St. Louis Cardinals’ Top 20 Hitters

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#4 – 1B Johnny Mize

Johnny Mize burst onto the scene as a 23 year old first baseman for the Cardinals in 1936 and simply started hitting. In six seasons with St. Louis, Mize’s batting average never dipped below .314, his OBP never dropped lower than .402, and his slugging percentage bottomed out at .535. All told, he accumulated 158 home runs to go with a .336/.419/.600 slashline, worthy of a 171 wRC+ at the time.

After serving in World War II for three years between 1943 and 1945, Mize finished his career in New York City with both the Giants and the Yankees, but he never reached the same heights as he did with the St. Louis Cardinals where he was a five time All-Star.

In four of his six seasons, his wRC+ topped 170, with his best coming in 1938 when he had a wRC+ of 179. During that time, he hit 25 home runs and topped 100 RBIs in each season. Mize’s most impressive statistic to me, is his strikeout percentage.

As a Cardinal, Mize didn’t finish with a K% above 9.2, which is extremely good. Additionally, Johnny Mize nearly won the triple crown in both 1939 and 1940, falling short in RBIs and batting average respectively.

Although Mize may not be one of the best known St. Louis Cardinals’ players in franchise history, he certainly knew how to swing a bat, and his appearance on this list is no fluke.

Next: The Machine