Johnny Mize, the Big Cat, Is Born in Georgia

On January 7, 1913, John Robert Mize was born in Demorest, Georgia, a small town in the Blue Ridge foothills. He grew into one of the most feared sluggers of the 1930s and 1940s, earning the nickname "the Big Cat" for his graceful movement around first base despite his imposing 6-foot-2, 215-pound frame.

Mize broke into the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1936 and was an immediate force. He batted .329 in his first full season and kept hitting from there. With the Cardinals and later the New York Giants, Mize led the National League in home runs four times, in batting average once (.349 in 1939), and in RBIs once. He hit 51 home runs for the Giants in 1947, becoming only the second player in National League history to reach 50 in a single season.

His ability to combine power with contact was extraordinary. In 1947, the same year he hit 51 home runs, Mize struck out only 42 times. That ratio of home runs to strikeouts remained virtually unmatched for decades.

World War II took three years from the middle of Mize's career. He served in the Navy from 1943 to 1945, returning at age 32. After his time with the Giants, the Yankees acquired him in 1949, and Mize contributed to five consecutive World Series championships as a pinch-hitter and part-time first baseman from 1949 through 1953.

Mize finished his career with 359 home runs, a .312 batting average, and a .562 slugging percentage. The Veterans Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1981. He died on June 2, 1993, in Demorest, the same town where he was born eighty years earlier.