DATE OF IMAGE: 1947 PRINT DATE: 1985 TEAM: New York Giants SUBJECTS: Johnny Mize, Bill Rigney, Mel Ott ISSUER: TCMA APPROXIMATE SIZE: 3-1/2"x5-1/2" NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is one of a large accumulation of vintage sports photographs, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: John Robert Mize (The Big Cat) was born in 1913 in Demorest, GA and died in 1993 in Demorest, GA. He went to college at Piedmont College. He played major league baseball from 1936 to 1953 as 1st baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants and the New York Yankees, appeared in the 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1953 World Series, was selected 10 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. Mize was known as both "Big Jaw" and "The Big Cat" for his smooth fielding around the bag at first base. He was chosen by the Veteran's Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. During his playing years, Mize apparently did not enjoy particularly good relations with the baseball sportswriters; members of this community vote on candidates for the Hall of Fame. Mize's fine batting statistics were overshadowed by those of bigger stars Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, and Stan Musial, and later Jackie Robinson. And his great on-base percentage of .397 is valued much more highly today, in the light of sabermetric analysis. Mize was also a Spring Hitting Coach for the Milwaukee Braves in Bradenton, FL circa 1958-60, and for all the Class AA farm hands and below at their Waycross, GA Spring Camp at the same time Walter Boom-Boom Beck was the Spring Traveling Pitching Instructor in Waycross. He later became a Major League Coach for Kansas City in 1961. In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. William Joseph Rigney (Specs, The Cricket) was born in 1918 in Alameda, CA and died in 2001 in Walnut Creek, CA. He played major league baseball from 1946 to 1953 as infielder for the New York Giants, appeared in the 1951 World Series, and was selected in 1948 as an All-Star. He was also was a broadcaster for the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics, and scouted and was briefly in the front office for the A's. He was managing the Giants by the time he was age 38, and went with them to San Francisco. Later, he managed the expansion Los Angeles Angels for their first nine years. Melvin Thomas Ott (Master Melvin) was born in 1909 in Gretna, LA and died in 1958 in New Orleans, LA. He played major league baseball from 1926 to 1947 as 3rd baseman and outfielder for the New York Giants, appeared in the 1933, 1936 and 1937 World Series, was selected 12 times as an All-Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951. He used a batting style that was then considered unorthodox, lifting his forward (right) foot prior to impact. This style helped with his power-hitting. He managed the Giants for seven years between 1942 and 1948. The Giants best finish during that time was in third place in 1942. It was in reference to Ott's supposedly easy-going managing style that then-Dodgers manager Leo Durocher made the oft-quoted and somewhat out-of-context comment, "Nice guys finish last!" His number "4" was retired by the Giants in 1949, and it is posted on the facade of the upper deck in the left field corner of AT&T Park. He is one of only six NL players to spend a 20+ year career with one team. In 1999, he ranked number 42 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and he was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. After his playing career was over, Ott broadcast baseball on the Mutual Broadcasting system radio network in 1955. From 1956 to 1958, Ott teamed with Van Patrick to broadcast the games of the Detroit Tigers on radio and television. Ott is mentioned in the poem "Lineup for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash: O is for Ott, Of the restless right foot. When he leaned on the pellet, The pellet stayed put. SKU: L13907
Item: L13907
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