277 with 0 home runs in 140 games as a key table setting hitter in the lead off spot. After the ’47 Buffs won both the Texas League pennant and the Dixie Series crown, Solly played two more seasons with the Buffs (1948-49) and one more year at Columbus, Ohio (1950) before heading up to his eleven-season MLB playing career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1951-56, 1959) and Philadelphia Phillies (1956-58) as a key shortstop and utility infielder. Prior to coming to Houston, by the way, Solly had broken into professional baseball at Class C Pocatello in 1946 with a .363 average in 120 games. He would again surpass the .300 level in minor league ball with a .328 average for the 1949 Buffs in 109 games. Solly’s highest full season MLB average would be the .304 he posted in 124 games for the 1954 Cardinals.
Solly led the National League in runs scored with 105 in 1952. He also developed a little more pop in his bat, slugging 15 HR in 1952 and 14 HR in 1953. Whereas, Hemus only hit 16 homers in 5 minor league seasons, he ended up with 55 long balls in the majors.
Solly Hemus finished his MLB career with a batting average of .273.
Solly took over as manager of the Cardinals prior to the 1959 season, but the club finished 7th. In 1960, the Hemus-led Redbirds rose to 3rd place, but a struggle for a spot in the first division the next year led to a stumble over the word “irony” for Solly in 1961. He was replaced during that 1961 season by his old Buffs mentor at Houston, Johnny Keane, as manager of the Cardinals.
After a little time with the expansion franchise New York Mets as a coach in the early 1960s, Solly Hemus turned his considerable smarts and energies to the development of his oil exploration company. Hemus Limited became quite successful as Solly moved onto a very special place of honor and respect in the entire Houston community for his giving low profile and private support of so many worthy causes.
Today, at age 90, Solly Hemus is still my hero.