Mizell George "Whitey" Platt (August 21, 1920 – July 27, 1970) was a right-handed

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

outfielder who played from 1942 to 1943 for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, in 1946 for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

and from 1948 to 1949 for the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

. He also played on the first official

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at the

1938 Amateur World Series The 1938 Amateur World Series was the inaugural Amateur World Series, the first edition of the tournament that would eventually become the Baseball World Cup. Originally known as the John Moores Cup, it was contested by the United States and Gre ...

Career

Prior to playing professionally, Platt attended

Palm Beach High School Palm Beach Lakes Community High School, also known as Lakes or PBL, is a coeducational public high school located in the Palm Beach Lakes community of West Palm Beach, Florida. It is under the jurisdiction of the School District of Palm Beach ...

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

. In 1938, he joined the United States team under international baseball proponent

Leslie Mann Leslie Mann (born March 26, 1972) is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including '' The Cable Guy'' (1996), '' She's the One'' (1996), ''George of the Jungle'' (1997), '' Big Daddy'' (1999), '' Orange County'' (2002), '' ...

to compete in the inaugural

Amateur World Series The Baseball World Cup (BWC) was an international baseball tournament for national teams around the world, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). First held in 1938 as the Amateur World Series (AWS), it was, for most of its ...

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. He made his major league debut with the

on September 16, 1942. He played in four games that season, collecting one hit in 16 at-bats for a .063 batting average. In 1943, he hit .171 in 41 at-bats, with three of his seven hits being doubles. He missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons while serving with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in the Pacific Theatre of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox from the Cubs on April 20, 1946, Platt played in 84 games that year, hitting .251 with three home runs and 32 RBI in 247 at-bats. He next played in the major leagues in 1948, hitting .271 with seven home runs and 81 RBI in 123 games with the St. Louis Browns. In 1949, his final season, he hit .258 with three home runs and 29 RBI in 102 games. He played his final game on October 2, 1949. He also played 11 seasons in the minor leagues, hitting .299 with 1,378 hits, 274 doubles, 44 triples and 95 home runs. Perhaps his best season was in 1942, when he hit .349 with 40 doubles, six triples and nine home runs.BR Minors
/ref> When the Browns faced black pitcher

Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...

of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

in 1948, Platt told

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Zack Taylor Zachary "Zack" Taylor is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe, appearing in the television series ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers''. He is the first on-screen Black Ranger of Power Rangers. He would be succeeded as the Black Ranger ...

that he would not play against him. Taylor insisted that he play anyway. When it was Platt's turn to hit, he threw his bat at the pitcher, though Paige avoided getting whacked by it. In 1953, he managed the

West Palm Beach Indians The West Palm Beach Indians were a minor league baseball team based in West Palm Beach, Florida. The team played its home games at Connie Mack Field. History Through its existence, the Indians were mostly an independent team playing in the Flori ...

for the beginning of the season, being replaced eventually by

Bubba Harris Burlin Lucas Harris III (born August 7, 1985, from Palmdale, California U.S.) is an American professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1999 to 2007; serious injuries in 2007 and 2008 affected his racing c ...

. Following his death, he was interred at Hillcrest Memorial Park in West Palm Beach, Florida.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Platt, Whitey 1920 births 1970 deaths St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Chicago White Sox players Chicago Cubs players Minor league baseball managers Cornwall Maple Leafs players Nashville Vols players United States Navy personnel of World War II Baseball players from West Palm Beach, Florida