View source for Johnny Mize

{{Short description|American baseball player (1913–1993)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Johnny Mize
|image=Johnny Mize.png
|caption= Mize with the New York Giants in 1948
|position=[[First baseman]]
|bats=Left
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|mf=yes|1913|1|7}}
|birth_place=[[Demorest, Georgia]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|mf=yes|1993|6|2|1913|1|7}}
|death_place=Demorest, Georgia, U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 16
|debutyear=1936
|debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 26
|finalyear=1953
|finalteam=New York Yankees
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.312
|stat2label=[[Hit (baseball)|Hits]]
|stat2value=2,011
|stat3label=[[Home run]]s
|stat3value=359
|stat4label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat4value=1,337
|teams=
* [[St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{mlby|1936}}–{{mlby|1941}})
* [[History of the New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] ({{mlby|1942}}, {{mlby|1946}}–{{mlby|1949}})
* [[New York Yankees]] ({{mlby|1949}}–{{mlby|1953}})
|highlights=
* 10× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1937 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1937]], [[1939 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1939]]–[[1942 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1942]], [[1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1946]]–[[1949 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1949]], [[1953 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1953]])
* 5× [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1949}}–{{wsy|1953}})
* [[List of Major League Baseball Batting Champions|NL batting champion]] (1939)
* 4× [[List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders|NL home run leader]] (1939, 1940, 1947, 1948)
* 3× [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders|NL RBI leader]] (1940, 1942, 1947)
* [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum|St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame]] 
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1981 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1981]]
|hofmethod=Veterans Committee
}}
'''John Robert Mize''' (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "'''Big Jawn'''" and "'''the Big Cat'''", was an American professional [[baseball]] player, [[Coach (baseball)|coach]] and [[Scout (sport)|scout]]. He played as a [[first baseman]] in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) for 15 seasons between 1936 and 1953, losing three seasons to military service during World War II. Mize was a ten-time [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] who played for the [[St. Louis Cardinals]], [[History of the New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]], and the [[New York Yankees]]. During his tenure with the Yankees, the team won five consecutive [[World Series]].

Mize retired in 1953 with 359 career home runs and a .312 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] along with 1,118 [[run (baseball)|runs]], 2,011 hits, 367 [[double (baseball)|doubles]], 83 [[Triple (baseball)|triples]], 1,337 [[Run batted in|RBI]] and 856 [[bases on balls]]. Defensively, he recorded a .992 [[fielding percentage]] as a first baseman.<ref name="BR" /> He served as a radio commentator, scout and coach in the major leagues after he retired as a player. He was selected for induction to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]] by the Veterans Committee in 1981. In 2014, he was inducted into the [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum]].

==Early life and career==
Mize was born in [[Demorest, Georgia]] to Edward and Emma Loudermilk Mize. After his parents separated, his mother went to Atlanta for work, but Mize remained in Demorest with his grandmother.<ref name=SABR>{{cite web|last=Grillo|first=Jerry|title=Johnny Mize|url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a7ac6649|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|access-date=August 20, 2013}}</ref> He excelled in tennis as a child and played on his high school baseball team.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Robert|title=Johnny Mize, home run slugger and Hall of Famer, is dead at 80|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/03/obituaries/johnny-mize-home-run-slugger-and-hall-of-famer-is-dead-at-80.html|access-date=January 31, 2014|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 3, 1993}}</ref> He later played baseball for [[Piedmont College]].<ref name="piedmont1">{{Cite news|url=http://media.www.piedmontnavigator.com/media/storage/paper524/news/2008/02/11/Features/Johnny.Mize.Collection-3202076.shtml |title=Johnny Mize Collection |last=Phelps |first=Myron |work=The Navigator |date=February 11, 2008 |access-date=June 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216075043/http://media.www.piedmontnavigator.com/media/storage/paper524/news/2008/02/11/Features/Johnny.Mize.Collection-3202076.shtml |archive-date=February 16, 2012 }}</ref><ref name="piedmont2">{{Cite news|url=http://media.www.piedmontnavigator.com/media/storage/paper524/news/2008/01/28/Features/Living.At.The.mont-3172172.shtml |title=History of Sports |last=Suda |first=Tim |work=The Navigator |date=January 28, 2008 |access-date=June 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216075114/http://media.www.piedmontnavigator.com/media/storage/paper524/news/2008/01/28/Features/Living.At.The.mont-3172172.shtml |archive-date=February 16, 2012 }}</ref> Mize was a cousin of [[Ty Cobb]] and his second cousin was the [[Claire Merritt Ruth|second wife]] of [[Babe Ruth]].<ref name=SABR/>

Mize came up through the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] minor league system but was traded to the [[Cincinnati Reds]] in 1934.<ref name="Theme">{{cite web|url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/hof/theme_of_the_week.jsp?partnerId=aw-4808082534736377793-1068|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121215042616/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/hof/theme_of_the_week.jsp?partnerId=aw-4808082534736377793-1068|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 15, 2012|title=Cardinals Interesting Fact|publisher=St. Louis Cardinals team website|date=December 1, 2012|access-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref> However, he suffered a groin injury and the Reds nullified the trade. In 1935, while struggling with one bad leg, he injured the other leg. Mize retired from baseball and returned home until the Cardinals asked him to see a physician in St. Louis. He had surgery for bone spurs.<ref name=Eisenbath>{{cite book|last=Eisenbath|first=Mike|title=The Cardinals Encyclopedia|date=1999|publisher=[[Temple University Press]]|isbn=1566397030|page=245|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hymGG28xYcoC&pg=PA245}}</ref>

He was kept with the Cardinals in St. Louis after surgery, as he would not have been able to play regularly that season in the minor leagues anyway. The organization thought that he might get some opportunities to pinch hit with the major league team. Mize made his major league debut for the Cardinals in 1936. In 126 games, Mize hit for a .329 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]], 19 home runs and  93 [[runs batted in]] (RBI). He later said, "I'm the only guy who played in the major leagues because I couldn't play in the minors."<ref name=Eisenbath/>

==Early MLB career==
[[File:Johnny Mize Cardinals.jpg|thumb|left|Mize with the Cardinals]]
Mize was known as both "Big Jawn" and "The Big Cat" for his smooth fielding at first base. In 1937 he batted .364, but Cardinals teammate [[Joe Medwick]] took the title with a .374 average. He led the league in triples and OPS in 1938. In 1939, Mize finished second in the league's [[Most Valuable Player]] (MVP) voting after leading the league with a .349 average and 28 home runs.<ref name=BR/> Mize's 43 home runs in 1940 set a Cardinals team record that stood for nearly 60 years. At the end of the 1941 season, however, Cardinals general manager [[Branch Rickey]], who believed in trading players before their skills began to decline, traded Mize to the [[History of the New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]]. In exchange for Mize, the Cardinals received [[Bill Lohrman]], [[Johnny McCarthy (baseball)|Johnny McCarthy]], [[Ken O'Dea]], and $50,000.<ref name=BR>{{cite web|title=Johnny Mize|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mizejo01.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 31, 2014}}</ref>

Mize was involved in a 1941 lawsuit against Gum Products Inc. The company manufactured a set of baseball cards called Double Play. Mize sued because he argued that the company did not have his consent to use his image in the card set. Gum Products Inc. won the lawsuit, but the company stopped producing its Double Play series because of the expenses it incurred during the legal proceedings with Mize.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Jamieson | first = Dave  |  title = Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession  | publisher = Atlantic Monthly Press, imprint of Grove/Atlantic Inc.  | year = 2010  | location = New York  | page = 92  | url =  https://books.google.com/books?id=yoW77vwAvnUC| isbn = 978-0-8021-1939-1}}</ref>

The Giants pursued Mize after learning that their first baseman, [[Babe Young]], was going to be forced into military service. In 1942, Mize hit for his lowest batting average to that point in his career (.305), but he hit 26 home runs and led the NL with 110 RBI.<ref name=SPT>{{cite news|title=Cards trade Johnny Mize to Giants|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19411212&id=ECBPAAAAIBAJ&pg=4460,2749619|access-date=January 31, 2014|newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|date=December 12, 1941}}</ref>

==Military service and later career==
[[File:Johnny Mize 1953.jpeg|thumb|180px|Mize with the Yankees]]
Mize spent 1943 through 1945 in military service during World War II. During his service he played for the Great Lakes Naval Station baseball team for service members and new personnel in training. Mize hit 17 home runs in 51 games and batted over .475 while manning first base for the Bluejackets. Other team members included: Phil Rizzuto who belonged to the Yankees; outfielders Sam Chapman, Dom DiMaggio and Barney McCosky; Frankie Pytlak; and Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese, and Johnny Lipon. The team was considered one of the best WWII era teams assembled.

Returning to the Giants in 1946, a broken toe caused him to fall one short of the home run title, won by [[Ralph Kiner]] of the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]]. In 1947 he rebounded to hit 51 home runs and tie Kiner for the league lead. He also led in [[Run (baseball)|runs]] and RBI, and became the only player to [[strike out]] fewer than fifty times while hitting fifty home runs.<ref name=HOF>{{cite web|title=Mize, Johnny|url=http://baseballhall.org/hof/mize-johnny|publisher=[[Baseball Hall of Fame]]|access-date=August 20, 2013}}</ref> Mize's 1947 totals in runs, home runs and RBI were all career highs.<ref name=BR/> In 1948, Mize and Kiner again tied for the league home run championship with 40 each. Mize was traded to the New York Yankees late in the 1949 season after expressing discontent with his playing time.

Mize spent the last five years of his career with the Yankees, mostly as a part-time player, ending in 1953. He was, however, considered a valuable contributor to their winning five consecutive [[American League]] pennants and World Series titles. Despite spending part of the 1950 season on minor league rehab,<ref name=Release>{{cite news|title=Yankees release Big Johnny Mize to Kansas City|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19500515&id=f-tPAAAAIBAJ&pg=1567,5892924|access-date=January 31, 2014|newspaper=[[Evening Independent]]|date=May 15, 1950}}</ref> he hit 25 home runs to become the second player to have a 25-home run season in both leagues. In the [[1952 World Series]] against the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]], he hit three home runs, one as a pinch-hitter, and was robbed of a fourth by Dodger right fielder [[Carl Furillo]], who made a leaping catch above the fence in the 11th inning to preserve a win for the Dodgers.

In October 1953, Mize announced his retirement. He said that he would rather retire while he was still popular with fans than to "hang around until they start to boo."<ref name=Retires>{{cite news|title=Mize retires from baseball|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19531007&id=hR1WAAAAIBAJ&pg=6046,1247041|access-date=January 31, 2014|newspaper=[[Eugene Register-Guard]]|date=October 7, 1953}}</ref> Mize holds the major league record for the most times hitting three homers in one game, a feat he performed six times. He also was one of a handful of players (including [[Babe Ruth]]) to do it in both leagues&nbsp;— five times in the National League and once in the American.  He was the first player to hit three home runs in a game twice in one season in 1938 and did it twice again in 1940.  He finished his career with 359 home runs.

Mize still holds Cardinals team records for most home runs in a season by a left-handed batter, most season RBI by a left hander, and most games with three or more home runs with 6.<ref name="Theme"/> He and [[Carl Yastrzemski]] are the only players to have three seasons of hitting 40 or more home runs, without a season of hitting between 30 and 39 home runs.

Mize was a strong [[pinch hitter]] in his MLB career, posting a .292 batting average (52-for-178) with 7 home runs and 56 RBI in 215 pinch-hitting appearances.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://baseball-reference.com/players/m/mizejo01-bat.shtml|title=Johnny Mize Situational Batting at Baseball Reference|website=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate= May 4, 2024}}</ref>

==Later life==
After his 1953 retirement, Mize worked as a radio commentator, scout and a hitting coach for the [[History of the New York Giants (baseball)|New York]] / [[San Francisco Giants]] (1955–60).<ref name=SHT>{{cite news|title=Johnny Mize joins list of famed bat coaches|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19550607&id=xOYhAAAAIBAJ&pg=6157,1372160|access-date=January 31, 2014|newspaper=[[Sarasota Herald-Tribune]]|date=June 7, 1955}}</ref> He coached the [[History of the Oakland Athletics#Kansas City (1955–1967)|Kansas City Athletics]] in 1961.

In the 1970s, Mize made his home in [[St. Augustine, Florida]], working for a development by the Deltona Corporation called St. Augustine Shores. A picture of his house is included in [[David Nolan (American author)|David Nolan]]'s book ''The Houses of St. Augustine''. He was chosen by the [[Veterans Committee]] of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. He had appeared on the regular Hall of Fame ballot in the 1960s and 1970s, where his highest vote percentage had been 43% in 1971.<ref name=BR/>

Mize spent the last few years of his life at his home in Demorest, Georgia. He underwent heart surgery in 1982 but returned to good health. He died in his sleep of cardiac arrest in 1993.<ref name=NYT/>

==Legacy==
Upon Mize's death, Ralph Kiner described him as "kind of an irascible guy" on the field, but "a very affable guy and a great storyteller" off the field.<ref name="LAT">{{Cite news |date=June 3, 1993 |title=Mize, 80, dies at home in Georgia |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-03-sp-42809-story.html |access-date=January 31, 2014 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> Mize's batting statistics were overshadowed by those of bigger stars of his era such as Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, [[Stan Musial]], and [[Jackie Robinson]]. Mize's lifetime [[on-base percentage]] of .397 has become more appreciated in the light of [[Sabermetrics|sabermetric]] analysis.

In 2013, the [[Bob Feller Act of Valor Award]] honored Mize as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Navy during World War II.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://actofvaloraward.org/hof-players/|title=WWII HOF Players – Act of Valor Award|access-date=August 18, 2021|archive-date=October 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008204152/https://actofvaloraward.org/hof-players/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 2014, the Cardinals announced Mize among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into the [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum]] for the inaugural class of [[2014 St. Louis Cardinals season|2014]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Cardinals Press Release |url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126165854/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 26, 2014 |title=Cardinals establish Hall of Fame & detail induction process |publisher=www.stlouis.cardinals.[[MLB.com|mlb.com]] |date=January 18, 2014 |access-date=January 29, 2014}}</ref> The Johnny Mize Baseball Museum is located at Piedmont College.<ref name=Jensen>{{cite book|last=Jensen|first=Chris|title=Baseball State By State|year=2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786468959|page=67|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OsLKBqAjwccC&q=johnny+mize+childhood&pg=PA67}}</ref> The college also honors the slugger with the Johnny Mize Athletic Center, a sports complex that houses the school's basketball arena.<ref name=JMAC>{{cite web|title=Johnny Mize Athletic Center|url=http://www.piedmontlions.com/sports/2011/2/14/GEN_0214110641.aspx?tab=johnnymizeathleticcenter|publisher=[[Piedmont College]]|access-date=January 31, 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
*[[50 home run club]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball batting champions]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle]]
* [[Major League Baseball titles leaders]]
* [[List of St. Louis Cardinals team records]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web |url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/a7ac6649 |title=Johnny Mize |first=Jerry |last=Grillo |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research|SABR]]}}
* Honig, Donald (1975) [https://archive.org/details/baseballwhengras00honi/page/100 ''Baseball When the Grass Was Real: Baseball from the Twenties to the Forties Told by the Men Who Played It'']. New York: Coward, McGann & Geoghegan. pp.&nbsp;100–108. {{SBN|698-10660-1}}.
*[http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/habersham/home-of-johnny-mize-the-big-cat Home of Johnny Mize "The Big Cat"] historical marker

==External links==
*{{bbhof|mize-johnny}}
*{{baseballstats|mlb=119207|espn=25348|br=m/mizejo01|fangraphs=1009014|brm=mize--002joh|retro=M/Pmizej101}}
*[http://www.johnnymize.com Johnny Mize official site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718190752/http://www.johnnymize.com/ |date=July 18, 2006 }}
*{{find a Grave|3624}}

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box| before = [[Harry Danning]] | title = [[Hitting for the cycle]]| years = July 13, 1940 | after = [[Buddy Rosar]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{1981 Baseball HOF}}
{{Baseball Hall of Fame members}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals HOF}}
{{New York Yankees HOF}}
{{1949 New York Yankees}}
{{1950 New York Yankees}}
{{1951 New York Yankees}}
{{1952 New York Yankees}}
{{1953 New York Yankees}}
{{NL home run champions}}
{{NL batting title}}
{{NL RBI champions}}
{{50 home run club|state=collapsed}}
{{Babe Ruth Award}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mize, Johnny}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:American League All-Stars]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Elmira Red Wings players]]
[[Category:Greensboro Patriots players]]
[[Category:Kansas City Athletics coaches]]
[[Category:Kansas City Blues (baseball) players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball first basemen]]
[[Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:National League batting champions]]
[[Category:National League home run champions]]
[[Category:National League RBI champions]]
[[Category:New York Giants (baseball) players]]
[[Category:New York Giants (baseball) scouts]]
[[Category:New York Yankees players]]
[[Category:People from Habersham County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Rochester Red Wings players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals players]]
[[Category:San Francisco Giants scouts]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]