Edward Allen Mickelson (born September 9, 1926) is a retired American

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. The , Mickelson, a

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

hitting

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, had an 11-season career, all but 18 games of it spent in minor league baseball. His 18 Major League

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

took place during three separate trials for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(),

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

() and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

(). On September 27, 1953, Mickelson drove in the final run in St. Louis Browns history."Ed Mickelson Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-08. Mickelson was born in

Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the navigable Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The Illinois River is a conduit for river barges and connects Lake Michigan at Chicago, to the Mississippi Riv ...

, and attended

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and

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. He signed with the Cardinals in 1947 and was given his first big-league audition at the end of the 1950 minor league season, during which he batted a composite .413 in two Class B leagues.Minor league page
in

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. Mickelson collected only one

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and two

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

in 12

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

s over five games, however, and returned to the minor leagues for almost three full seasons. Acquired by the Browns' organization, Mickelson was called up in September 1953 after a season spent in the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. The Browns were at the end of their 52-year stay in

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; owner

Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Br ...

was about to sell the team to an ownership group from

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and the team would be reborn as the

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the next season. In the third

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of the Browns' final game on Sunday, September 27, at

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, facing the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Johnny Groth John Thomas Groth (July 23, 1926August 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball outfielder and scout who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Washingt ...

doubled off

Billy Pierce Walter William Pierce (April 2, 1927 – July 31, 2015) was an American starting pitcher in Major League Baseball between 1945 and 1964 who played most of his career for the Chicago White Sox. He was the team's star pitcher in the decade from 19 ...

with two out. Mickelson then drove home Groth with an opposite-field

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to give the Browns a 1–0 lead.1953-9-27 box score
from

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But Chicago came back to tie the game in the eighth, sent the contest to

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, and won it 2–1 with a run in the top of the 11th. The RBI single was Mickelson's last big-league hit; he went hitless for the rest of that game, and then was 0-for-12 in his last Major League stint with the 1957 Cubs. Mickelson never appeared for the Orioles. His early-season 1957 stay with the Cubs punctuated four more minor league seasons at the Double-A and Open Classification levels. Although Mickelson collected only three hits, including a double, in 37 MLB

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

(with four bases on balls), he batted .316 with 1,374 hits during his minor-league career.

References

External links

Baseball Reference (Minors)Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
1926 births Baseball players from Illinois Chicago Cubs players Columbus Cardinals players Columbus Red Birds players Decatur Commodores players Houston Buffaloes players Industriales de Valencia players Living people Lynchburg Cardinals players Major League Baseball first basemen Montgomery Rebels players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players People from Ottawa, Illinois Pocatello Cardinals players Portland Beavers players Rochester Red Wings players St. Louis Browns players St. Louis Cardinals players San Antonio Missions players Shreveport Sports players Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball players {{US-baseball-bio-stub