John Joseph Mizerock (/ˈmɪzərɒk/; born December 8, 1960 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania) is a former Major League Baseball backup catcher for the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves. He was the eighth overall pick in the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft. He later served as a coach for the Kansas City Royals and Philadelphia Phillies. He is currently the hitting coach for the Clearwater Threshers.\n', '

The Houston Astros drafted eighteen-year-old Mizerock straight out of Punxsutawney High School in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He was the second of five catchers selected in the first round of the June 1979 draft. After four seasons in their farm system, in which he batted .228 with eighteen home runs (twelve of which were hit in 1982) and 143 runs batted in, Mizerock made the Astros out of Spring training 1983 as Alan Ashby\'s back-up. He allowed three passed balls in a game against the Cincinnati Reds on April 19 to not only lose the back-up catcher job, but to also get himself sent back down to the minors. In fairness to Mizerock, knuckleballer Joe Niekro was pitching.\n', '

After Ashby was lost for a month of the season with a viral infection in his ear, Mizerock was called back up. However, he only appeared in four games during that span, and was optioned back down to the triple A Tucson Toros upon Ashby\'s return. He was brought back up for a third time in mid-August, and remained on the major league roster through the end of the season. He had a second game with Niekro on the mound on August 31 in which he had two passed balls. In all, Mizerock had eleven passed balls for the season; eight of which occurred with Niekro pitching.\n', '

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