Mickey Livingston

Thompson Orville Livingston

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1½", Weight 185 lb.

• Debut September 17, 1938
• Final Game September 20, 1951
• Born November 15, 1914 in Newberry, SC USA
• Died April 3, 1983 in Houston, TX USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Mickey Livingston was a journeyman backup catcher 18 years (1937-1956), ten in the Majors (1938, 1941-1943, 1945-1949 and 1951) and ten in the minors (1937-1940; and 1951-1956), losing one year to the military and one year to inactivity. Livingston was born on November 15, 1914, in Newberry, SC. He married Margaret E. Darby on January 25, 1935.

Signed by scout Joe Cambria of the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent in 1937, he played for the Sanford Lookouts in the Florida State League; the Charlotte Hornets in the Piedmont League; and the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association (1937); and the Trenton Senators in the Eastern League (EL) (1938) when, at 23 years of age, he broke into the big leagues on September 17, 1938 with the Senators. Returned to the minors after spring training in 1939, he played for the Springfield Nationals in the EL (1939-1940); the Philadelphia Phillies (1941-1943); and the Chicago Cubs(1943) when he was drafted into the U.S. Army on March 25, 1944 at Fort Bragg, NC. He was discharged in November 1944 (EOC/CR/BR), and returned to the Cubs.

He played for the Cubs (1945-1947); the New York Giants (1947-1949); the Boston Braves (1949); and the Brooklyn Dodgers (1951) It was there that he played his final major league game on September 20, 1951 at age 36. He returned to the minors with the St. Paul Saints in the American Association (1951); the Fort Worth Cats in the Texas League (TL) (1951); the Shreveport Sports in the TL (1952-1953); the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in the Western League (1954); the Beaumont Exporters in the TL (1954-1955); the Texas City Texans in the Big State League (1956) and the Boise Braves in the Pioneer League (1956), ending his baseball career at age 41.

A career backup, Livingston caught more than 100 games in only 1943, split between the Phillies and Cubs. That year, he played in 120 games and hit a combined 7 home runs, drove in 34 runs and hit .253. Then, after military service, he was a surprise hero in the Cubs' World Series loss to the Detroit Tigers in 1945, with three doubles and four RBI.

In his career, Livingston hit 19 home runs and drove in 153 runs in 561 games. He also stole 7 bases. As his career was winding down, he managed minor league baseball in the Texas League. His hobbies were hunting and fishing. He died on April 3, 1983 at age 68 in a Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston, TX, having been ill a long time. He is buried at Newberry Memorial Gardens in Newberry, SC. Surviving him were his widow Margaret Darby Livingston, two daughters and a son.

Sources

Principal sources for Mickey Livingston include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs {{{WW}}} (WW), old Baseball Registers {{{BR}}} (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN {{{DAG}}} (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) {{{MORE}}} and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Chronology

• Before 1937 Season: Signed by Joe Cambria of the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent.
• 1938: Broke into the big leagues on September 17th with the Senators
• Before 1940 Season: Returned to the Springfield Nationals of the Eastern League by the Senators after expiration of a minor league working agreement.
• 1940: On October 1st he was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers from Springfield in the 1940 Rule V Draft. On November 11th, he was traded by the Dodgers with Bill Crouch, Vito Tamulis, and $100,000 to the Philadelphia Phillies for Kirby Higbe.
• 1943: On August 5th, he was traded by the Philadelphia Blue Jays to the Chicago Cubs for Bill Lee.
• 1944 Drafted into the U.S. Army on March 25th at Fort Bragg, NC. Discharged in November.
• 1945 Surprise hero in the Cubs' World Series loss to the Detroit Tigers with eight hits, three runs, three doubles and four RBI at .364
• 1947: Selected off waivers by the New York Giants from the Cubs on July 7th.
• 1949: Selected off waivers by the Boston Braves from the Giants on June 14th.
• 1949: Assigned to the Brooklyn Dodgers by the Braves on October 5th.
• 1951: On September 19th in St. Louis, Preacher Roe is given a Cadillac by his neighbors from the Ozarks and then pitches a 3–0 five-hitter over the St. Louis Cardinals. Roe is now 21–2. Filling in for the ailing Roy Campanella, backup catcher Livingston has two RBI.
• 1951 Played his final major league game on September 20th at age 36. Released by the Dodgers on December 15th.
• 1956: Ended his baseball career at age 41.

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1952	Shreveport Sports	Texas League	84-77	3rd	none	League Champs
1953	Shreveport Sports	Texas League	79-75	5th	none
1954	Colorado Springs Sky Sox	Western League	20-27	--	Chicago White Sox	--	replaced by Bud Stewart (18-54) on June 7
	Beaumont Exporters	Texas League	41-42	7th	Chicago Cubs		replaced Les Fleming (36-42) on June 20
1955	Beaumont Exporters	Texas League	51-110	8th	Milwaukee Braves
1956	Boise Braves	Pioneer League		--	Milwaukee Braves	--	replaced by Robert King on June 25

Sources

Principal sources for Mickey Livingston include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs {{{WW}}} (WW), old Baseball Registers {{{BR}}} (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN {{{DAG}}} (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) {{{MORE}}} and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

• Mickey Livingston at the SABR Bio Project