John Robert Mize (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "The Big Cat", was an American professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player,
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
and
scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
**Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
**Scouts BSA, sectio ...
. He played as a
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 ...
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 (AL), ...
(MLB) for 15 seasons between 1936 and 1953, losing three seasons to military service during World War II. Mize was a ten-time
All-Star who played 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 ...
,
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
, and the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
. During his tenure with the Yankees, the team won five consecutive
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
.
Mize retired in 1953 with 359 career home runs and a .312
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
along with 1,118
runs, 2,011 hits, 367
doubles, 83
triples, 1,337
RBI and 856
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 ...
. Defensively, he recorded a .992
fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...
as a first baseman.
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
Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
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
Demorest is a city in Habersham County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,823 at the 2010 census, up from 1,465 at the 2000 census. It is the home of Piedmont University.
Geography
Demorest is located in south-central Habersham Count ...
to Edward and Emma Mize. After his parents separated, his mother went to Atlanta for work, but Mize remained in Demorest with his grandmother.
He excelled in tennis as a child and played on his high school baseball team.
He later played baseball for
Piedmont College
Piedmont University is a private university in Demorest and Athens, Georgia. Founded in 1897, Piedmont's Demorest campus includes 300 acres in a traditional residential-college setting located in the foothills of the northeast Georgia Blue Rid ...
.
Mize was a distant cousin of
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...
and his second cousin married
Babe Ruth
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
.
[
Mize came up through 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 ...
minor league system but was traded to the 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 ...
in 1934. 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.
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
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
, 19 home runs and 93 runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...
(RBI). He later said, "I'm the only guy who played in the major leagues because I couldn't play in the minors."[
]
Early MLB career
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
Joseph Michael Medwick (November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975), nicknamed "Ducky" and "Muscles", was an American Major League Baseball player. A left fielder with the St. Louis Cardinals during the " Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also pla ...
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
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
(MVP) voting after leading the league with a .349 average and 28 home runs.[ Mize's 43 home runs in 1940 set a Cardinals team record that stood for more than 60 years. At the end of the 1941 season, however, Cardinals general manager ]Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...
, who believed in trading players before their skills began to decline, traded Mize to the New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
. In exchange for Mize, the Cardinals received Bill Lohrman
William Leroy Lohrman (May 22, 1913 – September 13, 1999) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in 198 games from 1934 to 1944. Bill played for the Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals, Phillies, and Reds. Bill was born and raised Brookly ...
, Johnny McCarthy
John Joseph McCarthy (April 25, 1934 – May 9, 2020) was an American basketball player and coach. A point guard, he played college basketball and was an All-American at Canisius College. He was selected by the Rochester Royals in the 1956 N ...
, Ken O'Dea
James Kenneth O'Dea (March 16, 1913 – December 17, 1985) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Chicago Cubs (1935–38), New York Giants (1939–41), St. Louis Cardinals (1942 ...
, and $50,000.
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.
The Giants pursued Mize after learning that their first baseman, Babe Young
Norman Robert Young (July 1, 1915 – December 25, 1983) was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of eight seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Giants (1936, 1939–42 and 1946–47), Cincinnati Reds (1947–48) and ...
, 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.
Military service and later career
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
Ralph McPherran Kiner (October 27, 1922 – February 6, 2014) was an American Major League Baseball player and broadcaster. An outfielder, Kiner played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Indians from 1946 through 1955. Follow ...
of the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
. In 1947 he rebounded to hit 51 home runs and tie Kiner for the league lead. He also led in runs and RBI, and became the only player to strike out fewer than fifty times while hitting fifty home runs. Mize's 1947 totals in runs, home runs and RBI were all career highs.[ 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
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
pennants and World Series titles. Despite spending part of the 1950 season on minor league rehab, 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
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
, he hit three home runs, one as a pinch-hitter, and was robbed of a fourth by Dodger right fielder Carl Furillo
Carl Anthony Furillo (March 8, 1922 – January 21, 1989), nicknamed "The Reading Rifle" and "Skoonj", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), spending his entire career with the Brooklyn / ...
, 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." 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
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
) to do it in both leagues — 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. He and Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Michael Yastrzemski ( ; nicknamed "Yaz"; born August 22, 1939) is an American former Major League Baseball player. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year Major League career with the Bost ...
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.
Later life
After his 1953 retirement, Mize worked as a radio commentator, scout and a hitting coach for the New York / San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...
(1955–60). He coached the Kansas City Athletics
The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...
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 David Nolan may refer to:
* David Nolan (politician) (1943–2010), co-founder of the United States Libertarian Party
* David Nolan (American author)
David Nolan is an American author, civil rights activist, and historian.
Biography
Nolan was b ...
's book ''The Houses of St. Augustine''. He was chosen by the Veterans Committee
The Veterans Committee is the popular name of various committees of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum that elect participants other than recently retired players.
Originally, it referenced the National Baseball Hall of Fame 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.[
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.][
]
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. 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
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...
. Mize's lifetime on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
of .397 has become more appreciated in the light of sabermetric
Sabermetrics, or originally SABRmetrics, is the empirical analysis of baseball, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity. Sabermetricians collect and summarize the relevant data from this in-game activity to answer specific ques ...
analysis.
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award
The Bob Feller Act of Valor Award, created in 2013, is a set of awards originally presented annually to a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a current Major League Baseball player, and a United States Navy Chief Petty Officer. In 2015 ...
honored Mize as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Navy during World War II.
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
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
. The Johnny Mize Baseball Museum is located at Piedmont College. The college also honors the slugger with the Johnny Mize Athletic Center, a sports complex that houses the school's basketball arena.
See also
* 50 home run club
* List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
This is a list of the 300 Major League Baseball players who have hit the most home runs.
In the sport of baseball, a home run is a hit in which the batter scores by circling all the bases and reaching home plate in one play, without the benefit ...
* List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
Below is the list of the 286 Major League Baseball players who have reached the 2,000 hit milestone during their career in MLB. Pete Rose holds the Major League record for most career hits, with 4,256. Rose and Ty Cobb, second most, are the only ...
* List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
Listed are all Major League Baseball (MLB) players with 1,000 or more career runs scored. Players in bold face are active as of the 2022 Major League Baseball season.
Key
List
*Stats updated through the 2022 season.
Through the end of the ...
* List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
This is a list of Major League Baseball players who have compiled 1,000 runs batted in (RBIs). RBIs are usually accumulated when a batter in baseball enables a runner on base (including himself, in the case of a home run) to score as a result of ma ...
* List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
In baseball, a run batted in (RBI) is awarded to a Batting (baseball), batter for each Baserunning, runner who Run (baseball), scores as a result of the batter's action, including a Hit (baseball), hit, fielder's choice, sacrifice fly, bases loade ...
* List of Major League Baseball batting champions
In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...
* List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders
* List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
Major League Baseball recognizes runs scored leaders in the American League and National League each season. In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances safely around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching ...
* List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
In baseball, a doubles is recorded when the ball is hit so that the batter is able to advance to second base without an error by a defensive player. In Major League Baseball (MLB), the leader in each league (American League and National League) ...
* List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
* List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
In baseball, completing the cycle is the accomplishment of hitting a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. In terms of frequency, the cycle is roughly as common as a no-hitter; '' Baseball Digest'' calls it "one of th ...
* Major League Baseball titles leaders At the end of each Major League Baseball season, the league leaders of various statistical categories are announced. Leading either the American League or the National League in a particular category is referred to as a ''title''.
The following li ...
* List of St. Louis Cardinals team records
References
Further reading
*
* Honig, Donald (1975
''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. 100–108. .
Home of Johnny Mize "The Big Cat"
historical marker
External links
Johnny Mize official site
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mize, Johnny
1913 births
1993 deaths
American League All-Stars
Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state)
Kansas City Athletics coaches
Major League Baseball first basemen
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
National League All-Stars
National League batting champions
National League home run champions
National League RBI champions
New York Giants (NL) players
New York Giants (NL) scouts
New York Yankees players
People from Habersham County, Georgia
St. Louis Cardinals players
San Francisco Giants scouts
United States Navy personnel of World War II