Johnny Sturm

John Peter Joseph Sturm

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
• High School Roosevelt High School (St. Louis)
• Debut April 14, 1941
• Final Game September 28, 1941
• Born January 23, 1916 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died October 8, 2004 in St. Louis, MO USA

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Biographical Information

First baseman Johnny Sturm made his big league debut with the New York Yankees in 1941 and hit .239 as the club's regular first baseman. In that year's World Series, he got a hit in each of the five games played. After that season, he enlisted in the Army and served in World War II. During his time in the military he lost the tip of his right index finger in a tractor accident. Sturm tried to make a comeback with the Yankees in 1946, but a broken wrist ended the attempt before he played in a game.

After his playing days ended, he was a minor league manager who was largely responsible for discovering Mickey Mantle when he gave the young player a tryout. He also spent time as a big league scout. Sturm died of heart failure at age 88.

An interesting comparison to Johnny Sturm is Art Mahan, who also played just one year in the majors, and was a regular in that year. Mahan's year was in 1940, one year earlier than Sturm's year. The similarity scores method shows Mahan as the most similar near-contemporary player to Sturm.

A SABR article indicates that Sturm is the last of six major league players to have a single season in the majors with at least 500 at-bats.

Notable Achievement

• Won a World Series with the New York Yankees in 1941

Related Sites

• Johnny Sturm at the SABR Bio Project
• Article on New York Yankees' first basemen of the 1940s in The Hardball Times.[1]