RetroSimba

(Updated Jan. 6, 2025)

Johnny Mize played six seasons for the Cardinals (1936-41) and never for a championship team in St. Louis, but he left a legacy as a slugger supreme.

Mize was the first to hit three home runs in a game four times as a Cardinal.

Mize achieved the feat in two seasons: doing it twice in 1938 and twice in 1940.

Here’s a look at how he did it:

_ July 13, 1938: Entering the game with just five home runs for the season and only one since June 5, Mize hit three consecutive homers against Jim Turner of the Braves, but Boston won, 10-5, at St. Louis. Mize hit a two-run shot in the fourth, a solo homer in the fifth and a two-run homer in the eighth. Boxscore

_ July 20, 1938: In Game 2 of a doubleheader at St. Louis, Mize hit two home runs off starter Slick Castleman (in the first and third innings) and another off Bill Lohrman (in the eighth) in a 7-1 Cardinals victory before a home crowd that included Missouri governor Lloyd Stark and St. Louis mayor Bernard Dickmann.

“Mize sent the crowd into ecstacies of joy by hitting three home runs in one game for the second time in eight days,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported. Boxscore

_ May 13, 1940: Played on a Monday afternoon at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, this was one of the most unusual games in Cardinals history. Boxscore

The game was called because of darkness with the score 8-8 after 14 innings. All statistics counted, but the tie didn’t count in the standings and the game was replayed as part of an Aug. 11 doubleheader.

Although there were lights at Crosley Field, a National League rule prohibited lights from being turned on to finish a day game.

Mize hit homers off Reds ace Johnny Vander Meer in the second and third innings. His 13th-inning homer off Milt Shoffner gave the Cardinals an 8-7 lead. Cincinnati scored in the bottom of the 13th.

“Mize is a grand hitter in anybody’s ballpark,” the Dayton Herald declared, “but he has a great fondness for staging field days at the Crosley lot.” (Mize hit 22 career homers at Crosley Field.)

_ Sept. 8, 1940: In Game 1 of a doubleheader at St. Louis, Mize slugged home runs in three consecutive at-bats, but the Pirates won, 16-14.

According to the St. Louis Star-Times, “Those three straight mighty Mize blasts onto the pavilion roof afforded the crowd a good excuse for straw-hat throwing and loud vocal demonstration.” Boxscore

Mize had two other three-homer games: for the Giants in 1947 and for the Yankees in 1950.