Edward Thomas Miksis (September 11, 1926 – April 8, 2005) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He played fourteen seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB) between 1944 and 1958 for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

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 locate ...

, St. Louis Cardinals,

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

."Eddie Miksis Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Accessed May 24, 2017.

Playing career

Born in

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,743. Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was ...

, he played at

Burlington City High School Burlington City High School is a six-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade in Burlington, in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Ci ...

. He stood and weighed 185 lbs. Miksis was signed by the

in 1944 and on June 17, 1944, at the age of 17, he debuted in the Majors and went on to have a 14-year career as a right-handed hitting and throwing utility infielder with the Dodgers (1944–51),

(1951–56), St. Louis Cardinals (1957),

(1957–58) and

(1958). In 1,042 games, Miksis hit .236 for his career with 44 home runs and 228 RBI and played all four infield position plus the outfield. Only in four of his fourteen seasons did he play in more than 100 games. Miksis served in the Navy for almost two years during the end of World War II. He played in both the

1947 World Series The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Yankees won the Series in seven games for their 11th World Series championship in team history. Yankees manager Bucky Harris won the Series for the first tim ...

and

1949 World Series The 1949 World Series featured the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games for their second defeat of the Dodgers in three years, and the 12th championship in team history. This victory would start a record ...

with the Dodgers, both against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

. Miksis batted .273 in eight World Series games. In Game 4 of the 1947 World Series against the

, when Bill Bevens was attempting to complete the first no-hitter in the history of the World Series, Miksis pinch ran for an injured Pete Reiser with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. He scored from first base with the winning run on the Dodgers' only hit of the game, Cookie Lavagetto's

pinch hit In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, America ...

double. In June of , with the Dodgers leading the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

by games, Miksis was traded to the Chicago Cubs. His main claim to fame as a Cub was lending his glove to

Ernie Banks Ernest Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between ...

in Banks' first-ever major league game. Miksis played his final major league game on September 28, 1958, at the age of 32, with the Cincinnati Reds.

Personal life

He was of Lithuanian descent. Miksis died on April 8, 2005, at the age of 78, in

Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania Huntingdon Valley is a village, as well as a suburban mailing address located in Lower Moreland Township, Upper Moreland Township and Abington Township all in Montgomery County, and in small sections of Upper Southampton Township and Lower ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miksis, Eddie 1926 births 2005 deaths American people of Lithuanian descent Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from New Jersey Brooklyn Dodgers players Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball second basemen People from Burlington, New Jersey Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey St. Louis Cardinals players Trenton Packers players