John Anthony Mostil (June 1, 1896 – December 10, 1970) was an American professional baseball

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

. He played 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 ...

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 ...

(MLB) during the 1920s, and afterwards he worked as a minor league manager and a scout.

Major league career

Mostil was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, in 1896. He started his professional baseball career in 1918 with the Chicago White Sox of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

(AL). That season, he appeared in 10 games and had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .273."Johnny Mostil"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved July 22, 2024. Mostil then spent two seasons with the American Association's

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. He batted .268 in 1919 and .318 in 1920."Johnny Mostil Minor Leagues Statistics"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved July 22, 2024. Mostil returned to the White Sox in 1921 after several of the team's players were suspended from organized baseball in the

Black Sox Scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a match fixing, game-fixing scandal in Major League Baseball (MLB) in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for p ...

.Weeks, Jonathan (2013). ''Baseball's Most Notorious Personalities''. pp. 3–6. Mostil became the White Sox's regular center fielder. He batted .301 in 1921, .303 in 1922, .291 in 1923, and .325 in 1924. In 1925, Mostil batted .299 and led the AL with 716

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

s, 135

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

, 43

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s, and 90 walks. In 1926, he had his best season, batting .328 with a 133 OPS+ and leading the AL with 35 stolen bases; he finished second in the AL most valuable player voting. In March 1927, Mostil attempted

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by cutting himself multiple times with a pocketknife and a razor. He had been dealing with neuritis, dental problems, and other personal issues. Mostil recovered and appeared in 13 games that season, batting .125. Mostil played his last full MLB season in 1928, batting .270. In early 1929, he appeared in 12 games, batting .229, before his MLB career ended. During his MLB career, Mostil appeared in 972 games and had 1,054 hits, 23

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, 618 runs scored, 375

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

, 176 stolen bases, a .301 batting average, and a 113 OPS+. He was regarded as a great

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. In the 2001 book '' The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract'',

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His a ...

ranked Mostil as the 99th greatest center fielder of all-time.James, Bill (2001). ''The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract''. p. 779.

Later life

Mostil was a part-time player in the minor leagues from 1930 to 1932. From 1933 to 1937, he was a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for the Eau Claire Bears of the Northern League. Mostil continued to manage in the minors until 1948 and then was a scout for over a decade. He died in

Midlothian, Illinois Midlothian () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 14,325. History Like many southwest suburbs of Chicago in the 180 ...

, in 1970.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mostil, Johnny 1896 births 1970 deaths Major League Baseball center fielders Chicago White Sox players American League stolen base champions Chicago White Sox scouts Minor league baseball managers Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Toledo Mud Hens players Little Rock Travelers players Eau Claire Cardinals players Eau Claire Bears players Grand Forks Chiefs players Jonesboro White Sox players Waterloo Hawks (baseball) players Baseball players from Chicago 20th-century American sportsmen

Major league career

Later life

See also

External links

References