Former Yankee Johnny Mize Would Have Been 99 This Year: A Fan Remembers

Long before New York Yankees fans who are approximately my age were born, Johnny Mize was an integral part of New York Yankee pennant winners and World Series champions. Had he lived, Johnny Mize would have turned 99 this Jan. 7.

Mize, nicknamed "The Big Cat," was a Hall of Fame first basemen, first with the St. Louis Cardinals, then as a member of the New York Giants before coming to the Bronx just in time to be part of five consecutive title teams.

Mize broke in with the Cards in 1936 at the age of 23. In St. Louis, Mize would win a pair of home run crowns, the first in 1939 and then again in 1940. His best year with the Redbirds came in 1940, when Mize hit .314 with a league-leading 43 home runs and 143 runs batted in. While in New York as a Giant, Mize tied the Pirates' Ralph Kiner for the most home runs in 1947 and 1948. His best campaign was the 1947 season, when Mize led the National League in runs scored with 137, homers with 51 and runs batted in with his 138. By the time the Giants sold his contract to the Yankees in August of 1949, Mize was 36.

Johnny split time with such players as Joe Collins and Tommy Henrich at first base while in New York for his four-plus seasons. The most at-bats he ever got in a Yankee uniform were the 372 he had in 1951. However, Mize was a valuable Yankee, especially in the 1952 World Series versus the Brooklyn Dodgers. During that postseason, Mize smacked three home runs and knocked in six runs as New York prevailed. In the five World Series which Mize participated in with the Yankees, New York never lost, with Mize hitting .286 in 18 games, despite being well past his prime.

Although he was a prolific slugger, Mize never struck out more than 57 times in one season. He hit well over .300 for his first nine years in the majors, topped by a .364 average in 1937 and a National League batting title in 1939, when he hit .349. Mize retired after the 1953 season with a lifetime batting average of .312 and 359 home runs to go with 1,337 runs batted in. His numbers are impressive when you consider that he lost three full seasons and part of another to military service during World War II.

Johnny Mize died in 1993 at the age of 80.

Sources:

Baseball Reference

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mizejo01.shtml

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