Mickelson was born in Ottawa, Illinois, and attended Washington University in St. Louis and Oklahoma State University. He signed with he Cardinals in 1947 and was given his first big-league audition at the end of the 1950 minor league season, during which he batted a composite .413 in two Class B leagues. He collected only one hit and two bases on balls in 12 plate appearances over five games, however, and returned to the minor leagues for almost three full seasons.\n', '

Acquired by the Browns\' organization, he was called up in September 1953 after a season spent in the Double-A Texas League. The Browns were at the end of their 52-year stay in St. Louis; owner Bill Veeck was about to sell the team to an ownership group from Baltimore and the team would be reborn as the Orioles the next season. In the third inning of the Browns\' final game on Sunday, September 27, at Busch Stadium, facing the Chicago White Sox, Johnny Groth doubled off Billy Pierce with two out. Mickelson then drove home Groth with an opposite-field single to give the Browns a 1–0 lead. But Chicago came back to tie the game in the eighth, sent the contest to extra innings, and won it 2–1 with a run in the top of the 11th. The RBI single was Mickelson\'s last big-league hit; he went hitless for the rest of that game, and then was 0-for-12 in his last Major League stint with the 1957 Cubs.\n', '

Mickelson never appeared for the Orioles. His early-season 1957 stay with the Cubs punctuated four more minor league seasons at the Double-A and Open Classification levels. Although he collected only three hits, including a double, in 37 MLB at bats (with four bases on balls), he batted .316 with 1,374 hits during his minor-league career.\n', '

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