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- Calvin Coolidge Ermer (November 10, 1923 – August 8, 2009) was an American second baseman, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. As a player, Ermer threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). Most of Ermer's 60-plus-year career in baseball was spent as an employee of the Minnesota Twins and its predecessor franchise, the Washington Senators. His only major league game as a player, in 1947, came with Washington; he was hitless in three at bats and handled seven fielding chances flawlessly as a second baseman. Ermer then played and managed in the club's farm system, handling Senators/Twins farm clubs over five different decades: 1947; 1950-57; 1965-67; 1974-76; 1978-85. During his managing career, he also served as a skipper in the minor league systems of the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees, and in 1958 won The Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year award while with the Birmingham Barons (then a farm team of the Detroit Tigers). On June 9, 1967, Ermer was promoted from the Twins' AAA affiliate, the Denver Bears of the Pacific Coast League, to replace Minnesota manager Sam Mele with the club stalled in sixth place with a 25-25 record. Under Ermer, the Twins caught fire, winning 66 of 112 games and jumping into a four-team American League pennant race that went down to the season's final weekend. Needing only one win in two games at Boston's Fenway Park to clinch a tie for the championship, the Twins lost both contests to the Red Sox, who became improbable league champions. Ermer was brought back for 1968, but a big off-season trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers backfired, Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew suffered a serious hamstring injury during the 1968 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, nearly ending his career, and the Twins tumbled to 79-83 and a seventh place finish. At season's end, Ermer was fired and replaced by his former coach Billy Martin — the volatile Martin's first major league managing job. Ermer never again managed in the major leagues but — in addition to his extensive minor league managing career — he also built a major league resume as a coach for the Baltimore Orioles (1962), Milwaukee Brewers (1970-72) and Oakland Athletics (1977). He ultimately returned to the Twins to manage their AAA farm club, then the Toledo Mud Hens, from 1978-84 before spending many years as a Minnesota scout. As a minor league pilot, Ermer won 1,906 games, losing 1,728 (.524) over 26 seasons. Cal Ermer died at age 85 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on August 8, 2009. Almost a year before, on August 30, 2008, the Chattanooga Lookouts (where he managed from 1952-57 and won the 1952 pennant) dedicated their press box to Ermer. He had met and married Gloria Williams (Miss Chattanooga, 1952) and lived in Chattanooga for 57 years. Ermer was also soccer coach for the University of Maryland and managed baseball teams in the winter leagues.
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- Calvin Coolidge Ermer (November 10, 1923 – August 8, 2009) was an American second baseman, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. As a player, Ermer threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg).
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