John Miles

John Miles Jr.
(Mule)

• Bats Right , Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 230 lb.
• School St. Philip's College
• High School Phillis Wheatley High School
• Debut 1946
• Final Game 1948
• Born August 11, 1922 in San Antonio, TX USA
• Died May 24, 2013 in San Antonio, TX USA

BR page

Biographical information

Yogi Berra, center-left, Lou Brissie, left with cane, second baseman Jerry Coleman (in black shirt and coat), center, and outfielder John "Mule" Miles, right

John "Mule" Miles was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen and a Negro American League baseball player. He played for the Chicago American Giants from 1946-1949. He hit .154 as a starting outfielder in 1946. Manager Candy Jim Taylor nicknamed him "Mule", though, because he hit the ball as hard "as a mule kicks." Miles moved to third base in 1947 and was a back-up in 1948. He hit .281/.306/.386 in 15 games for the 1952 Laredo Apaches in his only minor league stint.

The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues lists him as having attended "Sam Phillips Junior College", but no reference to such an institution can be found.

He tells a story of once batting against the great Satchel Paige, which ended after the second strike because, he as he told his manager, he couldn't see Satchel's blazing pitches.

Sources

• Some text copied from the public domain entry at http://www.defenseimagery.mil/imagery.html#a=search&s=baseball&guid=2104f51934ef3e5e75b6005ad2c18dfecd26d43b
• Miles' Wikipedia entry, quoting the The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues
• Obituary

Related Sites

• BR Minors page