Johnny Mize barely missed out on being part of the Cardinals’ championship run of the early 1940s, but his timing was right with the Yankees.
On Aug. 22, 1949, the Giants sold Mize’s contract to the Yankees for $40,000.
The slugging first baseman played for the Yankees for five seasons, 1949-53, and they were World Series champions in each of those years.
Mize, one of the National League’s most feared sluggers when he played for the Cardinals and Giants, became a valued role player with the Yankees, platooning at first base and excelling as a pinch-hitter.
Cardinals clouter
In 1936, two years after the Gashouse Gang Cardinals won a World Series title against the Tigers, Mize made his major-league debut and replaced Rip Collins as the first baseman.
A left-handed batter nicknamed “The Big Cat,” Mize hit with consistent power. He was the first Cardinals player to hit three home runs in a game four times.
Mize had 100 or more RBI in five of his six St. Louis seasons. He established the Cardinals’ single-season home run record with 43 in 1940. The mark held until Mark McGwire, using performance-enhancing drugs, hit 70 for the Cardinals in 1998.
Mize batted .336 with 1,048 hits in 854 games as a Cardinal, but the club never won a pennant in any of his seasons with them.
On Dec. 11, 1941, the Cardinals traded Mize, 28, to the Giants for pitcher Bill Lohrman, first baseman Johnny McCarthy, catcher Ken O’Dea and $50,000.
The Cardinals went to the World Series in each of the next three years, winning championships in 1942 and 1944.
Differences with Durocher
After one season with the Giants, Mize joined the Navy and served for three years (1943-45) during World War II. He returned to the Giants in 1946 and twice led the league in home runs, hitting 51 in 1947 and 40 in 1948.
Leo Durocher became Giants manager in July 1948 and he was tough on his former Cardinals teammate. Mize’s “slowness afoot displeased Durocher,” the Associated Press reported, and, according to The Sporting News, Durocher tried to get Mize “to change his stance in order to pull outside pitches instead of poking them into left field.”
Mize “rebelled quietly at the harshness” of Durocher, the New York Daily News reported.
During spring training in 1949, the Dodgers inquired about Mize but lost interest when the Giants asked for $200,000 in return, the Associated Press reported.
The Tigers made a bid for Mize in July 1949, but it didn’t work out. According to the New York Daily News, the Tigers determined Mize, 36, was “too old and slow.”
Good move
In August 1949, the Giants placed Mize on waivers and none of the other seven National League teams put in a claim for him.
The Cardinals had first basemen Nippy Jones and Rocky Nelson, and club owner Fred Saigh said, “We’re in good shape at first base and didn’t need any more help.”
Said Phillies owner Bob Carpenter: “The fact all the clubs waived on him speaks for itself.”
Though past his prime, Mize still was an effective run producer, with 18 home runs and 62 RBI for the 1949 Giants.
By clearing waivers, Mize could be dealt to an American League team.
The first-place Yankees thought their closest pursuers, the Red Sox, “would take Mize if they didn’t,” the New York Daily News reported, and offered the most money for him. Acquiring Mize also enabled the Yankees to return Tommy Henrich, who was playing first base, to the outfield, his most natural position.
In five seasons with the Giants, Mize hit .299 with a .389 on-base percentage, but, like with the Cardinals, never played in a World Series for them.
Puffing on a cigar, Mize told United Press, “I wouldn’t say I’m glad to get away from the Giants. I got along all right with Leo Durocher, although I didn’t always agree with him.”
The Yankees were credited with making a shrewd move.
“Mize may turn out to be the longball-hitting first sacker the Yankees have been seeking ever since the immortal Lou Gehrig retired,” the Associated Press declared.
Sid Keener of the St. Louis Star-Times wrote, “The Yankees are playing table stakes with blue chips in their effort to bring the 1949 pennant to New York.”
Mize’s mother, Emma, immediately recognized the potential benefits for her son, telling United Press, “All my life I’ve wanted to see him in the World Series. Maybe he’ll make it at last.”
A lot left
In his second game for the Yankees, Mize hit a two-run home run against Bob Feller, sparking them to a victory. Boxscore
The 1949 Yankees went on to win the pennant and Mize got to play against the Dodgers in his first World Series.
In 1950, Mize produced 25 home runs and 72 RBI in just 90 regular-season games for the Yankees.
He was a standout of the 1952 World Series when he batted .400 and slugged three home runs against the Dodgers. He would have had a fourth home run, but Dodgers outfielder Carl Furillo “leaped high, leaned back and robbed” Mize, catching a drive headed for the bleacher seats, The Sporting News reported.
Mize appeared in 18 World Series games for the Yankees and hit .286 with nine RBI.
In 1953, his final season, Mize, 40, was at his best as a pinch-hitter, batting .311 (19-for-61) in the role.
When Mize completed his career in the majors, his 359 home runs ranked sixth all-time. He finished with 2,011 hits, 1,337 RBI and a career batting average of .312.
Mize hit 20 or more home runs nine times and never struck out more than 57 times in any of those seasons. When he hit his career-high 51 home runs for the 1947 Giants, he struck out only 42 times.
RetroSimba 
Only 524 career strikeouts to go with those 359 home runs; Yogi Berra: 358 homers, 414 strikeouts; Joe DiMaggio: 361 homers, 369 strikeouts. They kept the opposing defense busy.
Thanks for the insights. I have much respect for those hitters who could hit with power and still make consistent contact. Most players today don’t even try to do that and the clubs still “reward” them with big dollars.
Were the Cardinals in desperate need of money when they traded Johnny Mize? I’ll grant that O’Dea was a solid backup and a decent pinch-hitter.Bill Lohrman, however, registered only one victory for us and I’m assuming that Johnny McCarthy did not play the ’42 season. Even though Mize wore the Cardinals jersey for only six seasons, he still places in the top ten in eleven offensive categories on the all time Cardinals hitting records. My goodness had he played his entire career with us what would he have accomplished? The comment by 6stn is right on. During the all-star break I read a column by Bernie Miklasz in which he said that through the first half of the season, 35% of all MLB at-bats had resulted in a homerun, strikeout or walk. Dear people, call me old fashioned, call me out of touch, but that’s not how the game is supposed to be played.
Thanks for your comments. Johnny Mize held out for a salary increase after the 1940 season, angering Cardinals management. In addition, I have read that the Cardinals’ vast farm system was draining the organization financially and with the aftermath of the Great Depression being felt, yes, the Cardinals were looking for more cash.
You have to understand that Branch Rickey got a percentage of the money that the Cardinals received back from the other clubs when he sold off players. Mize was in his prime and so his price was high at that time. Rickey, ever the shrewd businessman, received anywhere from 10 to 20 percent from all these deals. He became a very wealthy man as a result. Mize left a big hole in the lineup.
Yes, that’s true. The remuneration Branch Rickey received in trading Cardinals players for large sums of cash also led to the departures of Dizzy Dean, Joe Medwick, Mickey Owen and others.