Johnny Mize

John Robert Mize hit 51 home runs in 1947 and struck out 42 times, a ratio that no player in baseball history has replicated. He won four slugging titles, led the National League in home runs four times, batted .312 for his career, and then joined the Yankees as a part-time player and won five consecutive World Series rings. His teammates called him "The Big Cat" for the way he dug throws out of the dirt at first base, gliding across the bag with a grace that belied his six-two, 215-pound frame. Don Gutteridge, who roomed with Mize on the Cardinals, said, "Nobody had a better, smoother, easier swing than John. It was picture perfect." The Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1981 after 28 years of waiting. "Somewhere along in the 28 years," Mize said at his induction, "my speech got lost."

Demorest

Mize was born on January 7, 1913, in Demorest, Georgia, a town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. His father Edward was a merchant, and his parents separated when Mize was young. Mize stayed in Demorest with his grandmother while his mother moved to Atlanta. He was a distant cousin of Ty Cobb, and his second cousin Claire Merritt later married Babe Ruth. Mize played baseball at Piedmont College in Demorest and excelled at tennis as a youth.

Mize signed with the Cardinals and spent five years in the minors, hitting .337 or better in four of them. In 1934 he suffered a groin injury legging out a double, and pelvic bone spurs required surgery. Mize retired voluntarily at 22, convinced his career was over. "I'm the only guy who played in the major leagues because I couldn't play in the minors," he said later. He recovered and made his debut with the Cardinals on April 16, 1936.

The Big Cat

Mize hit .329 as a rookie and batted above .300 in each of his first six seasons with the Cardinals. In 1939 he won the batting title at .349 with 28 home runs and 108 RBI. In 1940 he hit 43 home runs, a Cardinals franchise record that stood until Mark McGwire broke it in 1998, and drove in 137. Mize led the league in slugging three consecutive years from 1938 through 1940 and hit for the cycle on July 13, 1940.

The Cardinals traded Mize to the New York Giants after the 1941 season. Mize hit .305 with 26 home runs and led the league in RBI in 1942 before leaving for three years of Navy service at Great Lakes Naval Station, where he played alongside Phil Rizzuto, Pee Wee Reese, and Dom DiMaggio and batted over .475 in military ball.

Mize returned in 1946 and hit .337 before breaking his hand on a Joe Page pitch. In 1947, at 34, Mize hit 51 home runs to tie Ralph Kiner for the NL lead, drove in 138 runs to lead the majors, and scored 137 runs. He struck out only 42 times in 586 at-bats. No other player has reached 50 home runs in a season while striking out fewer than 50 times; the record has now stood more than 75 years. Mize tied Kiner again with 40 home runs in 1948, struck out only 37 times, and became the first player to hit three home runs in a game six times, a major league record.

The Yankees

The Giants sold Mize to the Yankees in August 1949, and Mize spent five years as a part-time player and pinch hitter on five consecutive championship teams. Yankee teammate Hank Bauer said Mize possessed "an abnormal ability to respond to the most urgent demands." In the 1952 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Mize hit three home runs, batted .400, and was named Series MVP at 39. Dan Parker, a New York sportswriter, wrote the tribute in verse. "Your arm is gone, your legs likewise, but not your eyes, Mize, not your eyes."

Mize played his final game on September 26, 1953, and retired with 359 home runs, 2,011 hits, a .312 average, and a .562 slugging percentage, higher than either Hank Aaron or Willie Mays. Three prime seasons lost to military service suppressed his counting statistics and contributed to 28 years of waiting before the Veterans Committee finally inducted him. Mize returned to Demorest in 1974 and lived across from Piedmont College, where the basketball arena and a museum now bear his name. Mize died in his sleep on June 2, 1993, in Demorest, at 80.