William Francis "Bad Bill" Mizeur (June 22, 1897 – August 27, 1976) was a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

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 ...

. He played in two games 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 ...

"Bill Mizeur Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-07. and also had a 14-year minor league career."Bill Mizeur Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-07.

Career

Mizeur was born in

Nokomis, Illinois Nokomis is a city in Montgomery County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,142 at the 2020 census. Geography Nokomis is in eastern Montgomery County, along Illinois Route 16 (State Street), which leads southwest to Hillsboro and nort ...

. He started his professional baseball career in 1922, at the age of 25, and hit .333 in Class D. The following season, he broke out, batting .328 and leading the Class B

Michigan–Ontario League Michigan–Ontario League was the name of an American professional baseball league. It operated seven full seasons and part of an eighth from 1919 to 1926. In 1926, the Michigan–Ontario League merged with the Central League to form the Michig ...

with 174 hits. He made his major league debut on September 30, with the Browns, and went 0 for 1 at the plate. Mizeur continued his good hitting in 1924. He spent the year with the Terre Haute Tots of the

Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League The Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League was a Class B level Minor League Baseball organization that operated for the better part of 60 seasons, with teams based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymo ...

, batting .327, and hitting 11

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s. On September 13, he appeared in one more game for the Browns, again as a pinch hitter. That was the last major league experience of his career. Mizeur spent most of the next seven years in the IIIL. He stayed with Terre Haute in 1925 and 1926, batting over .320 in both campaigns, and then went to the

Peoria Tractors Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in Illinois. It is the princ ...

. He put up his best numbers in 1927, setting career-highs in six offensive categories: batting average (.354),

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

(.618), total bases (325), hits (186),

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

(19), and home runs (23). He eventually finished behind teammate Red Smith for the batting title, but Mizeur did lead the league in total bases, hits, triples, and homers. From 1928 to 1931, he played for the Springfield Senators and continued his torrid hitting. Mizeur consistently finished among the league leaders in various statistics throughout his career. In 1932, he moved to the

Mississippi Valley League The Mississippi Valley League (MVL) was a baseball Class D level minor league that operated from 1922 through 1933. Playing its last year as a Class B level league, the league franchises were based in Iowa and Illinois. Like many leagues at the ...

's Cedar Rapids Bunnies for one season. He hit .360 and won the batting title. Mizeur then went to Peoria in 1933 and then back to Cedar Rapids in 1934. In August 1934, he took over as manager for the Western League's

Cedar Rapids Raiders Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

for the last part of the season."Bill Mizeur Succeeds Hargrave as Pilot of Cedar Rapids"
''The Telegraph-Herald and Times-Journal'', August 22, 1934, p. 14. In 1935, he played for both Cedar Rapids and Rock Island and batted .236. At the age of 38, it was the first time that Mizeur had posted a below-.300 average over the course of a season. Mizeur retired after 1935. He died at the age of 79 in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, and was buried in Calvary Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mizeur, Bill 1897 births 1976 deaths Baseball players from Decatur, Illinois People from Nokomis, Illinois St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Bay City Wolves players Terre Haute Tots players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Peoria Tractors players Little Rock Travelers players Mobile Bears players Springfield Senators players Quincy Indians players Cedar Rapids Bunnies players Cedar Rapids Raiders players Rock Island Islanders players Minor league baseball managers Fulton Railroaders players Baseball players from Montgomery County, Illinois