Mantle, Mickey C.
Baseball
b. Oct. 20, 1931, Spavinaw, OK
d. Aug. 13, 1995
Elvin "Mutt" Mantle worked in lead and zinc mines, played semi-pro baseball, and wanted his son to be a major-league player. Named after Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane, the young Mantle had a complete uniform when he was three and learned to switch-hit at five.
He played football as well as baseball in high school. A halfback, he suffered an injury to his left shin that resulted in osteomyelitis, a condition that weakens bones and muscles and can cause lifelong pain.
After graduating from high school in 1949, Mantle began playing minor-league ball as a shortstop in the New York Yankees' farm system. When he joined the Yankees in 1951, he was announced as the heir apparent to centerfielder Joe DiMaggio, but was placed in rightfield, because DiMaggio was still playing. After a slow start, he was sent back to the minors for a while, but he returned to the Yankees in August.
Mantle tore knee cartilage in the World Series that year and had to undergo surgery. The knee, and the osteomyelitis from his high school football injury, bothered him throughout his career. By the time he was thirty, both legs had to be heavily taped before every game.
Mantle led the AL with 129 runs in 1954, and he was the leader in slugging with a .611 percentage, triples with 11, home runs with 37, and walks with 113 in 1955. He had an even better year in 1956, winning the triple crown with a .353 average, 52 home runs, and 132 RBI, and also leading the league with 132 runs and a .705 slugging percentage.
He won the league's most valuable player award that year and again in 1957, when he hit .365 with 34 home runs, 121 runs scored, and 94 RBI. He was the home run leader for a third time with 42 in 1958, and he also led in runs with 127 and walks with 129.
Mantle's average slid to .285 in 1959 and .275 in 1960, but he won the home run title with 40 and again led the league with 119 runs scored. In 1961, he and teammate Roger Maris, the "M and M Boys," had a season-long race for the home run championship and, as the season neared its end, they both had a chance to break Babe Ruth's legendary record of 60 in a season. Mantle ended with 54 home runs, a career high, but Maris broke Ruth's record with 61. Mantle led the league with a .687 slugging percentage, 132 runs scored, and 126 walks that season.
His last outstanding year was 1962, when he won his third most valuable player award. Mantle hit .321 with 30 home runs and 89 RBI, leading the league with 12 walks and a .605 slugging percentage.
A broken foot limited him to 65 games in 1963. After a .303 average in 1964, Mantle never again hit over .300. He retired after batting only .237 in 1968. When retirement ceremonies were held for him at Yankee Stadium early in the 1969 season, a sellout crowd gave him a ten-minute standing ovation.
Those fans hadn't always appreciated Mantle, in part because they didn't realize how much he was bothered by his physical problems, even in his early years. People in the clubhouse knew, however. Manager Casey Stengel called him "the best one-legged player I ever saw," and teammate Joe Pepitone once said, "Sometimes you feel tired and low. Then you think about Mickey and what he must be going through with the pain and you say to yourself, 'If he can do it the way he feels and the way he must be hurting, then I can do it, too.'"
Mantle hit .298 in 2,401 games, with 2,415 hits, including 344 doubles, 72 triples, and 536 home runs. He had 1,509 RBI and 1,677 runs scored. In his 18 seasons with the Yankees, they won 12 pennants. Mantle is the all-time World Series leader with 18 home runs, 42 runs, 40 RBI, and 123 total bases.