John Peter Joseph Sturm (January 23, 1916 – October 8, 2004) was an American

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 ...

player. He played with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

during the 1941 season as their starting

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Biography

Sturm was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, in 1916. He attended Roosevelt High School in St. Louis and also played semi-pro baseball."Johnny Sturm's Obit"
. ''thedeadballera.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-03. Sturm started his professional career in 1936 in the New York Yankees organization. In 1939 and 1940, he played for the American Association's Kansas City Blues alongside the

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

combination of

Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto ( ; September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "the Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to ...

and Jerry Priddy. The Blues won two league championships, and Sturm hit over .300 in both seasons. He joined the Yankees in 1941, replacing Babe Dahlgren at first base. Sturm sat on the bench early in the season but broke into the lineup after the other

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

s – including

Hall of Famers A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Rizzuto and

Joe Gordon Joseph Lowell Gordon (February 18, 1915 – April 14, 1978), nicknamed "Flash", in reference to the comic-book character '' Flash Gordon'', was an American second baseman, coach and manager in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Y ...

– got off to slow starts.Goldman, Steven
"You Could Look It Up: First-Base Horrors"
''baseballprospectus.com''. January 8, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-03. Sturm hit just .239 for the Yankees but still batted first in the lineup the rest of the way. He later claimed to have a back injury that year. He did, however, hit .286 in the

1941 World Series The 1941 World Series, the last before the entry of the United States into the Second World War, matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games to capture their fifth title in six years, and the ...

; the Yankees defeated the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

in five games. After the season, Sturm enlisted in the United States Army and served in World War II. He was out of professional baseball from 1942 to 1945 and lost the tip of his right index finger in a tractor accident. In 1946, Sturm tried to come back to the major leagues but broke his wrist. He played and managed in the minors for the rest of the decade, hitting .360 for the Joplin Miners in 1948."Johnny Sturm Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-11-03. The Yankees also assigned him to

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

in the

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

region.Barra, p. 96 In this capacity, Sturm became the man who first recommended

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

to the Yankees.Litsky, Frank
"Johnny Sturm, 88, Ex-Yankee Who Managed Mantle in Minors"
''The New York Times''. October 14, 2004. Retrieved 2010-11-03. He invited Mantle to try out for Joplin in 1949, and sportswriter

Allen Barra Allen Barra is an American journalist and author of sports books. He is a contributing editor of '' American Heritage'' magazine, and regularly writes about sports for ''The Wall Street Journal'' and ''The Atlantic''. He has also written for ' ...

writes, "It's likely he was the one who spurred

Lee MacPhail Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr. (October 25, 1917 – November 8, 2012) was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball. MacPhail was a baseball executive for 45 years, serving as the director of player personnel for the New York Y ...

into moving aggressively to sign Mantle." Sturm retired as 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 ...

in 1949. In later years, he was a scout for the

Houston Colt .45s The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in Tex ...

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

, and

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. He was elected into the Greater St. Louis Hall of Fame. Sturm was married and had three children. He died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF typically pr ...

in 2004.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, Johnny 1916 births 2004 deaths Augusta Tigers players 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Missouri Binghamton Triplets players Boston Red Sox scouts Cincinnati Reds scouts Houston Astros scouts Joplin Miners players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball first basemen New York Yankees players Minor league baseball managers Seattle Rainiers players Ventura Yankees players United States Army personnel of World War II