#268 Dale Mitchell - Cleveland Indians

Loren Dale Mitchell
Cleveland Indians
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  195
Born:  August 23, 1921, Colony, OK
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1946-1956; Brooklyn Dodgers 1956

Died:  January 5, 1987, Tulsa, OK (age 65)

After a stellar collegiate career at the University of Oklahoma, where he accumulated a career batting average of .467, Dale Mitchell signed with the Indians in early 1946 and made his big league debut a few months later.  Mitchell settled in as the club's regular left fielder between 1947 and 1953, earning his way onto two All-Star teams and receiving MVP votes in four different seasons.  Mitchell was a member of the World Champion Indians team in 1948, as Cleveland defeated the Boston Braves in six games.  He led the American League in hits (203) and triples (23) in 1949, and put together his strongest seasons in 1952 and 1953.  In 1952, Mitchell batted .323 with 58 RBIs, and he hit a career-high 13 home runs in 1953.  A back-up in 1954, Mitchell appeared in only 53 games, and he made three pinch-hitting appearances in the 1954 World Series in which the Indians were swept by the Giants.  He saw his last major league action with the Dodgers in 1956, appearing with the club in that year's World Series against the Yankees.

August 19, 2023 - Mitchell on the scoreboard during his induction
into the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame

Mitchell finished his career with 1,244 hits and a .312 average, with only Stan Musial and Ted Williams (#5) having a higher average between 1943 and 1960.  He rarely struck out, and his at-bat/strikeout ratio of 33.5 is currently 14th all-time.  A fine fielder as well, his .986 fielding percentage in left field is currently 45th all-time.  Mitchell was posthumously inducted into the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame in 2023, and the baseball park at the University of Oklahoma is named in his honor.

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #36
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Walt Dropo (#238) post, back in February.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and 16 from series three.   This is the second of ten cards to come from the final series four.

The Card / Indians Team Set
This won't mean anything to anyone other than my immediate family who happens to read this, but I always felt Mitchell looked like my late Uncle Dick on this card.  Mitchell returns to the Topps set here after a two-year absence as he had appeared exclusively with Bowman in 1954 and 1955.  This is also his final Topps flagship set appearance.  The fielder in the action shot looks like a Yankees player, so it could be Gil McDougald (#225), Phil Rizzuto (#113) or Billy Hunter, among others.

The first cartoon panel on the back is pretty cool, with Williams and Bill Skowron (#61) making cameo appearances.  Skowron's inclusion is questionable, as he only had two seasons under his belt, but he did have a .328 average following the 1955 season.  Williams was batting .348 for his career through 1955, and Mitchell was at .314.  The final cartoon panel is interesting too, as I've never heard of fielding percentage referred to as "infielding."  Mitchell led the league in 1948 and 1949 with marks of .991 and .994.

1956 Season

Mitchell began the season with the Indians, where he was used exclusively as a pinch-hitter, save for one appearance in left field.  In 38 games with Cleveland, he batted .133 (4 for 30) and was sold to the Dodgers on July 29th.  With his new club, again almost entirely as a pinch-hitter, Mitchell appeared in 19 games and batted a more respectable .292 (7 for 24).  He was included on the Dodgers' World Series roster, and made four pinch-hitting appearances against the Yankees, going 0 for 4.  Mitchell pinch-hit for pitcher Sal Maglie in the top of the ninth of Game 6 against Don Larsen (#332), and he struck out looking to clinch Larsen's perfect game.

1949 Bowman #43

1951 Bowman #5

1952 Topps #92

1953 Topps #26

1955 Bowman #314

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #43
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1951-1953, 1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Topps Archives 1953 #26

54 - Mitchell non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/20/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #267 Bob Nieman - Chicago White Sox / #269 Jack Meyer - Philadelphia Phillies

Order Collected: #263 Bob Miller - Detroit Tigers / #273 Walker Cooper - St. Louis Cardinals