What position did Mickey Mantle play?
Jan 29, 1994 · NEW YORK — Mickey Mantle, whose major league career was noted for home runs and late nights, has checked into the Betty Ford Center for treatment of alcohol abuse. Mantle, 62, a Hall of Famer since...
What did Mickey Mantle die of?
By Kevin Sherrington. 5:21 PM on Apr 8, 2017 CDT. On July 28, 1958, a moving van pulled up in front of a low-slung ranch home at the corner of Watson Circle and Jamestown in …
Why did Mickey Mantle go to the Betty Ford Clinic?
Apr 18, 1994 · In the last 10 years, thanks to the sports-memorabilia business, the expectations of being Mickey Mantle became overwhelming lots of times. When I used to do card shows, guys would come up to me all the time, tears in their eyes, and they'd say, "Mickey Mantle. I've been waiting all my life to meet you."
When did Mickey Mantle have a liver transplant?
Mickey Mantle had an amazing baseball career with multiple records and fantastic stats. While these facts are widely known, here are some not so popular ones you may not know about.
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Mar 20, 1994 · That first season with the Yankees, Mantle tore up a knee in the 1951 World Series. Mutt took Mickey to be examined at Lenox Hill Hospital. Getting out of …
What injuries did Mickey Mantle have?
Mantle's career was plagued with injuries. Beginning in high school, he suffered both acute and chronic injuries to bones and cartilage in his legs. Applying thick wraps to both of his knees became a pre-game ritual, and by the end of his career simply swinging a bat caused him to fall to one knee in pain. Baseball scholars often ponder "what if" had he not been injured, and had been able to lead a healthy career.
When did Mickey Mantle retire?
Retirement: 1969. Mantle announced his retirement at the age of 37 on March 1, 1969. He gave a "farewell" speech on "Mickey Mantle Day", June 8, 1969, in Yankee Stadium. Mantle's wife, mother, and mother-in-law were in attendance and received recognition at the ceremony held in honor of him.
What year did Mantle play in the World Series?
Joe DiMaggio retired from baseball following the 1951 World Series. The following year, Mantle moved to center field. He was selected an "All-Star" for the first time and made the AL team, but did not play in the 5-inning All-Star game that had Boston Red Sox Dom DiMaggio at center field. In his first complete World Series (1952), Mantle was the Yankees hitting star, with an on-base percentage above .400 and a slugging percentage above .600. He homered for the third Yankee run in a 3–2 Game 6 win and he knocked in the winning runs in the 4–2 Game 7 win, with a homer in the sixth inning and an RBI single in the seventh inning. Mantle played center field full-time for the Yankees until 1965, when he was moved to left field. He spent his final two seasons at first base. Among his many accomplishments are all-time World Series records for home runs (18), runs scored (42), and runs batted in (40).
How much did Mickey Mantle make in 1951?
Mickey Mantle's salary for the 1951 season was $7,500. "He's the greatest prospect I've seen in my time, and I go back quite a ways.
Who was Mickey Mantle?
Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed The Commerce Comet and The Mick, was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York Yankees as a center fielder, right fielder, and first baseman. Mantle was one of the best players and sluggers ...
How many home runs did Mickey Mantle have?
The next was arguably his first great year, as he concluded with 37 home runs and a .306 batting average. With 37 homers, he was now a home run hitter, not just an all-around player with tremendous power. Mantle had his breakout season in 1956 after showing progressive improvement each of his first five years.
Who hit the fly ball in 1951?
In the second game of the 1951 World Series, New York Giants rookie Willie Mays hit a fly ball to right-center field. Mantle, playing right field, raced for the ball together with center fielder Joe DiMaggio, who called for the ball (and made the catch).
Overview
Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed The Commerce Comet and The Mick, was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York Yankees as a center fielder, right fielder, and first baseman. Mantle was one of the best players and sluggers and is regarded by many as the great…
Early years
Mantle was born on October 20, 1931, in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, the son of Lovell (née Richardson) Mantle (1904–1995) and Elvin Charles "Mutt" Mantle (1912–1952). He was of at least partial English ancestry; his great-grandfather, George Mantle, left Brierley Hill, in England's Black Country, in 1848.
Mutt named his son in honor of Mickey Cochrane, a Hall of Fame catcher. Later in his life, Mantl…
Professional baseball
Mantle began his professional baseball career in Kansas with the semi-professional Baxter Springs Whiz Kids. In 1948 Yankees scout Tom Greenwadecame to Baxter Springs to watch Mantle's teammate, third baseman Willard "Billy" Johnson. During the game, Mantle hit three home runs. Greenwade returned in 1949, after Mantle's high school graduation, to sign Mantle to a mi…
Player profile
Mantle hit some of the longest home runs in Major League history. On September 10, 1960, he hit a ball left-handed that cleared the right-field roof at Tiger Stadium in Detroit and, based on where it was found, was estimated years later by historian Mark Gallagher to have traveled 643 feet (196 m). Another Mantle homer, hit right-handed off Chuck Stobbs at Griffith Stadiumin Washington, D.C. on April 17, 1953, was measured by Yankees traveling secretary Red Patterson (hence the t…
Later years
Mantle served as a part-time color commentator on NBC's baseball coverage in 1969, teaming up with Curt Gowdy and Tony Kubek to call some Game of the Week telecasts as well as that year's All-Star Game. In 1972 he was a part-time TV commentator for the Montreal Expos.
In 1973, at the Old-Timers Game, at Yankee Stadium, Mantle, batting right han…
Personal life
On December 23, 1951, Mantle married Merlyn Johnson (1932–2009) in Picher, Oklahoma; they had four sons. In an autobiography, Mantle said he married Merlyn not out of love, but because he was told to by his domineering father. While his drinking became public knowledge during his lifetime, the press kept quiet about his many marital infidelities. Mantle was not entirely discreet abou…
Illness and death
Mantle allegedly had his first drink of alcohol at age 19, when teammate Hank Bauer gave him a beer that he "chugged as if it were soda pop", according to baseball historian Frank Russo. Before Mantle sought treatment for alcoholism, he admitted that his hard living had hurt both his playing and his family. His rationale was that the men in his family had all died young, so he expected to die young as well. His father died of Hodgkin's diseaseat age 40 in 1952, and his grandfather als…
Honors
Mantle was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1964.
On Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium, June 8, 1969, Mantle's Number 7 was retired and he was a given a bronze plaque to be hung on the center field wall near the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Miller Huggins. The plaque was officially presented to Mantle by Joe DiMaggio. Mantle afterwards, gave a …