Impulse Mize

Lately I've had COMC open all day - on my computer at home and at work (usually in a minimized window) just in case COMC challenges are open, or I'm able to check new sales at the top of the hour. 

I had been saving my challenge credit for a set need or two.. until yesterday, when a sale posted just after 9 a.m. The top card was intriguing to me, but because I was at work I didn't have time to research the card/subject or consider my options (i.e. keep saving for my set needs.)  I was convinced that the card would sell quickly, and so I made my decision quickly.

For $24.25 I was able to pick up a vintage rookie card of a Hall of Famer. But there's a catch..

Johnny Mize was well past rookie status when the 1948 Bowman set was released. In fact he was closer to the end of his career than the beginning; the slugging first baseman debuted with the Cardinals in the spring of 1936. 


I wasn't all that familiar with Mize before buying this card but I knew he was a Hall of Fame 1st baseman, primarily with the Cardinals (the only other Mize card in my collection depicts him with the Redbirds.) 

What I didn't know was that his prime years were lost to World War II, he never won an MVP award but probably should have in 1940, and that he was elected to Cooperstown by the Veterans' Committee and not the BBWAA (losing three seasons to WWII surely worked against him.) 

Mize didn't win a World Series in St. Louis, but he earned a ring in each of his final five seasons, as a part timer with the Yankees. He retired in 1953 - not all that long after his rookie card* was issued. 

*It should be noted that Mize appeared in a few oddball sets before 1948, including 1941 Double Play (which TCDB considers his XRC). I was able to confirm this before buying the Bowman card. While it made me wonder how many other stars of the 1930s and 1940s didn't get a rookie card (or why Mize didn't appear in Play Ball sets) it wasn't enough to dissuade me from making this impulse purchase.

Here's another look at the front of the card, which appears to have faded a bit around his cap. I'll have to wait a few months until it's in hand to determine if it was wize to buy this Mize. 



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