Johnny Mize was a 1B who played for the New York Yankees from 1949-1953. Career stats: .265 batting average, 44 home runs, 181 RBI.
August 22, 1949. The New York Giants sold Johnny Mize to the Yankees for $40,000 and didn't think twice about it -- he was 36, his knees ached, and four National League home run titles were already behind him. The Yankees signed him anyway. Over the next five seasons, Mize never lost a World Series.
Twenty Home Runs Ahead of Everybody
John Robert Mize was born January 7, 1913, in Demorest, Georgia, a small town in the state's northern hill country. The Cardinals signed him as a teenager, and his path to the majors nearly ended before it started -- a groin injury at Double-A Rochester in 1934 turned out to be bone spurs on his pelvis, and the surgery Cardinals physician Dr. Robert Hyland performed that winter was, by contemporary accounts, a gamble (elective hip surgery on a ballplayer wasn't exactly routine in 1934). It worked. Mize debuted with St. Louis in 1936 and hit .329 with 19 home runs as a rookie, taking over first base for good.
He earned the nickname "The Big Cat" for the poise in his batting stance and the ease with which he moved around the bag -- big man, soft hands, nothing wasted. By 1940 he'd led the National League in home runs twice (28 in 1939, a career-high 43 in 1940) and won a batting title along the way. The Cardinals, following Branch Rickey's habit of trading stars a year before they declined, shipped Mize to the Giants after the 1941 season to clear room for a kid named Stan Musial (who turned out fine).
Three war years with the Navy cost him his age-30 through age-32 seasons -- Great Lakes, then Hawaii, then a Fifth Fleet tour through the Pacific playing ball for the troops. He came back in 1946 and, if anything, got better. His 1947 season is still one of the strangest great years in NL history: 51 home runs, a league-leading 138 RBI, and only 42 strikeouts. Nobody else has ever hit 50 homers in a season and struck out fewer than 50 times doing it.
Arriving in the Bronx
By the summer of 1949, the Giants had grown tired of a 36-year-old with bad wheels, and Mize had grown tired of watching from the bench. The Yankees bought his contract for $40,000 in the final weeks of a pennant race, a small gamble on a part-time bat. It paid off almost immediately.
In Game 3 of that October's World Series against Brooklyn, Mize came off the bench with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth and singled off Ralph Branca, pushing the lead to 3-1 in a game the Yankees won 4-1 -- the swing that turned a 1-1 World Series into a two-games-to-one lead. Casey Stengel's Yankees won in five. Mize's response afterward was about as understated as a first World Series ring gets: "This World Series stuff is all right."
Yankees Career
| Games | 378 |
| Batting Average | .265 |
| Home Runs | 44 |
| RBI | 181 |
| OBP | .344 |
| SLG | .463 |
| World Series Titles | 5 |
| Hall of Fame Induction | 1981 |
Stengel never made Mize an everyday player again -- he didn't need to. In 1950, at age 37, Mize hit 25 home runs and drove in 72 runs in just 274 at-bats, full-season power squeezed into a part-time role. From 1951 through 1953 he led the American League in pinch hits every single year, capping it off in 1953 with a .298 average and a league-best 17 pinch hits off the bench.
A slugger who hits like a leadoff man.
October, Every Year
The 1952 World Series against Brooklyn was Mize's last great stage. He homered in Games 3, 4, and 5 -- the first player in history to go deep in three straight World Series games -- and finished 6-for-15 for a .400 average with 6 RBI as the Yankees beat the Dodgers in seven. Right fielder Carl Furillo robbed him of a fourth homer with a leaping catch in the 11th inning of Game 5, and Mize never quite let it go.
I guess the day I just missed getting four home runs in three Series games was the most memorable for me.
He won the Babe Ruth Award as the 1952 World Series' outstanding player anyway. It's a fair trade for one long fly ball.
Key Moments
Born in Demorest, Georgia
John Robert Mize is born in the north Georgia hill country -- the town he'd retire to, and later be buried near.
MLB Debut with the Cardinals
Mize hits .329 with 19 home runs as a rookie, taking over first base in St. Louis after recovering from career-threatening hip surgery.
Cardinals Home Run Record
Mize hits 43 home runs, leading the NL and setting a Cardinals franchise record that stands until Mark McGwire breaks it in 1998.
51 Homers, 42 Strikeouts
Now with the Giants, Mize hits 51 home runs while striking out only 42 times -- a combination no other player has matched.
Sold to the Yankees
The Giants sell the 36-year-old Mize to the Yankees for $40,000. He wins a World Series ring that October in his first year in pinstripes.
Three Homers, Babe Ruth Award
Mize homers in three straight World Series games and hits .400 against Brooklyn, winning the Babe Ruth Award as the Series' top performer.
Retires After a Fifth Straight Title
Mize plays his final season at age 40, leading the AL in pinch hits and winning his fifth consecutive World Series ring.
Elected to the Hall of Fame
The Veterans Committee finally elects Mize, 28 years after his retirement, alongside Rube Foster. Bob Gibson enters the same year via the writers' vote.
The Wait
Mize's Hall of Fame case sat around for two decades before anyone acted on it. His best showing on the writers' ballot topped out at 43 percent in 1971 -- nowhere close to induction, despite four home run titles and a .312 career average built almost entirely before the sport's big power surge. The Veterans Committee finally got it right in 1981, 28 years after he'd retired (a long time to wait for a phone call). By most accounts, Mize was genuinely surprised when it came.
He never got his number retired in the Bronx, and he didn't need it to matter. Stengel had DiMaggio fading out and a teenager named Mickey Mantle just arriving, and he still found room on the bench for a 36-year-old with bad knees because that bench player kept winning championships. Five rings in five years is the kind of arithmetic that speaks for itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Johnny Mize in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. The Veterans Committee elected Mize to the Baseball Hall of Fame on March 11, 1981, alongside Negro Leagues pioneer Rube Foster. He'd been retired for 28 years by then, having topped out at 43 percent on the writers' ballot in 1971.
How many World Series did Johnny Mize win with the Yankees?
Five -- one in each of his five seasons in pinstripes (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1953). The Yankees won all five under manager Casey Stengel, still the longest championship streak in baseball history.
Why is Johnny Mize called 'The Big Cat'?
The nickname came from his batting stance and his glove work at first base -- a big man who moved with unusual poise and smoothness for his size, both at the plate and around the bag.
How did the Yankees get Johnny Mize?
The Yankees bought Mize's contract from the New York Giants for $40,000 on August 22, 1949. He was 36 years old and had grown frustrated with a reduced role in New York's other clubhouse.
How many home runs did Johnny Mize hit?
Mize hit 359 home runs across his career with the Cardinals, Giants, and Yankees, including 44 in his five seasons with New York. He won four National League home run titles (1939, 1940, 1947, and 1948) before he ever put on pinstripes.
Career Stats
Regular Season
| Year | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 13 | 23 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | .261 | .393 | .435 | .828 |
| 1950 | 90 | 274 | 43 | 76 | 12 | 0 | 25 | 72 | 29 | 24 | 0 | .277 | .351 | .595 | .946 |
| 1951 | 114 | 332 | 37 | 86 | 14 | 1 | 10 | 50 | 37 | 24 | 1 | .259 | .340 | .398 | .738 |
| 1952 | 79 | 139 | 9 | 37 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 30 | 13 | 15 | 0 | .266 | .338 | .417 | .755 |
| 1953 | 82 | 105 | 6 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 12 | 18 | 0 | .248 | .336 | .390 | .726 |
| Career | 378 | 873 | 99 | 231 | 39 | 1 | 44 | 181 | 95 | 83 | 1 | .265 | .337 | .463 | .800 |
Career-best seasons highlighted in gold. Stats via Retrosheet.
Postseason
| Year | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 2 | 2 | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 0 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | 1.000 | -- | -- | -- |
| 1950 | 4 | 15 | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | .133 | -- | -- | -- |
| 1951 | 4 | 7 | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 0 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | .286 | -- | -- | -- |
| 1952 | 5 | 15 | -- | 6 | -- | -- | 3 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | .400 | -- | -- | -- |
| 1953 | 3 | 3 | -- | 0 | -- | -- | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | .000 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 18 | 42 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 | .286 | .500 | .786 |