VINEGAR BEND MIZELL SHOWS HIS STUFFThis sequence shows the unusual pitching form of Wilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell, 26-year-old left-hander of the St. Louis Cardinals, who thus far this season has won 3, lost 2. Although not an impressive record so far, the Cardinal management is holding out high hopes for this portsider whom they have dubbed "the left-handed Dizzy Dean." On the strength of Mizell's promise the Cards dropped Harvey Haddix who had been regarded as the top lefty on their pitching staff. This sequence shows Mizell's pitching form.
DATE: 5-23-1956
ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Original - Printed from the original negative in the time period in which it was shot
TEAM: St. Louis Cardinals
SUBJECT: Vinegar Bend Mizell
ISSUER: International News Photos
APPROXIMATE SIZE: 7"x9-1/8"
MARKS / STAMPING: Original paper caption remains affixed to the verso.
NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 2
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: Wilmer David Mizell was born in 1930 in Vinegar Bend, Washington County, AL and died in 1999 in Kerrville, TX. He played major league baseball from 1952 to 1962 as pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets, appeared in the 1960 World Series, and was selected in 1959 as an All-Star. After his retirement from baseball, he worked in sales and marketing for the Pepsi-Cola Corporation, then was elected commissionner of Davidson County, North Carolina, later serving as chairman of the county board of commissionners. He was elected to Congress in 1968 and served as a Republican Representative from the state of North Carolina from 1969 to 1975. He failed to be re-elected in 1974, when the Democrats swept the congressional elections in the wake of the Watergate scandal. He was appointed as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, a post he held from 1975 to 1976, until he ran again unsuccessfully for election. He occupied other senior government positions in the Reagan and Bush administrations.
SKU: L15064
Item: L15064