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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

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 catch ...

. He played fourteen seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) between 1944 and 1958 for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...

, and

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

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

Playing career

Born in

Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a City (New Jersey), city situated on the banks of the Delaware River in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the c ...

, Miksis played prep baseball at Burlington City High School. 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),

(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 1947 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees against the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season, Brooklyn Dodgers. The Yankees won the Series in seven games for their 11th World Series championship in team history. Yan ...

and

1949 World Series The 1949 World Series featured the 1949 New York Yankees season, New York Yankees and 1949 Brooklyn Dodgers season, Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games for their second defeat of the Dodgers in three years, and the 12th cham ...

with the Dodgers, both against 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) Am ...

. 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 (PH) 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, Am ...

double. In June of , with the Dodgers leading the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miksis, Eddie 1926 births 2005 deaths American people of Lithuanian descent Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Burlington County, New Jersey Brooklyn Dodgers players Burlington City High School alumni Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball second basemen Sportspeople from Burlington, New Jersey St. Louis Cardinals players Trenton Packers players 20th-century American sportsmen