In today's RRA, let's look back at John Mizerock. Mizerock was the Astros 1st round pick in 1979 and caught in the Houston system from 1979 through 1986, including stints in the big leagues in 1983, 1985, and 1986.
Coming up through the minors, John showed a decent walk rate and low strikeout rate at the plate, but not much else. Caught stealing rates for catchers are not available for Mizerock's time in the minors. At the major league level, Mizerock's consistent talent was his ability to take a walk. His slash line in 248 plate appearances for Houston was .181/.316/.268. Combine that with his below average 29% caught stealing rate and it's easy to see why he didn't get much playing time.
That's not to say that John wasn't capable of having a good game. On September 13, 1985 while catching Mike Scott, Mizerock went 1x2 with a walk and an RBI double that gave Houston the 3-2 lead that would end up being the final score in that game against the Padres. He also caught Jerry Royster stealing second in the first inning that day.
The Astros released John Mizerock following the 1986 season. After spending a few months on the Expos roster he ended up in the Braves organization where he would play out the remainder of his career until his retirement following the 1990 season.
After his playing days John spent several seasons managing in the Royals system, including an eight game stint as interim manager for Kansas City in 2002 in which the team went 3-5. He is currently the hitting coach for the Phillies High-A affiliate in Clearwater.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
