Posted By:
Ted ZanidakisTroy and Chris
First, sorry guys but I have to correct you. Gum, Inc. of Philadelphia (also known
as the Bowman Gum Co.) did not produce the 1941 Double Play set. This set was
produced by Gum Products of Cambridge, Mass.
Why Johnny Mize and other Cardinal players were not in some of these sets you
cited could be due to the St louis Team set (W574....1941) which portrayed all
these Cardinals. Mize was also in some of the Wheaties sets in the early '40s.
And, these sets probably had exclusive Rights to portraying him. He is in the
Double Play set (with Danny Litwhiler).
In 1981 I was set-up at a card show next to the table Johnny Mize was signing.
We struck up a really nice friendship. And, a few years later when I was in
Demorest, GA (his hometown) I stopped in to visit with him. He was really a
great ballplayer with St Louis and both New York teams. I asked him why the
Cardinals and the Giants traded him in the peak of his career ? Johnny told me,
he asked his management "pay me more money or trade me". So, these two
teams traded him. As, you know he was part of the "Yankee Dynasty" (1949 - 53)
and Mize, single-handedly, beat the Dodgers in the 1952 World Series with two
pinch-hit HRs and a third HR.
My impression of Johnny Mize was that he was a very proud man, a clutch hitter,
a great baseball player, and he didn't take any "guff" from his management.