Position:
Center Field
Right Field
Left Field
First Base
Teams:
New York Yankees (1951-1968)
Career Statistics:
Batting Average: .298
Home Runs: 536
RBI: 1,509
Slugging Percentage: .557
On-Base Percentage: .421
Hits: 2,415
Mickey Charles Mantle was born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma on October 20, 1931. When he was four years old, his family moved to Commerce, Oklahoma, where Mantle later went on to be a star athlete at Commerce High School playing baseball, basketball, and football. It was while playing football that Mantle sustained an injury that nearly derailed his athletic career before it even had a chance to take off. During a game, Mick was kicked in the shin and his leg became infected with osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone. However, thanks to the newly available penicillin, his leg was saved from amputation. Unfortunatley, the disease's effects plagued him for the rest of his life, and likely contributed to many of the injuries that hampered his playing career. It also caused him to be exempt from military service, which alienated some fans, though Mantle claimed that he would have gladly served if he'd been allowed to do so.
Mantle initially played for a semi-pro team called the Baxter Spring, Kansas Whiz Kids. In 1948, a Yankees scout named Tom Greenwade traveled to Baxter Springs to check out Mantle's teammate, third baseman Billy Johnson. He saw Mantle switch-hit two home runs into the river running behind the ballpark. Greenwade stated that Mantle was the best prospect he had ever seen, but since Mantle was only sixteen, he had to wait until his high school graduation to sign him. He then signed a minor league contract with the Yankees's class-D affiliate in Independence, Kansas.
Mantle was called up to the majors on April 7, 1951 to play right field. But after a brief slump, he was sent back down to the Kansas City Blues, the Yankees's top farm team. He found that the power he had exhibited in the lower minors had temporarily abandoned him. Frustrated, he contacted his father and said that he didn't think he would be able to play anymore. His father drove all the way to Kansas City and began packing Mantle's bag for him, saying "I thought I raised a man. I see I raised a coward, instead. You can come back to Oklahoma and work the mines with me." Mantle quickly broke out of his slump, hitting .361 with 11 homers and 50 RBI. He was called back to New York permanently after forty games.
Mick played in his first World Series that year against Willie Mays and the San Francisco Giants. During the series, Mays hit a drive to deep right center. Mantle and Joe DiMaggio (in his final season) both converged on the ball. DiMaggio called for the catch at the last second, causing Mantle to stop short. His cleat caught a drainage cover hidden in the outfield grass. His knee twisted awkwardly and he fell to the ground. Some speculate that he may have torn his ACL, but there was no surgical repair technique available at the time, so it's possible he may have played the rest of his career suffering from the damage that had been done. Mantle was forced to watch the rest of the World Series (which the Yankees won 4-2) from a hospital bed.
Like Ken Griffey, Jr. much of Mantle's career was hampered by nagging questions of "what if?" Due to his propensity for injury, Mantle missed out on a lot of valuable playing time and was often forced to play in considerable pain.
Mantle moved to the center field position starting in 1952 after Joe DiMaggio's retirement. This is where he would remain for much of his career.
Mick was also known for some of the monster home runs that he hit during his career. On September 10, 1960, he crushed a ball that cleared the right field roof in Tigers Stadium. It was estimated that this ball may have traveled some 643 feet. Another ball, hit at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. was measure at 565 feet. On May 22, 1963, he hit a ball that struck the 110-foot tall facade in Yankee Stadium before bouncing back onto the field. Many fans and teammates claim that the ball was still rising when it hit. There has been much debate about the distances these shots traveled, as the ball was often measured where it lay as opposed to where it originally hit, meaning that the ball often bounced considerable distances after landing. However, there is no doubt that many of these homers exceeded 500 feet.
In 1956, Mickey Mantle won the Triple Crown, leading the majors with a .353 batting average, 52 homers, and 130 RBI. In 1957, Mantle led the league in runs and walks, while batting a career-high .365, second only to Ted Williams's .388. Mantle also reached base more times than he recorded outs (319 to 312), which he managed to do twice in his career.
During the historic 1961 season, Mantle and teammate Roger Maris engaged in a (friendly) battle to topple Babe Ruth's 34 year record for most home runs in a season (Ruth hit 60). Mantle had challenged the record in 1956, but the press and fans in New York were not too eager to see their precious Babe's record broken by a hick from Oklahoma. He finished the '56 season with 52 homers. However, in the '61 season, New York embraced Mantle and shunned the sometimes-surly Maris. Mantle was forced to drop out of the race late in the season because of an abcessed hip, which allowed Maris to break the record with 61 homers.
Mantle was hampered by injuries in the 1965 season, hitting only .255 with 19 homers. After the 1966 season, he was moved to first base for the remainder of his career. His last home run came on September 20, 1968.
Mantle retired in his 1969 and was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1974, his first years of eligibility. He served part-time as a color commentator for NBC and then worked at Claridge Resort and Casino in Atlantic City as a greeter and community representative.
Mick battled with alcoholism for much of his life, rationalizing it by saying that all of the men in his family had died young, so he might as well live it up while he was still here. His father died in 1952 at the age of 39 of Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a disease which his grandfather also succumbed to. Unbeknownst to Mantle, their diseases were most likely caused by inhaling lead and zinc while working in the mines in Oklahoma. In 1994, Mantle checked into the Betty Ford Clinic, where the doctors informed him that his liver was so badly damaged, that he could die at any time. It was also discovered that he was suffering from inoperable liver cancer. On June 8, 1995, Mantle received a liver transplant at Baylor University Medical Center. During a press conference after the surgery, Mantle acknowledged that many fans looked at him as a role model. He stated, "This is a role model: Don't be like me." He was soon back in the hospital, as it was discovered that the cancer had spread throughout his body.
On August 13, 1995, Mantle passed away at Baylor University Medical Center.
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