John Joseph Mizerock (; born December 8, 1960) is an American former

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), ...

backup

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

and the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

. He was the eighth overall pick in the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft. He later served as a coach for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. He is currently the hitting coach for the

Clearwater Threshers The Clearwater Threshers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Clearwater, Florida, and have played their home games at BayCare Ballpark since 2 ...

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros drafted eighteen-year-old Mizerock straight out of Punxsutawney High School in

Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Punxsutawney (; Unami language, Lenape: ' ) is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in southern Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney is known globally for its annual Groundhog Day celebration held each February 2, during which thousands of ...

. He was the second of five catchers selected in the first round of the June draft. After four seasons in their

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, in which he batted .228 with eighteen

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

(twelve of which were hit in ) and 143

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 ...

, Mizerock made the Astros out of

Spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

as Alan Ashby's back-up. He allowed three

passed ball In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control, and, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a ru ...

s in a game against 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 ...

on April 19 to not only lose the back-up catcher job, but to also get himself sent back down to the minors. In fairness to Mizerock,

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This chan ...

Joe Niekro Joseph Franklin Niekro ( ; November 7, 1944 – October 27, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He was the younger brother of pitcher Phil Niekro, and the father of former Major League first baseman Lance Niekro. Niekr ...

was pitching. After Ashby was lost for a month of the season with a viral infection in his ear, Mizerock was called back up. However, he only appeared in four games during that span, and was optioned back down to the triple A

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

upon Ashby's return. He was brought back up for a third time in mid-August, and remained on the major league roster through the end of the season. He had a second game with Niekro on the mound on August 31 in which he had two passed balls. In all, Mizerock had eleven passed balls for the season; eight of which occurred with Niekro pitching. After spending all of the season with the double A

Columbus Astros Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, he returned to Houston late in the season to fill in for an injured Ashby. He was with the Astros on and off throughout their division winning season, and was on their post-season roster, but did not make an appearance in the 1986 National League Championship Series against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. He was released after the season.

Atlanta Braves

Mizerock spent spring training with the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

, but failed to make the club. Just as the season was set to begin, he signed with the

. Mizerock batted .240 with eight home runs and 94 RBIs in three seasons with the

Richmond Braves The Richmond Braves were an American minor league baseball club based in Richmond, Virginia, the Triple-A International League affiliate of the Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the ...

to earn a September call-up to Atlanta in . He batted .222 with two RBIs in eleven games. After one more season in the Braves' minor league system, Mizerock retired.

Coaching

Since retiring as a player, Mizerock has served as a minor league

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, a

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

interim manager Interim management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills. Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight interim executive manager to manage a period of transition, crisis or change with ...

with the

. He is a two time winner of the

Dick Howser Richard Dalton Howser (May 14, 1936 – June 17, 1987) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop, coach, and manager who was best known as the manager of the Kansas City Royals during the 1980s and for guiding them to the franchise's first W ...

Award, awarded for outstanding contributions to the Royals organization ( and ). Mizerock's first managerial job came with the rookie league

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their ...

in . After leading the team to a 40-36 record, he was promoted to the Class A

Rockford Royals Rockford or Rockfords may refer to: Places United States * Rockford, Illinois, a city, the largest municipality of this name *Rockford, Alabama, a town * Rockford, Idaho, a census-designated place * Rockford metropolitan area, Illinois, a United St ...

in , where he earned

Midwest League Manager of the Year The Midwest League Manager of the Year Award is an annual award given to the best manager in Minor League Baseball's Midwest League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers. Broadcasters, Minor League Baseball exec ...

honors. Mizerock moved to the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

in , where he was again named his league's manager of the year. In 1996, Wilmington won the league championship with Mizerock at the helm. He remained with Wilmington through before moving on to the

Wichita Wranglers The Wichita Wranglers were a minor league baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas. The team, which played in the Texas League, was the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres from 1987 to 1994 and the Kansas City Royals fro ...

in . Mizerock won the

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 ...

title and was Minor League Manager of the Year with Wichita in . He spent the & seasons with the Omaha Golden Spikes before getting his first major league coaching gig with the major league club in . He compiled 646 wins and 554 losses in his minor league managerial career. Mizerock was promoted from bullpen coach to interim manager of the Royals 23 games into the season when

Tony Muser Anthony Joseph Muser (; born August 1, 1947) is currently a roving instructor in the San Diego Padres organization. He is a former Major League Baseball player, and later served in several coaching positions. From 1997 until 2002, Muser served as ...

was fired. His first game managing was against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, who were being managed by

Luis Pujols Luis Bienvenido Pujols Toribio (born November 18, 1955) is a Dominican former professional baseball player coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher from to , most prominently as a member of the Houston Astros whe ...

on an interim basis. Pujols and Mizerock were teammates on the 1983 Houston Astros, competing for the back-up catcher job. After losing their first six games under Mizerock, the Royals won five of their next seven before he was replaced by

Tony Peña Antonio Francisco Peña Padilla (; born June 4, 1957) is a Dominican former professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Pirates, Cardinals, Red Sox, Indians, White Sox, and Astros. ...

. In all, he led his team to a 5–8 record in thirteen games. 2002 was the first time in franchise history that Kansas City had lost 100 games. He stayed on as third base coach for the Royals until the end of , when he was assigned to be a roving instructor for the organization. He accepted a position to once again manage the high level Class A Wilmington Blue Rocks minor league team for the 2007 season. With his leadership, the team led the Carolina League in winning percentage, and returned to the playoffs. On October 23, 2007, Mizerock was named the Royals' bullpen coach for the 2008 season. His contract was not renewed following the season. Mizerock moved to the

organization in as hitting coach of their

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

affiliate, the

. He became the assistant hitting coach of the

on December 18, 2013, and later became their third base coach. Mizerock was not retained by the Phillies following the 2015 season. He later accepted a position as a coach for Philadelphia's Short Season-A team, the

Williamsport Crosscutters The Williamsport Crosscutters are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Muncy Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. From 1994 to 2020, they were a ...

for the 2016 season.Dave Brundage retained as manager of Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Dave Lundquist added as pitching coach - The Morning Call
/ref> Mizerock was named as the pitching coach for the

of the 2018 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizerock, John 1960 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from Pennsylvania Columbus Astros players Daytona Beach Astros players Greenville Braves players Houston Astros players Kansas City Royals coaches Kansas City Royals managers Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball hitting coaches Major League Baseball third base coaches Minor league baseball managers People from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Phillies coaches Richmond Braves players Tucson Toros players Minor league baseball coaches