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During World War II, many of MLB’s biggest stars lost years of their playing careers to military service, e.g. Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, etc., just to name a few. Two of the most productive first basemen of the 1930s, Hank “Hammerin’ Hank” Greenberg and Johnny “The Big Cat” Mize, both served in the war effort for three plus seasons during their prime and consequently, their overall career numbers were impacted greatly by the prolonged absence. Nevertheless, when they were in the lineup, the duo were among the best first basemen to ever play in the major leagues – in addition to thinking about what could have been, let us compare these two great sluggers and ask:
Who was better – Hank Greenberg or Johnny Mize?
The Beginning
In the days before MLB had a formal draft, Greenberg and Mize were both signed to professional baseball contracts as teenagers – even though both took somewhat long (and in Mize’s case, unconventional) routes to the big leagues, they were both immediate impact players at the major league level.
Born in New York City to a Romanian Orthodox Jewish family, Greenberg excelled at both baseball and basketball in high school and upon graduation, was offered a contract in 1929 by the New York Yankees (who already had the legendary Lou Gehrig at first base). Instead, he attended NYU for a year and then signed with the Detroit Tigers, making a grand total of one at-bat in 1930; following three years in the minor leagues, Greenberg became the Tigers’ full-time starting first baseman in 1933, hitting .301 with 12 home runs, 85 runs batted in, 59 runs scored, a .367 on-base percentage, and a .468 slugging percentage, good for a 119 OPS+ (which measures on-base percentage plus slugging vs. a league-wide average set at 100).
Around the same time, Mize was born and raised in Georgia and played both baseball and tennis growing up; after playing baseball at nearby Piedmont College, he was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals and soon traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 1934, but the trade was voided due to injury. Mize actually retired from baseball in 1935 as a result of leg injuries, but returned following surgery for bone spurs and was called up to the Cardinals’ big league team in 1936 – there, he batted .329 as a rookie with 19 home runs, 93 runs batted in, 76 runs scored, a .402 on-base percentage, and a .577 slugging percentage (162 OPS+).
Career Comparison
Despite being perennial MVP-level players in the 1930s and early 1940s, military service ultimately impacted the longevity and overall career production of both Greenberg and Mize; on a season-by-season basis, however, they were among the best sluggers of the generation.
Greenberg became one of the first superstar Jewish-American athletes with a breakout season in 1934, hitting .339 with a league-high 63 doubles (the fourth-highest single-season total all-time), 26 home runs, 139 runs batted in, 118 runs scored, a .404 on-base percentage, and a .600 slugging percentage (156 OPS+) to finish sixth for AL MVP. The following year, he was even better and took home MVP honors on the strength of a .328 batting average, league-highs of 36 home runs and 168 runs batted in, 120 runs scored, a .411 on-base percentage, and a .628 slugging percentage, good for a 170 OPS+. Though Greenberg missed most of the 1936 season with a wrist injury, he quickly bounced back starting in 1937 with four straight All-Star selections and back-to-back third-place MVP showings for two of his best individual seasons:
- 1937: .337 batting average with 40 home runs, a league-leading and career-high 184 runs batted in (the third-highest single-season mark ever behind only Hack Wilson’s 191 in 1930 and Gehrig’s 185 in 1931), 137 runs scored, a .436 on-base percentage, and a .668 slugging percentage (172 OPS+); finished behind teammate Charlie Gehringer and the aforementioned DiMaggio for MVP
- 1938: .315 batting average with a league-best and career-best 58 home runs (at the time, second-most all-time in a season only to Babe Ruth’s 60 in 1927 and tied with Jimmie Foxx from 1932), 147 runs batted in, a league-high and career-high 143 runs scored, and career-highs of a .438 on-base percentage and a .683 slugging percentage (169 OPS+); finished behind Foxx and Bill Dickey for MVP
Following another strong season in 1939, Greenberg won his second MVP award in 1940 with a career-high .340 batting average, league-highs of 41 home runs and 150 runs batted in, 129 runs scored, a .433 on-base percentage, and a league-high .670 slugging percentage (171 OPS+). However, as one of the first baseball players to register for the draft in late 1940, he joined the Army 19 games into the 1941 season and was promoted to sergeant before being honorably discharged ahead of Pearl Harbor. Subsequently, though, Greenberg re-enlisted in 1942 and overall, spent 47 months in military service (including six months overseas in Asia), the longest tenure of any MLB player.
With the conclusion of World War II in 1945, Greenberg returned for half a season of MLB play that year at age 34. In his first full season since 1940, he hit .277 in 1946 with league-highs of 44 home runs and 127 runs batted in, 90 runs scored, a .373 on-base percentage, and a .604 slugging percentage, good for a 162 OPS+ and an eighth-place MVP finish. Due to a salary dispute with the Tigers, however, he retired after the season and his contract was sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates; the Pirates managed to lure him out of retirement and in his only season in the NL in 1947, Greenberg hit 25 home runs to become the first player in MLB history to hit 25 home runs in a season in both leagues. More significantly, given his experiences as a Jewish player, Greenberg was one of the few players to publicly embrace Jackie Robinson in the latter’s rookie season breaking baseball’s color barrier.
Contemporaneously in the NL, Mize earned the first of 10 All-Star selections in 1937 by hitting a career-high .364 with 25 home runs, 113 runs batted in, 103 runs scored, a .427 on-base percentage, and a .595 slugging percentage (174 OPS+), placing 10th for MVP. This marked the first of six straight years with 100+ runs batted in, including 5x with 25+ home runs and 4x leading the league in slugging percentage while hitting .300+ each season. Notably, Mize led the league in home runs in back-to-back seasons in 1939 and 1940:
- 1939: won his only batting title with a .349 batting average, 28 home runs, 108 runs batted in, 104 runs scored, a career-high .444 on-base percentage, and a league-leading .626 slugging percentage (178 OPS+); finished second for MVP to Bucky Walters
- 1940: .314 batting average with league-highs of 43 home runs and 137 runs batted in (the 43 home runs was a Cardinals record for nearly 60 years), 111 runs scored, a .404 on-base percentage, and a league-leading and career-best .636 slugging percentage (177 OPS+); again finished second for MVP, this time to Frank McCormick
Despite another top-10 MVP finish in 1941, Mize was traded at season’s end to the New York Giants for Bill Lohrman, Johnny McCarthy, Ken O’Dea, and $50K in cash; he responded in 1942 with a fifth-place MVP showing (.305 batting average with 26 home runs, a league-high 110 runs batted in, 97 runs scored, a .380 on-base percentage, and a league-high .521 slugging percentage, good for a 161 OPS+). From 1943 to 1945, Mize did military service mainly by playing baseball at the Great Lakes Naval Station, returning to MLB in 1946 to post four consecutive All-Star seasons. Notably, he led the league in home runs in consecutive seasons:
- 1947: .302 batting average with a career-high 51 home runs and 138 runs batted in, a league-high and career-best 137 runs scored, a .384 on-base percentage, and a .614 slugging percentage (160 OPS+); third for MVP
- 1948: .289 batting average (the first time Mize hit below .300) with 40 home runs, 125 runs batted in, 110 runs scored, a .395 on-base percentage, and a .564 slugging percentage (156 OPS+); would be the last great season of his career
Midway through the 1949 season, Mize was traded across town to the Yankees, where he would spend the remaining five years of his career. Though he was mostly a part-time player and never appeared in more than 113 games or had more than 332 at-bats in a season, Mize nonetheless hit 25 home runs in 1950 to become just the second player to hit 25 dingers in both leagues (after Greenberg). In his final season in 1953 at age 40, Mize was named an All-Star for the 10th time despite only hitting .250 with 4 home runs in 81 games played.
Technically, Greenberg played in 13 different MLB seasons and Mize in 15 seasons, but injuries and wartime service limited them to fewer actual full seasons and games – overall, Mize played roughly 500 additional games with 1,250 extra at-bats, which result in better counting numbers almost across the board (in particular, hits, home runs, runs batted in, and runs scored). On the other hand, however, Greenberg’s career batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS+ were all higher and in terms of “great” seasons, it is almost neck-and-neck: Greenberg compiled more 30+ home run years (6x vs. 3x, with 4x 40+ home runs and 1x 50+ dingers vs. 3x and 1x, respectively; oddly, Mize never hit between 30 and 39 home runs in a season) and seasons with 100+ runs scored (6x vs. 5x), whereas Mize hit .300+ more often (9 to 8) and drove in 100+ runs on more occasions (8 to 7). Additionally, “The Big Cat” was selected to more All-Star Games (10x vs. 5x) and won a batting title, but Greenberg was twice named MVP. Encapsulating their careers into one number, due to his greater longevity, Mize accumulated more career Wins Above Replacement (WAR): 71.3 vs. 55.7. Post-retirement, Greenberg became the first Jewish player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956; meanwhile, despite his illustrious career, Mize surprisingly had to wait until 1981 when he was selected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.
Regular Season Statistics
| Hank Greenberg | Player | Johnny Mize |
| 13 (1930, 1933-1941, 1945-1947) | Seasons | 15 (1936-1942, 1946-1953) |
| 1,394 | Games Played | 1,884 |
| 5,193 | At-Bats | 6,443 |
| 1,628 | Hits | 2,011 |
| 1,046 | Runs | 1,118 |
| 331 | Home Runs | 359 |
| 1,274 | Runs Batted In | 1,337 |
| 852 | Walks | 856 |
| 58 | Stolen Bases | 28 |
| .313 | Batting Average | .312 |
| .412 | On-Base Percentage | .397 |
| .605 | Slugging Percentage | .562 |
| 159 | OPS+ | 158 |
| 55.7 | Wins Above Replacement | 71.3 |
| 5x | All-Star Games | 10x |
| 2x | MVP | – |
| 2x | World Series Titles | 5x |
| – | Other Awards | 1x Batting Title |
| 1956 | Hall of Fame Induction | 1981 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
In an era when the AL and NL pennant winners met directly in the World Series, both Greenbeg and Mize were part of multiple championship teams, though at different points in their careers and with varying levels of contribution to the winning effort.
Across four World Series trips with the Tigers, Greenberg came away with two titles and generally maintained his high level of play in the postseason:
- 1934: lost to the Cardinals in seven games despite Greenberg hitting .321 (9 hits in 28 at-bats) and driving in 7 runs
- 1935: in his first MVP season, Greenberg only played in the first two games of the World Series before going down with a sprained wrist (he was hitting .157 at the time), but Detroit was nevertheless able to prevail over the Chicago Cubs in six games
- 1940: right before going to war, he had his best individual World Series (10 hits in 28 at-bats for a .357 batting average with 1 home run, 6 runs batted in, and 10 runs scored), but the Tigers fell to the Cincinnati Reds in seven games
- 1945: upon returning from military service, Detroit again beat the Cubs, this time in seven games as Greenberg again hit .300+ (7 hits in 23 at-bats) with 2 home runs, 7 runs batted in, and 7 runs scored in the victory
In contrast, Mize never made it to the World Series with either the Cardinals or the Giants, but in the twilight of his career with powerhouse Yankees teams led by the likes of Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle, won five consecutive titles from 1949 to 1953 (3x vs. the crosstown rival Brooklyn Dodgers, once vs. his old team the Giants, and once vs. the Philadelphia Phillies). Though he was primarily a reserve player and had limited appearances, Mize was by far most productive in the 1952 five-game victory vs. Brooklyn: .400 batting average (6 hits in 15 at-bats) with 3 home runs and 6 runs batted in.
Playoff Statistics
| Hank Greenberg | Player | Johnny Mize |
| 23 | Games Played | 18 |
| 85 | At-Bats | 42 |
| 27 | Hits | 12 |
| 17 | Runs | 5 |
| 5 | Home Runs | 3 |
| 22 | Runs Batted In | 9 |
| 13 | Walks | 5 |
| 1 | Stolen Bases | – |
| .318 | Batting Average | .286 |
| .420 | On-Base Percentage | .362 |
| .624 | Slugging Percentage | .548 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; as mentioned, both Greenberg and Mize missed significant playing time during their primes to serve their country during wartime. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Hank Greenberg | Player | Johnny Mize |
| 1933-1935, 1937-1940, 1945-1947 | Decade of Dominance | 1936-1942, 1946-1948 |
| 1,362 | Games Played | 1,403 |
| 5,079 | At-Bats | 5,185 |
| 1,594 | Hits | 1,679 |
| 1,024 | Runs | 960 |
| 328 | Home Runs | 297 |
| 1,247 | Runs Batted In | 1,096 |
| 827 | Walks | 714 |
| 56 | Stolen Bases | 26 |
| .314 | Batting Average | .324 |
| .412 | On-Base Percentage | .409 |
| .607 | Slugging Percentage | .588 |
| 55.1 | Wins Above Replacement | 65.5 |
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Even with only nine-and-a-half full MLB seasons, Greenberg’s counting and ratio statistics over his decade of dominance are generally superior to Mize’s numbers, with the exception of hits/batting average. Interestingly, though, even with this seeming advantage for the Tigers great, Mize’s 10-year WAR is actually around 10 points higher, i.e. around 1 additional WAR per year.
My Thoughts
When you think about the greatest first basemen ever, Hank Greenberg and Johnny Mize are probably not the first names that come to mind (Gehrig, Foxx, Albert Pujols, etc.). Nevertheless, I consider both of them top-10 all-time at the position; while Mize is an underrated star in his own right and certainly worthy of his Hall of Fame stature, I believe that Greenberg was the more dominant player, especially at their respective zeniths. With 162-game averages of around 38 home runs and 148 runs batted in per season, even if you discount those numbers slightly over the four seasons he missed in his prime from 1941 to 1945 (remember that in his first full season back in 1946, he had 44 home runs and 127 runs batted in), an additional 140+ home runs and 550+ runs batted in would have given Greenberg career totals of around 500 home runs and over 1,800 runs batted in; combined with his career slash line as it stands (.313 batting average/.412 on-base percentage/.605 slugging percentage), Greenberg’s hypothetical “what-if” career would be comparable to someone like Foxx (whom I consider the second-best first baseman ever, behind Gehrig and ahead of Pujols).
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Hank Greenberg
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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