Mickey Mantle, A Remembrance

[sport historian]

When I was a child, Mickey Mantle was the No. 1 American pro athlete. He gained this status with his Triple Crown season of 1956. His numbers were: Avg .353, HR 52, RBI 130. No other player of his time ever hit over .350 with over 50 HR in a season.


Mantle hit the ball farther from either side of the plate than anyone else, and was the fastest man in baseball to first base. Before Mantle, switch hitters had hit singles.


However, about 1959-60, I remember Mantle being booed (in games I saw on TV) at Yankee Stadium with more venom than nearly any other player I can recall. It was fashionable in New York to boo Mickey Mantle in the 1950's, though it is forgotten now. During the Korean War, he was resented for being 4-F. In the late 50's, it may have been a preview of some of the fan attitudes people on this Forum have mentioned. This ended when Mantle and Maris had their home run race. From 1961, Mantle was cheered everywhere.


I remember Mantle's big World Series against the Pirates in 1960. In the second game he hit a rising shot over the 436-foot mark in Forbes Field's center field wall. He made a skillful move on the bases to keep the Yankees alive in the 9th inning of the seventh game. Mantle hit 3 HR's in his last WS in 1964. One was a game winner. Another was an opposite field blow off Bob Gibson in game 7. These are still in vivid memory. Also, the Yankees had tough pennant races many times. Mantle LED them to pennants.


Of course, he drank too much and should have worked harder in the off season. Still, Mickey Mantle had something about him. I remember reading that many (I forget how many) of his teammates named sons after him. That would tell you something, as they knew Mantle better than the fans did.

 

[Bart]

Sports Historian, do you know if the Mantle homer was the longest hit at that area of the field? I'm aware Mantle hit at least a couple tape measure blasts at that park. A friend who was a Pittsburgh native saw the world series and thought Mantle might have hit one clear out of stadium but he was not sure. He was sure however, that Bill Mazeroski was one of the games least heralded all time greats.


I was once thumbing through a book in the sports section of aBarnes and Nobleand came across an interesting story about Mantle.Apparently Billy Martin would arrange races for Mickey. Billy would bet on Miantle but one day someone threw a ringer into the mix. Mantle's opponent was a member of the olympic sprinting team, Mantle still won the race . Did you ever hear that one or who wrote the story? I can't recall the name of the writer, itcould have been Martin, Ford ,Yogior another bal player.

 

[sport historian]

The following information is from the book, Explosion!: Mickey Mantles Legendary Home Runs (1987) by Mark Gallagher. A Chicago Tribune reporter established that the ball landed 478 feet from home plate. It was the first to clear the centerfield wall at the 436 foot mark in Forbes Field by a right-handed hitter. It had been done by Musial, Snider, and Dale Long, left-handers (this was to the right of straight away CF). Pirate manager Danny Murtaugh said it was the "most convincing."


This home run in the 1960 World Series is considered the longest ever at that part of the field. I have seen the highlight film of that Series. When Mantle hit the ball, it went over Piratecenterfielder Bill Virdon's head by the time Virdon turned around. I never have read the story of Mantle racing the olympic sprinter.

 

[Don Wassall]

The 436 foot mark was, believe it or not, only left-center field in Forbes Field. Dead center was an amazing 457 feet. That's tape measure distance.


The 1960 World Serieswasarguablythe best ever. The Yankees crushed the Pirates in the three games they won and dominatedvirtually everystatistical category, but Pittsburgh won in seven, with the last game a 10-9 shootout won in the bottom of the 9th, which would be like a 16-15 game today.


Mickey Mantle was the last All-American white sports star superhero. Joe Namath was a white mega-star, but by the late '60s he was America's first anti-hero athlete, symbolizing the onset of the upside-down values of the forces of the permanent Cultural Revolution which were then solidifying power.


Since Namath, white athletes have not even been allowed to be charismatic. That label is given only to someone who is black.


As J. B. Cash has written, Mickey Mantle has absolutely nothing to apologize for. He played honorably and to the best of his ability. He was a tremendous all-around baseball player, the personification of the combination of power and speed that is so detested by the white elites. He was a genuine American sports star and role model.

 

[Gary]

I remember Mantle very well.I grew up in Akron,Ohio near the Cleveland area.When the Yankees came for a game,all the kids in the nieghborhood had Mantle as there hero.The people in the stands stopped talking and watched every pitch when Mickey was at bat.Mantle was my hero-My dad's hero as a boy was Lou Gehrig.Mickey was GREAT!!

 

[sport historian]

A few years ago, I had an acquaintance who was once Red Sox star Tony Conigliaro's agent. Sometime in the mid-60's, Tony C was in a bad slump and the Boston fans were riding him very hard. The Yankees were in town and Ed (Tony C's agent) decided to call Mantle at his hotel and ask him for advice to give Tony C.


"Tell him to keep his mouth shut," Mickey Mantle told Ed, "The only way to get the fans back on his side is to start hitting again." Mantle was saying that popping off wouldn't do Tony any good. Performance was what counted. "Mantle was a smart man," Ed told me in describing this incident.

 

[whiteCB]

My 5th grade teacher's favorite athlete of all time was Mantle and this is coming from a hardcore Cleveland Indians fan. Jim Edmonds seems like a modern day Micky Mantle speed, power, and both play CF. Yet, Edmonds deosn't receive half the publicity he should.

 

[okra63]

Jim Edmonds is good and probably is the Mickey Mantle of our era.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I've heard of Edmonds. Mantle was the baby-boomers Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig. Many people who put him down after his death should've had a fastball of dirt thrown into their mouths. I think most were jealous of him and his status as a sports legend.

 

[sport historian]

The 436 foot mark was, believe it or not, only left-center field in Forbes Field. Dead center was an amazing 457 feet. That's tape measure distance.


The 1960 World Serieswasarguablythe best ever. The Yankees crushed the Pirates in the three games they won and dominatedvirtually everystatistical category, but Pittsburgh won in seven, with the last game a 10-9 shootout won in the bottom of the 9th, which would be like a 16-15 game today.


Mickey Mantle was the last All-American white sports star superhero. Joe Namath was a white mega-star, but by the late '60s he was America's first anti-hero athlete, symbolizing the onset of the upside-down values of the forces of the permanent Cultural Revolution which were then solidifying power.


Since Namath, white athletes have not even been allowed to be charismatic. That label is given only to someone who is black.


As J. B. Cash has written, Mickey Mantle has absolutely nothing to apologize for. He played honorably and to the best of his ability. He was a tremendous all-around baseball player, the personification of the combination of power and speed that is so detested by the white elites. He was a genuine American sports star and role model.

This thread is 10 years old, but Bryce Harper's hitting has reminded me of Mickey Mantle. As Don wrote above, Mantle was "the last All-American white sports star superhero." Tom Brady (even before the "deflate" affair) and Peyton Manning were roundly disliked by many if not most "fans."

Neither Brady or Manning were ever as big a star as Mickey Mantle at his peak. And this is despite football passing baseball in popularity and both playing the game's top position with unprecedented skill.

How would sports fans and the media react in 2015 to a white baseball player who hit .352 with 52 home runs, 130 RBI, switch-hit longer home runs than anybody else, and was the fastest man in baseball?

Another thing you pick up in biographies of Mantle and Roger Maris. They didn't think they were special because they played baseball and hit home runs. Mantle would say " ****** I'm just a ball player." Maris was the same.

With black athletes it's somewhat different. They have a sometimes insufferable self-importance.