Houston Astros
The Houston Astros drafted eighteen year old Mizerock straight out of Punxsutawney High School in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He was the second of five catchers selected in the first round of the June 1979 draft. After four seasons in their farm system, in which he batted .228 with eighteen home runs (twelve of which were hit in 1982) and 143 runs batted in, Mizerock made the Astros out of Spring training 1983 as Alan Ashby's back-up. He allowed three passed balls in a game against the Cincinnati Reds on April 19 to not only lose the back-up catcher job, but to also get himself sent back down to the minors. In fairness to Mizerock, knuckleballer Joe Niekro was pitching.
After Ashby was lost for a month of the season with a viral infection in his ear, Mizerock was called back up. However, he only appeared in four games during that span, and was optioned back down to the triple A Tucson Toros upon Ashby's return. He was brought back up for a third time in mid-August, and remained on the major league roster through the end of the season. He had a second game with Niekro on the mound on August 31 in which he had two passed balls. In all, Mizerock had eleven passed balls for the season; eight of which occurred with Niekro pitching.
After spending all of the 1984 season with the double A Columbus Astros, he returned to Houston late in the 1985 season to fill in for an injured Ashby. He was with the Astros on and off throughout their division winning 1986 season, and was on their post-season roster, but did not make an appearance in the 1986 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets. He was released after the season.
Read more about this topic: John Mizerock
Famous quotes containing the word houston:
“In Washington, the first thing people tell you is what their job is. In Los Angeles you learn their star sign. In Houston you’re told how rich they are. And in New York they tell you what their rent is.”
—Simon Hoggart (b. 1946)