Herbel was raised in
Brighton, Colorado, and graduated from Brighton High School in 1956. He attended the
University of Northern Colorado. After two seasons at Northern Colorado, Herbel signed as an amateur free agent with the Giants in 1958, then spent six seasons in San Francisco's farm system when he received a September call up to the Giants in 1963. He made two
relief appearances with the Giants, both against the
New York Mets, with his major league debut on September 10 at the
Polo Grounds. Herbel was used both in relief and as a
starter in 1964. He made 22 starts and 18 appearances out of the
bullpen. His first MLB start came on May 17 in the second game of a
doubleheader against the
New York Mets. He allowed seven hits and no runs for a 1–0 complete game
shut out. He finished the year with a 9–9 win-loss record, 3.07
earned run average and 98
strikeouts. In his first Major League
at-bat on May 6, 1964, he struck out against
Larry Jackson of the
Chicago Cubs. For the season, Herbel made 54 plate appearances without getting a
hit, and struck out 30 times. In 1965 Herbel earned a spot in the starting rotation on his way to a 12–9 record for a Giants team that won 14 straight games in September, with Herbel pitching the best ball of his career, only to lose the pennant by two games to a Dodgers team that won its last 15 games. He registered his first hit and RBI on May 21 in his first Major League game on Astroturf, while holding the
Houston Astros to just five hits in the
complete game victory. It was Herbel's only hit of the season, though he was credited with a second
run batted in on July 28 when he
walked with the bases loaded. In 1967, Herbel had three hits, two of which were
doubles, two walks, three successful
bunts and struck out only 14 times for a .107 batting average. It was also Herbel's first real season as a reliever. Though he made 11 starts, he made 31 appearances out of the bullpen, earning one
save. Over the next two seasons, Herbel made only six starts. Following the 1969 season, Herbel was traded with
Bob Barton and
Bobby Etheridge to the
San Diego Padres for
Frank Reberger. The Padres were 50–82, 34 games behind the
Cincinnati Reds when they dealt Herbel to the reigning
World Series champion New York Mets, who were in the midst of a playoff drive again in 1970 (two games behind the first-place
Pittsburgh Pirates in the
National League East at the time of the trade), and needed to add an arm to their bullpen. Herbel went 2–2 with a 1.38 ERA and one save in 12 relief appearances for the Mets, who finished in third place, six games behind the Pirates. Combined with his 64 appearances with the Padres, Herbel's 76 appearances on the mound led the
National League, and was only one fewer than Major League leader
Wilbur Wood. Herbel was traded to the
Atlanta Braves for
Bob Aspromonte following the season on December 1, 1970. Herbel spent one season in Atlanta, where he went 0–1 with a 5.23 ERA and one save in 25 appearances for the third-place Braves. He signed with the
Minnesota Twins in 1972, and spent the entire season with their
Triple-A Pacific Coast League affiliate before retiring. During 1964 spring training he began wearing glasses because of nearsightedness. He died from a heart attack on January 20, 2000, in
Tacoma, Washington, at 62 years old. ==References==