John Robert Mize (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "the Big Cat", was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, and New York Yankees from 1936 to 1953, losing three seasons to military service during World War II. Mize was a ten-time All-Star and won five consecutive World Series with the Yankees.

Mize retired in 1953 with 359 career home runs and a .312 batting average along with 1,118 runs, 2,011 hits, 367 doubles, 83 triples, 1,337 RBI and 856 bases on balls. Defensively, he recorded a .992 fielding percentage as a first baseman. He excelled in tennis as a child and played on his high school baseball team. He later played baseball for Piedmont College. Mize was a cousin of Ty Cobb and his second cousin was the second wife of Babe Ruth. 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, 19 home runs and 93 runs batted in (RBI). He later said, "I'm the only guy who played in the major leagues because I couldn't play in the minors."

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, 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

thumb|180px|Mize with the Yankees

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 of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 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. 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, he hit three home runs, one as a pinch-hitter, and was robbed of a fourth by Dodger right fielder Carl Furillo, 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) 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 with 6.

Later life

After his 1953 retirement, Mize worked as a radio commentator, scout and a hitting coach for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1955–60). He coached the Kansas City Athletics 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's book The Houses of St. Augustine. He was chosen by the Veterans 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's batting statistics were overshadowed by those of bigger stars of his era such as Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, and Jackie Robinson. Mize's lifetime on-base percentage of .397 has become more appreciated in the light of sabermetric analysis.

In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award 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 and Museum for the inaugural class of 2014. 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
  • List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball batting champions
  • List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
  • List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
  • Major League Baseball titles leaders
  • List of St. Louis Cardinals team records

References

Further reading

  • Grillo, Jerry. Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize. Nebraska Press, 2024. SBN
  • 9781496235442.
  • 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
  • Johnny Mize official site
  • Stalking the Big Cat: A New Look at Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize, 2025 documentary.