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Johnny Mize Collection
Correspondence and photographs dating from the 1936 to the 1981 related to professional athlete Johnny Mize, a National Baseball Hall of Famer, Demorest native, and collegiate player at Piedmont College.
More About This Collection
Date of Original
1936/1981
Subject
Demorest (Ga.)
Minor league baseball--New York (State)--Rochester
Rochester Red Wings (Baseball team)
St. Louis Cardinals (Baseball team)
Piedmont College
New York Giants (Baseball team)
Spring training (Baseball)
United States. Navy
World War, 1939-1945
Philadelphia Athletics (Baseball team)
Kansas City Athletics (Baseball team)
United States.--Navy--Baseball
Illinois--Great Lakes--Great Lakes Naval Training Center
Yankee Stadium (New York, N.Y. : 1923-2009)
New York Yankees (Baseball team)
Fan Mail
People
Mize, Johnny, 1913-1993
Ott, Mel, 1909-1958
Kiner, Ralph
Cochrane, Mickey, 1903-1962
Nunn, Sam
Location
United States, Arizona, Maricopa County, Phoenix, 33.44838, -112.07404
United States, California, Los Angeles County, Lancaster, 34.69804, -118.13674
United States, District of Columbia, Washington, 38.89511, -77.03637
United States, Georgia, Habersham County, Clarkesville, 34.6126, -83.52489
United States, Georgia, Habersham County, Cornelia, 34.51149, -83.52712
United States, Georgia, Habersham County, Demorest, 34.5651, -83.54517
United States, Georgia, Hall County, Gainesville, 34.29788, -83.82407
United States, Georgia, Oconee County, Bogart, 33.94928, -83.53461
United States, Illinois, Great Lakes, 42.3091892, -87.8500708
United States, Michigan, Wayne County, Dearborn, 42.32226, -83.17631
United States, New York, Bronx County, Bronx, 40.84985, -73.86641
United States, New York, Monroe County, Rochester, 43.15478, -77.61556
Medium
black-and-white photographs
personal correspondence
Type
Still Image, Text
Description
Johnny Mize was a major league baseball player who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Nicknamed “The Big Cat” and “Big Jawn,” he was a first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, the New York Giants, and the New York Yankees. Mize was a ten-time All-Star whose record included 359 homeruns with a batting average of .312 over a career that spanned from 1936 to 1953.
John Robert Mize was born on January 7, 1913 in Demorest, Georgia. At age 15, he was the batboy for the Piedmont College baseball team in his hometown. However, Coach Harry Forester soon discovered Mize had extraordinary talent and allowed the high school student to play the next three years with the college team as first baseman. After a short stint in the minor league system, where he played for the Greensboro Patriots, Elmira Red Wings, and the Rochester Red Wings, Johnny Mize broke into the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals at the age of 23.
Johnny Mize’s achievements were numerous and impressive. He won four National League homerun titles, a batting title, and three RBI crowns. He won five World Series titles. He also hit three homeruns in one game more times than any other National League player at the time of his retirement.
During his professional career and until his death in 1993, Johnny Mize collected a considerable amount of baseball memorabilia, including gloves, bats, autographed baseballs, uniforms, and photographs. Thanks to a gift in 1999 from his children, Judi and Jim Mize, this complete collection is now part of the Piedmont College Archives. In Fall 2000, Piedmont College opened the Johnny Mize Athletic Center, which houses the Johnny Mize Baseball Museum – an assortment of exhibit cases displaying some of the most valued treasures collected by “The Big Cat.”
The Johnny Mize page at the Baseball Hall of Fame contains a short biography, his career statistics, and more pictures.
The Johnny Mize page at the Society of American Baseball Research provides an extensive biography by Jerry Grillo.
Piedmont College Library is very grateful to have received assistance with the Johnny Mize Collection Collection, made possible by a grant awarded in 2017-2018 to the Digital Library of Georgia. The assistance included support for the creation and enhancement of the metadata associated with this collection and training and advice about the creation and management of digital collections.
Language
eng
Holding Institution
Piedmont College. Library
Rights
