Some Notes on Johnny Mize

Mize is one of the fairly little-known sluggers from the time between Ruth and Mantle, Mays, Aaron, etc. In fact, considering that he won 4 home run titles, he might be the most accomplished yet least remembered major power threat of that roughly 20-year span.

Here are some notable things about his career:

He played roughly equal numbers of seasons with three powerhouse franchises, the Cardinals, Giants, and Yankees.

Mize hit 43 triples in 3 seasons, 1938-40, but I have the image of him being a lumbering slugger.

Led the league in runs scored, doubles, triples, homers, RBIs, average, and slugging % at various points in his career.

He wound that career up by winning 5 titles with the Yankees, 1949-53. I hadn’t noticed that he hit 3 homers in the ’52 Series, at age 39.

Mize was sold to the Reds after the 1934 season, without having yet played a game in the majors, but returned to the Cardinals due to injuries–pelvic bone spurs, according to his SABR bio.

He sounds a little like David Ortiz, in multiple respects. Most obviously, both were first-rate sluggers whose careers blossomed somewhat late, and won 3 or more World Series.

Published in: Uncategorized on September 18, 2021 at 6:21 pm  Leave a Comment  

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