|
|
Yankee Great
Mickey Charles Mantle " BIOGRAPHY " www.grandlakevisitor.com/mickeymantle |
|
|
|
Mickey Charles Mantle
October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995
Mickey Charles Mantle was an American baseball player who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
He played his entire 18-year major-league professional career for the New York Yankees, winning 3 American League MVP titles and playing for 16 All-Star teams.
Mantle played on 12 pennant winners and 7 World Championship clubs.
He still holds the records for most World Series home runs (18), RBIs (40), runs (42), walks (43), extra-base hits (26), and total bases (123).
Mickey Mantle was born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma.
He was named in honor of Mickey Cochrane, the Hall of Fame catcher from the Philadelphia Athletics, by his father, Mutt, who was an amateur player and fervent fan.
According to the book Mickey Mantle: America's Prodigal Son, by Tony Castro, in later life, Mickey expressed relief that his father had not known Cochrane's true first name, as he would have hated to be named Gordon.
Mantle always spoke warmly of his father, and said he was the bravest man he ever knew.
"No boy ever loved his father more," he said.
His father died of cancer at the age of 39, just as his son was starting his career.
Mantle said one of the great heartaches of his life was that he never told his father he loved him.
When Mantle was four years old, the family moved to the nearby town of Commerce, Oklahoma.
Mantle was an all-around athlete at Commerce High School, playing basketball as well as football (he was offered a football scholarship by the University of Oklahoma) in addition to his first love, baseball.
His football playing nearly ended his athletic career, and indeed his life.
Kicked in the shin during a game, Mantle's leg soon became infected with osteomyelitis, a crippling disease that would have been incurable just a few years earlier.
A midnight drive to Tulsa, Oklahoma, enabled Mantle to be treated with newly available penicillin, saving his leg from amputation.
He suffered from the effects of the disease for the rest of his life, and it probably led to many other injuries that hampered his professional career.
Additionally, Mantle's osteomyelitic condition exempted him from military service, which caused him to become very unpopular with fans, as his earliest days in baseball coincided with the Korean War (though he was still selected as an All-Star the year his medical exemption was given, and was known as the "fastest man to first base.")
Mantle's first semi-professional team was the Baxter Springs, Kansas Whiz Kids.
In 1948, Yankees' scout Tom Greenwade came to Baxter Springs to watch Mantle 's teammate, third baseman Billy Johnson, in a Whiz Kids game.
During the game Mantle hit two homers, one righty and one lefty, into a river well past the ballpark's fences.
Greenwade wanted to sign Mickey on the spot but, finding out that he was only 16 and still in high school, told him he would come back to sign him with the Yankees on his graduation day in 1949, which he did.
Greenwade signed Mantle to a minor-league contract with the Yankees Class D team in Independence, Kansas. Mantle signed for $400 to play the remainder of the season with a $1,100 signing bonus.
Tom Greenwade was quoted in the press release announcing Mantle's signing as saying that Mantle was the best prospect he'd ever seen.
Because of his blinding speed, he was dubbed "The Commerce Comet."
Mantle also played for the Yankee's farm club, the "Joplin Miners" in Joplin, Missouri.
He would later invest in a Holiday Inn motel in that city, with his name attached to it.
He was called up to the Yankees on April 7, 1951, starting in right field (though he played a few games in the infield from 1952 to 1955).
Speaking of his prized rookie, Yankees manager Casey Stengel told SPORT magazine (June 1951) that, "He's got more natural power from both sides than anybody I ever saw."
Joe DiMaggio, in his final season, called Mantle, "the greatest prospect I can remember."
In his first game with the Yankees, Mantle wore uniform #6.
After a brief slump, Mantle was sent down to the Yankees' top farm team, the Kansas City Blues.
However, he wasn't able to find the power he'd had in the lower minors.
Out of frustration, he called his father one day and told him, "I don't think I can play baseball anymore."
Mutt was in Kansas City the next day, and immediately began packing Mickey's things so he could go back to Oklahoma to work in the mines.
Mickey immediately broke out of his slump, going on to hit .361 with 11 homers and 50 RBIs during his stay in Kansas City.
After 40 games, he was called back to New York for good.
In his first World Series Game, October 4, 1951, the Yankees were pitted against the Giants for what was Willie Mays's first World Series Game as well.
Mantle moved to center field in 1952, replacing Joe DiMaggio, who retired at the end of the 1951 season after one year playing alongside Mantle in the Yankees outfield.
Mantle played center field full-time until 1965, when he was moved to left field.
His final two seasons were spent at first base.
Among Mantle's many accomplishments are all-time World Series records for home runs (18), runs scored (42), and runs batted in (40).
Mantle also 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, this one hit right-handed off Chuck Stobbs at Griffith Stadium in Washington on April 17, 1953, was measured by Yankees traveling secretary Red Patterson (hence the term "tape-measure home run") to have traveled 565 feet (172 m).
Though it is apparent that they are actually the distances where the balls ended up after bouncing several times, there is no doubt that they both landed more than 500 feet (152 m) from home plate.
Mantle twice hit balls off the third-deck facade at Yankee Stadium, nearly becoming the only player (other than Negro Leagues star Josh Gibson) to hit a fair ball out of the stadium during a game.
On May 22, 1963, against Kansas City's Bill Fischer, Mantle hit a ball that fellow players and fans claimed was still rising when it hit the 110-foot (34 m) high facade, then caromed back onto the playing field.
It was later estimated by some that the ball could have traveled 620 feet (190 m) had it not been blocked by the ornate and distinctive facade.
While physicists might question those estimates, on August 12, 1964, he hit one whose distance was undoubted: a center field drive that cleared the 22-foot (6.7 m) batter's eye screen, beyond the 461-foot (141 m) marker at the Stadium.
Although he was a feared power hitter from either side of the plate, Mantle considered himself a better right-handed hitter even though he had more home runs from the left side of the plate: 372 left-handed, 164 right-handed.
That was due to Mantle having batted left-handed much more often, as the large majority of pitchers are right-handed. In addition, many of his left-handed home runs were hit in Yankee Stadium, a park much friendlier to left-handed hitters than to right-handed hitters.
When Mantle played for the Yankees, the distance to the right-field foul pole stood at a mere 296 feet (90 m), with markers in the power alleys of 344 and 407, while the left-field power alley ranged from 402 to 457 feet (139 m) from the plate.
In 1956, Mantle won the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year.
This was his "favorite summer," a year that saw him win the Triple Crown, leading the majors with a .353 batting average, 52 HR, and 130 RBI, and his first of three MVP awards.
Mantle remains the last man to win the Major League Triple Crown.
Also in 1956, Mantle made a (talking) cameo appearance in a song recorded by Teresa Brewer, "I Love Mickey," which extolled Mantle's power hitting.
The song was included in one of the Baseball's Greatest Hits CDs.
Mantle may have been even more dominant in 1957, leading the league in runs and walks, batting a career-high .365 (second in the league to Ted Williams' .388), and hitting into a league-low five double plays.
Mantle reached base more times than he made outs (319 to 312), one of two seasons in which he achieved the feat.
On January 16, 1961, Mantle became the highest-paid baseball player by signing a $75,000 contract. DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg and Ted Williams, who had just retired, had been paid over $100,000 in a season, and Ruth had a peak salary of $80,000.
But Mantle became the highest-paid active player of his time.
Mantle's relationship with the New York press was not always friendly.
During the 1961 season, Mantle and teammate Roger Maris chased Babe Ruth's single season home run record.
Five years earlier, in 1956, Mantle had challenged Ruth's record for most of the season, and the New York press had been protective of Ruth on that occasion also.
When Mantle finally fell short, finishing with 52, there seemed to be a collective sigh of relief from the New York traditionalists.
Nor had the New York press been all that kind to Mantle in his early years with the team: he struck out frequently, was injury-prone, was a "true hick" from Oklahoma, and was perceived as being distinctly inferior to his predecessor in center field, Joe DiMaggio.
Over the course of time, however, Mantle (with a little help from his teammate Whitey Ford, a native of New York's Borough of Queens) had gotten better at "schmoozing" with the New York media, and had gained the favor of the press.
This was a talent that Maris, a blunt-spoken upper-Midwesterner, was never willing or able to cultivate; as a result, he wore the "surly" jacket for his duration with the Yankees.
So as 1961 progressed, the Yanks were now "Mickey Mantle's team," and Maris was ostracized as the "outsider," and said to be "not a true Yankee."
The press seemed to root for Mantle and to belittle Maris.
But Mantle was felled by an abscessed hip late in the season, leaving Maris to break the record.
In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 3 of the 1964 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Mickey Mantle blasted Barney Schultz's first pitch into the upper right field stands at Yankee Stadium, which won the game for the Yankees, 2-1.
Injuries slowed Mantle and the Yankees during the 1965 season, and they finished in 6th, 25 games behind the Minnesota Twins.
Mantle hit .255 that season with only 19 home runs.
After the 1966 season he was moved to first base with Joe Pepitone taking over his place in the outfield.
Mantle's last home run came on September 20, 1968, off Boston’s Jim Lonborg.
Mantle announced his retirement on March 1, 1969, and in 1974, as soon as he was eligible, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame; his uniform Number 7 was retired by the Yankees.
(He had briefly worn uniform Number 6, as a continuation of Babe Ruth's 3, Lou Gehrig's 4, and Joe DiMaggio's 5, in 1951, but his poor performance led to his temporary demotion to a minor league in mid-season.
When he returned, Bobby Brown, who had worn Number 6 before Mantle, had reclaimed it, so Mantle was given Number 7 by Yankees longtime equipment manager Pete Sheehy.)
When he retired, the Mick was third on the all-time home run list with 536.
Despite being among the best-paid players of the pre-free agency era, Mantle was a poor businessman, having made several bad investments.
His lifestyle would be restored to one of luxury, and his hold on his fans raised to an amazing level, by his position of leadership in the sports memorabilia craze that swept the USA, beginning in the 1980s.
Mantle was a prized guest at any baseball card show, commanding fees far in excess of any other player for his appearances and autographs.
This popularity continues long after his death, as Mantle-related items far outsell those of any other player except possibly Babe Ruth, whose items, due to the distance of years, now exist in far smaller quantities.
Mantle insisted that the promoters of baseball card shows always include one of the lesser-known Yankees of his era, such as Moose Skowron or Hank Bauer.
Despite the failure of Mickey Mantle's Country Cookin' restaurants in the early 1970s, Mickey Mantle's Restaurant & Sports Bar opened in New York at 42 Central Park South (59th Street) in 1988.
It became one of New York's most popular restaurants, and his original Yankee Stadium Monument Park plaque is displayed at the front entrance.
Mantle let others run the business operations, but made frequent appearances.
In 1983, Mantle worked at the Claridge Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as a greeter and community representative.
Most of his activities were representing the Claridge in golf tournaments and other charity events.
But Mantle was suspended from baseball by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn on the grounds that any affiliation with gambling were grounds for being placed on the "permanently ineligible" list.
Kuhn warned Mantle before he accepted the position that he would have to place him on the list if Mantle went to work there.
Hall of Famer Willie Mays, who had also taken a similar position, had already had action taken against him.
Mantle accepted the position, regardless, as he felt the rule was "stupid."
He was placed on the list, but reinstated on March 18, 1985, by Kuhn's successor, Peter Ueberroth.
Mickey Mantle's career was fraught with injury.
Beginning in high school he accumulated 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" he had not been injured, and he was able to lead a healthy career.
As a 19-year-old rookie in his first World Series, Mantle tore the cartilage in his right knee on a pop fly by Willie Mays while playing right field.
Joe DiMaggio, in the last year of his career, was playing center field.
Mays' pop-up was hit to deep right center, and as both Mantle and DiMaggio converged to make the catch, DiMaggio called for it at the last second, causing Mantle to suddenly stop short as his cleats caught a drainage cover in the outfield grass.
His knee twisted awkwardly and he instantly fell.
Witnesses say it looked "like he had been shot."
He was carried off the field on a stretcher and spent the rest of the World Series watching from the hospital.
During the 1957 World Series, Milwaukee Braves second baseman Red Schoendienst fell on Mantle's left shoulder in a play at the bag.
Over the next decade, Mantle would experience increasing difficulty hitting or throwing from his left side.
This injury, more than anything, would hasten his retirement.
On December 23, 1951, he married hometown girl Merlyn Johnson in Commerce, Oklahoma; they had four sons.
In an autobiography, Mantle said he married Merlyn not because he loved her, but because his domineering father told him to.
While his drinking became public knowledge during his lifetime, the press kept quiet about his many marital infidelities.
The couple's four sons were Mickey Jr. (1953-2000)
David (1955)
Billy (1957-1994, whom Mickey named for Billy Martin, his best friend among his Yankee teammates)
Danny (1960).
Like Mickey, Merlyn and the sons all became alcoholics, and Billy developed Hodgkin's disease, as several previous Mantle men had.
This led to him developing a dependence on prescription painkillers.
Mickey Mantle has four grandchildren.
Mickey Jr. had a daughter, Mallory.
David and his wife Marla have a daughter, Marilyn.
Danny and his wife Kay have a son, Will, and a daughter, Chloe.
Danny and Will played a father and son watching as Mickey, (played by Thomas Jane), hit a home run in the 2001 film produced by devoted Yankee fan Billy Crystal, 61*.
Mickey and Merlyn had been separated for 15 years when he died, but neither ever filed for divorce.
Mantle lived with his agent, Greer Johnson.
Johnson was taken to federal court in November 1997 by the Mantle family to stop her from auctioning many of Mantle's personal items, including a lock of hair, a neck brace, and expired credit cards.
During the final years of his life, Mantle purchased a luxury condominium on Lake Oconee near Greensboro, Georgia, near Greer Johnson's home, and frequently stayed there for months at a time.
He occasionally attended the local Methodist church, and sometimes ate Sunday dinner with members of the congregation.
He was well-liked by the citizens of Greensboro, and seemed to like them in return.
This was probably because the town respected Mantle's privacy, refusing either to talk about their famous neighbor to outsiders or to direct fans to his home.
In one interview, Mickey stated that the people of Greensboro had "gone out of their way to make me feel welcome, and I've found something there I haven't enjoyed since I was a kid."
Well before he finally sought treatment for alcoholism, Mantle admitted 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 had died in 1952 of Hodgkin's disease, and his grandfather had also died at a young age of the same disease.
"I'm not gonna be cheated," he would say.
As the years passed, and he had outlived all the men in his family... having not calculated that their working in mines and inhaling lead and zinc dust aided Hodgkin's and other cancers as much as heredity did.
He frequently used a line popularized by football legend Bobby Layne, a Dallas neighbor and friend of Mantle's who also died in part due to alcohol abuse:
"If I'd known I was gonna live this long, I'd have taken a lot better care of myself."
Mantle's wife and sons all completed treatment for alcoholism, and told him he needed to do the same.
He checked into the Betty Ford Clinic on January 7, 1994, after being told by a doctor that his liver was so badly damaged that "your next drink could be your last."
Also helping Mantle to make the decision to go to the Betty Ford Clinic was Pat Summerall, a sportscaster who had played for the New York Giants football team while they played at Yankee Stadium, now a recovering alcoholic and a member of the same Dallas-area country club as Mantle.
Shortly after completing treatment, his son Billy died on March 12, at age 36, of heart trouble, brought on by years of substance abuse.
Despite the fears of those who knew him that this tragedy would send him back to drinking, he remained sober.
Mickey Jr. later died of liver cancer on December 20, 2000, at age 47.
Danny later battled prostate cancer.
Mantle spoke with great remorse of his drinking in a 1994 Sports Illustrated cover story.
He said that he was telling the same old stories, and realizing how much of them involved himself and others being drunk, and he decided they weren't funny anymore.
He admitted he had often been cruel and hurtful to family, friends and fans because of his alcoholism, and sought to make amends.
He became a born-again Christian because of his former teammate Bobby Richardson, an ordained Baptist minister who shared his faith with him.
After the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, he joined with fellow Oklahoman and Yankee legend Bobby Murcer to raise money for the victims.
Mantle received a liver transplant at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, on June 8, 1995, because his liver had been damaged by years of chronic alcoholism, cirrhosis and hepatitis C.
However, during the operation, doctors discovered he had inoperable liver cancer.
In July, he had recovered enough to deliver a press conference at Baylor, and noted that many fans had looked to him as a role model.
"This is no role model... Don't be like me," he said.
He also established the Mickey Mantle Foundation to raise awareness for organ donations.
Soon, he was back in the hospital, where it was found that his cancer was rapidly spreading throughout his body.
Though he was very popular, Mantle's liver transplant was a source of some controversy.
Some felt that his fame had permitted him to receive a donor liver very quickly, bypassing other patients who had been waiting for much longer.
Mantle's doctors insisted that the decision was based solely on medical criteria, but acknowledged that the very short wait created the appearance of favoritism.
Mantle died on August 13, 1995, at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
During the first Yankee home game after Mantle's death, Eddie Layton played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on the Hammond organ because Mickey had once told him it was his favorite song.
The Yankees played the rest of the season with black mourning bands topped by a small number 7 on their left sleeves.
Mickey's funeral was at the Lover's Lane Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas.
Mantle was interred in the Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in Dallas.
Mantle had asked country singer Roy Clark, his good friend, to perform his favorite song "Yesterday, When I Was Young" at his funeral, and he did as promised.
I lived by night
I shunned the light of day
And only now I see how the years slipped away
I ran so fast time and youth ran out
So many songs in me won't be sung
I now must pay for yesterday when I was young.
In eulogizing Mantle, sportscaster Bob Costas described him as "a fragile hero to whom we had an emotional attachment so strong and lasting that it defied logic."
Costas added: "In the last year of his life, Mickey Mantle, always so hard on himself, finally came to accept and appreciate the distinction between a role model and a hero.
The first, he often was not.
The second, he always will be.
And, in the end, people got it."
Mickey Mantle's number 7 was retired by the New York Yankees in 1969
On Mickey Mantle Day, June 8, 1969, in addition to the retirement of his uniform Number 7, Mantle was given a plaque that would hang on the center field wall at Yankee Stadium, near the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Miller Huggins.
The plaque was given to him by Joe DiMaggio, and Mantle then gave DiMaggio a similar plaque, telling the crowd, "His should be just a little bit higher than mine."
When Yankee Stadium was reopened in 1976 following its renovation, the plaques and monuments were moved to Monument Park, behind the left-center field fence.
Shortly before his death, Mantle videotaped a message to be played on Old-Timers' Day, which he was too ill to attend.
He said, "When I die, I wanted on my tombstone, 'A great teammate.' But I didn't think it would be this soon."
The words were indeed carved on the plaque marking his resting place at the family mausoleum in Dallas.
On August 25, 1996, about a year after his death, Mantle's Monument Park plaque was replaced with a monument, bearing the words "A great teammate" and keeping a phrase that had been included on the original plaque: "A magnificent Yankee who left a legacy of unequaled courage."
Mantle and former teammate Whitey Ford were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame together in 1974, Mantle's first year of eligibility, Ford's second.
Beginning in 1997, the Topps Baseball Card company retired the card #7 in its base sets in tribute to Mantle, whose career was taking off just as Topps began producing baseball cards.
Mantle's cards, especially his 1952 Topps card, are extremely popular and valuable among card collectors.
Though Topps un-retired the #7 in 2006, the number is reserved for cards of Mantle, remade with each year's design.
In 1999, "The Sporting News" placed Mantle at 17th on its list "The 100 Greatest Baseball Players."
That same year, he was one of 100 nominees for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, and was chosen by fan balloting as one of the team's outfielders.
ESPN's SportsCentury series that ran in 1999 ranked him No. 37 on its "50 Greatest Athletes" series.
In 2006, Mantle was featured on a United States postage stamp.
The stamp is one of a series of four honoring baseball sluggers, the others being Mel Ott, Roy Campanella, and Hank Greenberg.
Outfielder / First Baseman / Switch Hitter / Actor
Born: October 20, 1931
Spavinaw, Oklahoma
Died: August 13, 1995 (aged 63)
Dallas, Texas
Batted: Switch
Threw: Right
MLB Debut... April 17, 1951 for the New York Yankees
Last MLB Appearance... September 28, 1968 for the New York Yankees
Batting Average .298
Home Runs 536
Runs Batted In 1,509
Teams... New York Yankees (1951-1968)
Career Highlights & Awards
16x All-Star Selection (1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968)
7x World Series Champion (1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962)
Gold Glove Award Winner (1962)
3x AL MVP (1956, 1957, 1962)
1956 Triple Crown
1965 Hutch Award
New York Yankees #7 Retired
Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction... 1974
Vote 88.2% (first ballot)
Ranks 19th on MLB All-Time On-base percentage List (.421)
Ranks 25th on MLB All-Time Slugging Percentage List (.557)
Ranks 13th on MLB All-Time OPS List (.977)
Ranks 74th on MLB All-Time Game List (2,401)
Ranks 76th on MLB All-Time Plate Appearances List (9,909)
Ranks 27th on MLB All-Time Runs List (1,677)
Ranks 37th on MLB All-Time Total Bases List (4,511)
Ranks 14th on MLB All-Time Home Runs List (536)
Ranks 46th on MLB All-Time RBI List (1,509)
Ranks 7th on MLB All-Time Walks List (1,733)
Ranks 18th on MLB All-Time Runs Created List (2,038)
Ranks 9th on MLB All-Time Adjusted Batting Runs List (862)
Ranks 10th on MLB All-Time Batting Wins List (85.3)
Ranks 40th on MLB All-Time Extra-Base Hits List (952)
Ranks 29th on MLB All-Time Times on Base List (4,161)
Ranks 7th on MLB All-Time Offensive Win % List (.803)
Ranks 66th on MLB All-Time Intentional Walks List (126)
Ranks 14th on MLB All-Time At Bats per Home Run List (15.1)
AL MVP (1956, 1957, & 1962)
AL Triple Crown (1956)
AL Gold Glove winner in (1962)
16-time AL All-Star (1952-1965, 1967, 1968)
Led AL in OPS 6 times (1952, 1955-56, 1960, 1962 and 1964)
Led AL in Runs Created 7 times (1952 and 1955-60)
Led AL in Adjusted Batting Runs 9 times (1952, 1955-60, 1962 and 1964)
Led AL in Batting Wins 9 times (1952, 1955-60, 1962 and 1964)
Led AL in Extra-Base Hits 3 times (1952 and 1955-56)
Led AL in Offensive Win % 7 times (1952, 1955-56, 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964)
Led AL in Runs 6 times (1954, 1956-58 and 1960-61)
Led AL in On-base percentage 3 times (1955, 1962 and 1964)
Led AL in Slugging Percentage 4 times (1955, 1956, 1961 and 1962)
Led AL in Home Runs 4 times (1955-56, 1958 and 1960)
Led AL in Walks 5 times (1955, 1957-58 and 1961-62)
Led AL in Triples (11) in 1955
Led AL in Batting Average (.353) and RBI (130) in 1956
Led AL in Total Bases 3 times (1956, 1958 and 1960)
Led AL in Times on Base 3 times (1956-58)
Led AL in At Bats per Home Run in 1956 (10.3) and 1961 (9.5)
Led AL in Intentional Walks in 1958 (13) and 1964 (18)
Castro, Tony, Mickey Mantle: America's Prodigal Son, 2002, ISBN 1-57488-384-4
Gallagher, Mark, Explosion! Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs, 1987, ISBN 0-87795-853-X
Mickey Mantle: His Final Inning by American Tract Society, 1998, ISBN 1-55837-138-9
"Mickey Mantle: Our Symbol". (1999). In ESPN SportsCenutry. Michael MacCambridge, Editor. New York: Hyperion-ESPN Books. p. 166.
SPORT magazine, June 1951
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/sports/baseball/21araton.html?ref=baseball Yanks’ Woes of ’08 Eerily Similar to ’65
"I Was Killing Myself – My Life As An Alcoholic"
The Mick Website
"Safe At Home"
Director: Walter Doniger
AMG Rating:
Genre: Comedy Drama
Movie Type: Sports Drama
Themes: Baseball Players
Main Cast: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, William Frawley, Patricia Barry, Don Collier, Ralph Houk, Whitey Ford
Release Year: 1962
Country: US
Run Time: 83 minutes
Plot
Released in April of 1962 to take advantage of the new baseball season and the enthusiasm surrounding some of its better-known players, this sports-oriented children's story by Walter Doniger centers around some ill-advised bragging by a young Little Leaguer.
Hutch Lawton (Brian Russell) has just told his friends that he and his Dad are good buddies with all-time baseball greats Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.
This fib soon gets him in plenty of hot water as he is forced to search out his heroes at spring training in Florida and make a plea for help.
Along with appearances by the Yankee's two top players are pitcher Whitey Ford and coach Ralph Houk.
Cast
Mickey Mantle - Himself
Roger Maris - Himself
William Frawley - Bill Turner
Patricia Barry - Johanna Price
Don Collier - Ken Lawton
Ralph Houk - Himself
Whitey Ford - Himself
Bryan Russell - Hutch Lawton; Eugene Iglesias - Mr. Torres; Flip Mark - Henry; Scott Lane - Mike Torres; Charles Martin - Henry's Father; Chris Hughes - Phil; Joe Morrison - Hank
Credit
Walter Doniger - Director, Frank Keller - Editor, Van Alexander - Composer (Music Score), Irving Lippman - Cinematographer, Tom Naud - Producer, James Crowe - Set Designer, James A. Crowe - Set Designer, Steven Ritch - Screen Story, Robert Dillon - Screenwriter
"A Touch Of Mink"
Director: Delbert Mann
AMG Rating:
Genre: Comedy
Movie Type: Romantic Comedy, Comedy of Manners
Themes: Opposites Attract, Cinderella Stories
Main Cast: Cary Grant, Doris Day, Gig Young, Audrey Meadows, John Astin, Dick Sargent
Release Year: 1962
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
When people refer to Doris Day as "the world's oldest professional virgin," they generally have the 1962 comedy That Touch of Mink in mind.
It isn't that Cathy Timberlake (Day) is above a bit of hanky-panky; it's just that she wants such tangibles as a marriage license and wedding ring first.
Thus, when playboy businessman Philip Shayne (Cary Grant) begins actively pursuing Cathy (they "met cute" when Philip's limo splashed mud on the hapless Cathy), she won't say "I will" until he says "I do."
She is of the idealistic opinion that she can bring out the best intentions in him, even when he repeatedly tips off his worst intentions by inviting her to accompany him to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Bermuda.
After not a few complications and misunderstands, Cathy finally finagles a proposal out of Philip.
The film is essentially much ado about nothing, but it is so well-acted and attractively photographed that the audiences are willing to go along for the ride.
The high-powered supporting cast includes
Gig Young as Roger, Philip's moralistic financial advisor; Audrey Meadows as Connie, Cathy's wise-cracking roommate; Alan Hewitt as Dr. Gruber, a confused psychiatrist; John Astin as Beasley, Cathy's slimy would-be beau; Dick Sargent as a neurotic honeymooner; and an unbilled Richard Deacon as an all-around letch.
Best scene: the baseball-dugout rhubarb involving New York Yankees Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra.
Review
Sex comedies from the 1960s tend not to age too well, and while that's true to an extent with That Touch of Mink, it does hold up better than many other similar films from the period.
Part of the credit goes to the screenplay, which is structurally quite sound and which features dialogue that actually is witty on occasion and, even when not witty, is at least appropriate.
Unfortunately, the main plot itself is bound to give pause to some modern viewers, who will object to a number of things, including the inherent materialism, the sexual "obligation" that Doris Day feels, the age difference between the leads, and the outdated sexual role-playing that permeates the film.
However, when suave and charismatic Cary Grant is on hand, and when Day is operating -- as here -- at the top of her form, things are bound to be kept lively and entertaining, and the stars do not disappoint.
They're also supported by an excellent supporting cast, from Audrey Meadows' wisecracking best pal to John Astin's oily letch.
Delbert Mann directs with supreme confidence, timing his gags to within a nanosecond and keeping the whole thing moving along at a sprightly pace.
Throw in some glamorous clothes and sumptuous settings, and Mink is a glossy, amusing and entertaining little film -- that is better enjoyed without probing under its surface.
Credit
Robert Clatworthy - Art Director, Alexander Golitzen - Art Director, Rosemary Odell - Costume Designer, Norman Norell - Costume Designer, Phil Bowles - First Assistant Director, Delbert Mann - Director, Ted Kent - Editor, Robert Arthur - Executive Producer, George Duning - Composer (Music Score), Bud Westmore - Makeup, Russell Metty - Cinematographer, Martin Melcher - Producer, Stanley Shapiro - Producer, George Milo - Set Designer, Waldon O. Watson - Sound/Sound Designer, Corson Jowett - Sound/Sound Designer, Nate Monaster - Screenwriter, Stanley Shapiro - Screenwriter
"It's My Turn"
Director: Claudia Weill
AMG Rating:
Genre: Comedy
Movie Type: Romantic Comedy, Romantic Drama
Themes: Infidelity, Baseball Players
Main Cast: Jill Clayburgh, Michael Douglas, Charles Grodin, Beverly Garland, Steven Hill
Release Year: 1980
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Claudia Weill's second feature is a romantic look at the humorous and tragic sides of love, starring Jill Clayburgh as Kate Gunzinger, a mathematics professor who lives with perpetually sunny architect Homer (Charles Grodin) in Chicago.
But during a trip to New York City, Kate becomes romantically involved with handsome hunk Ben Lewin (Michael Douglas), a recently retired professional baseball player who is trying to adjust to a life outside of professional sports.
The son of her father's fiancee, Ben, in spite of uncertainties about his future, actively pursues Kate, and Kate, much to her surprise, willingly permits Ben to make his amorous approaches.
Review
The law of diminishing returns had set in by the time Jill Clayburgh starred in It's My Turn, a film that seems to be a descendant of her earlier (and much better)
An Unmarried Woman and Starting Over.
None of these films were actually sequels, but Clayburgh's presence -- and the fact that her character in each one seemed to be a stand-in for the "modern woman" of the time -- makes them feel like part of a trilogy.
The difference is that the two earlier films were subtler in their approach; there was a social commentary at the core of each film, but it was couched in an involving story with interesting characters.
In Turn, the commentary seems to have been grafted onto a fairly traditional romance with characters that are fairly shallow; we've seen them all before, even if their words and phrases may have been slightly different.
As a result, Turn feels a bit clichéd and manipulative, and modern audiences will also find it amusingly dated.
Still, the creators have approached the work with adequate skill; the result is not great drama, but it's an enjoyable, plastic little romance, complete with the required big scene for the star to show her acting chops
Cast
Jill Clayburgh - Kate Gunzinger
Michael Douglas - Ben Lewin
Charles Grodin - Homer
Beverly Garland - Emma
Steven Hill - Jacob
Teresa Baxter - Maryanne; Daniel Stern - Cooperman; Joan Copeland - Rita; John Gabriel - Hunter; Charles Kimbrough - Jerome; Roger Robinson - Flicker; Jennifer Salt - Maisie; Robert Ackerman - Good Will Man; Michael Alaimo - Man at Restaurant; Ernie Brown - Man at Restaurant; Joe Collins - Himself; Bob Feller - Himself; Whitey Ford - Himself; Bud Harrelson - Himself; Noah Hathaway - Homer's Son; Mickey Mantle - Himself; Roger Maris - Himself; Ralph Mauro - Jerry Lanz Man; Dusty Rhodes - Himself; Raymond Singer - Rabbi; Dianne Wiest - Gail; James Desmond - Man in Baseball Stands; Ronald C. Frazier - Professor; Jane Jenkins; Toshi Toda - Professor; David H. Goodman - Man in Baseball Stands
Credit
Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, David McGiffert - First Assistant Director, Claudia Weill - Director, James Coblentz - Editor, Marjorie Fowler - Editor, Byron Brandt - Editor, Jay Presson Allen - Executive Producer, Patrick Williams - Composer (Music Score), Diana Ross - Songwriter, Bob Schneider - Production Designer, Jackson de Govia - Production Designer, Bill Butler - Cinematographer, Jay Presson Allen - Producer, Martin Elfand - Producer, Geoff Hubbard - Set Designer, Jeff Bushelman - Sound/Sound Designer, Pat Somerset - Sound/Sound Designer, Eleanor Bergstein - Screenwriter
"Mickey Mantle's Baseball Tips for Kids of All Ages"
Genre: Sports & Recreation
Movie Type: Sports
Themes: Baseball Players
Release Year: 1986
Run Time: 70 minutes
Plot
Legendary baseball player Mickey Mantle, a champion switch-hitter who hit 536 home runs, offers some great pointers for players eager to master the game.
Watch closely as Mantle demonstrates the proper batting stance, the safest ways to slide into bases and field a variety of balls.
Since Mantle hit 18 home runs in the 12 World Series games he played in, he remains one of the greatest players of all times.
Listen as he describes how to monitor the pitcher and other players in an effort in play a winning game.
Learn how to spot the spins on balls that are thrown in an effort to cause strike-outs.
Both children and adults can pick up some useful tips for their next games.
Cast
Whitey Ford; Mickey Mantle; Phil Rizzuto
"Play Ball with Mickey Mantle"
Genre: Sports & Recreation
Movie Type: Sports
Release Year: 1987
Run Time: 60 minutes
Plot
Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle runs through the basics of baseball for the second time in Play Ball.
Mets catcher Gary Carter and pitcher Tom Seaver also contribute tips to perfecting technique.
During his 20-year reign as baseball's golden boy, Mantle amassed a wealth of knowledge.
He puts it to good use here instructing viewers on practice drills, swinging, bunting, and knocking it out of the park.
The video also features an interactive section.
Cast
Mickey Mantle; Tom Seaver; Gary Carter
"Mickey Mantle - The American Dream Comes to Life"
Mickey Mantle stars in this videography of the Yankee legend, from his own point of view, includes his own reminiscences, personal stories about his team and footage of him and his contemporaries at "work" and off the field.
"MLB: 1955 World Series - Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Yankees"
Directors: Mike Omansky; Anne V. Vessio
Genre: Sports & Recreation
Movie Type: Sports
Themes: Baseball Players
Release Year: 1955
Country: US
Run Time: 45 minutes
Plot
After years of succumbing to the New York Yankees in the World Series, the Brooklyn Dodgers finally won it all in 1955.
The "Subway Series" at Ebbets Field was a dramatic one that marked the first and only World Series triumph by Brooklyn.
The video documents the exciting series action, including the seventh game heroics of Sandy Amoros and Johnny Podres that clinched the victory for the Dodgers.
Cast
Mickey Mantle; Yogi Berra; The Brooklyn Dodgers; Joe DiMaggio; Bill Dickey; Leo Durocher; Whitey Ford; Billy Martin; Willie Mays; The New York Yankees; Jackie Robinson; Bobby Brown; Pee Wee Reese
Credit
Mike Omansky - Director, Anne V. Vessio - Director
"Billy Martin: The Man... The Myth... The Manager"
Director: Herb Sevush
Genre: Sports & Recreation
Movie Type: Sports, Biography
Main Cast: Billy Martin, Jill Martin
Release Year: 1990
Run Time: 60 minutes
Plot
Billy Martin: The Man, The Myth, The Manager contains one of the very last interviews ever given by the controversial World Series winning player and manager.
That footage is interspersed with memorable clips from throughout his decades long career in the big leagues.
Cast
Billy Martin
Jill Martin
Mickey Mantle
Rod Carew; Whitey Ford; Rickey Henderson; George Steinbrenner; Tony La Russa; Clete Boyer; Willie Randolph; Willie Randolf
Credit
Herb Sevush - Director, Herb Sevush - Editor, Tom A. Molito - Executive Producer, Jill Martin - Executive Producer, Jill Martin - Executive Producer, Herb Sevush - Producer
Gallagher, Mark, Explosion! Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs, Arbor House, 1987.
Mantle, Mickey, Education of a Ball Player, Simon & Schuster, 1967.
Mantle, Mickey, and Herb Glick, The Mick, Doubleday, 1985.
Mantle, Mickey, and Ben Epstein, The Mickey Mantle Story, Holt, 1953.
Schaap, Dick, Mickey Mantle: The Indispensable Yankee, Bartholomew House, 1961.
Schoor, Gene, Mickey Mantle of the Yankees, Putnam, 1959.
Silverman, Al, Mickey Mantle, Mister Yankee, Putnam, 1963.
Life, July 30, 1965, pp. 47-53.
Look, February 23, 1965, pp. 71-75; March 18, 1969, pp. 29-32.
Newsweek, June 25, 1956, pp. 63-67; August 14, 1961, pp. 42-46.
New York Times, August 14, 1995, p. 1A.
People, August 28, 1995, p. 76.
Washington Post, August 14, 1995, p. 1A.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Mickey Mantle
"The Mick," switch-hitting Mickey Mantle (1931-1995) won four home-run championships, a Triple Crown, and three most valuable player awards during his 18-year career with the New York Yankees.
Mickey Charles Mantle was born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, to Elvin ("Mutt") and Lowell Mantle.
A former semi-pro baseball player, Mutt Mantle was so fond of baseball he named his first child after Detroit Tigers catcher Mickey Cochrane.
Mickey was barely out of diapers before he was practicing baseball with his father.
Mutt believed that the only way to excel in the major leagues was as a switch-hitter, so he taught his son to swing from both sides of the plate.
Mickey would use his natural right-handed swing against his left-handed father, then would turn around and bat left-handed against his right-handed grandfather.
Mantle played baseball and basketball at his high school in Commerce, Oklahoma and was also a star halfback on the football team.
During one game, however, he was kicked in the leg and developed osteomyelitis, a bone marrow disease that would affect his future baseball career.
While playing high school baseball, Mantle impressed New York Yankee scout Tom Greenwade, who signed him to a contract of $140 a week with a $1500 bonus... a bargain even in the days of low salaries in professional sports.
Mantle reported to the Yankees' minor league team in Independence, Kansas, in 1949 as a switch-hitting shortstop.
After two years in the minor leagues, the Yankees invited him to their major league spring training camp.
He earned a place on the roster, and the New York media soon began comparing him to Babe Ruth and other past Yankee greats.
Only 19 years old and two years out of high school, Mantle did not immediately live up to the public's high expectations.
He started slowly in his new position - right field - and was sent back briefly to the minors.
Mantle's first year in the majors was marred by inconsistent play and jeering from fans both in New York and around the league.
His difficulties continued when, early in 1952, Mutt Mantle died of Hodgkin's disease at the age of 39.
Mantle had been very close to his father, and he took the death hard.
Mantle was moved to center field when Joe DiMaggio retired from the Yankees following the 1951 season.
He began to adjust to big-league play, and in 1952 batted .311 with 23 home runs and 87 runs batted in (RBIs).
That season Mantle began to establish himself as one of baseball's premier power hitters.
During one game against the Washington Senators, Mantle hit a ball completely out of Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.
Measured at 565 feet, the home run is believed to be the longest ever hit.
The New York Yankees won the American League pennant and World Series during each of Mantle's first three seasons, from 1951 to 1953.
During the 1952 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Mantle batted .345 with two home runs.
In the 1953 Series, again against the Dodgers, he batted only .208, but hit two more home runs.
Mantle's talents led the Yankees as they dominated the American League throughout the late 1950s.
They won the pennant each year from 1955 to 1958, taking the World Series in 1956 and 1958.
Mantle became a genuine super-star in 1956 when he won baseball's Triple Crown, with a. 353 batting average, 52 home runs, and 130 RBIs.
He was also selected the American League's most valuable player (MVP). In 1957 he hit .365 and was again named the league MVP.
Mantle's success at the plate continued as the Yankees remained strong well into the 1960s.
After losing the pennant to the Chicago White Sox in 1959, the Yankees came back to win it the next five seasons, joined by new stars such as Tony Kubek, Bobby Richardson, Ryne Duren, Bill Skowron, and Roger Maris.
Mantle captured the home run title again in 1960 with 40 round-trippers, and he led the competition for the title again in 1961... the most dramatic home run season in the history of the game.
By early August Mantle already had hit 43 home runs and Maris 42.
The record for home runs in a season was held by the legendary Baby Ruth, who had blasted 60 in 1927.
Although Mantle ended the year with 54 home runs (his all-time high), Maris hit 61 homers and established the new all-time record.
Mantle continued to excel even though his legs hurt most of the time from the osteomyelitis and other injuries.
In 1962 he was named American League MVP for the third time.
Although the Yankees continued to win pennants, their days of glory were waning.
They lost the 1963 World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers and were swept in the 1964 World Series by the St. Louis Cardinals.
By 1965 the Yankees' heyday was finished.
Mantle became frustrated with his pain and with his many strikeouts.
During the 1965 season he said, "It isn't any fun when things are like this. I'm only 33, but I feel like 40."
Mantle continued to play through the 1968 season; he announced his retirement in the spring of 1969.
Mantle left the Yankees with many great achievements.
In addition to hitting 536 lifetime home runs, he led the American League in homers four times and was chosen as its most valuable player three times.
He is one of only a few players to win a Triple Crown.
He played on 12 pennant winning and seven World Series-winning teams.
He still holds the all-time record for home runs in World Series play (18) as well as numerous other World Series records.
As much as DiMaggio before him, Mantle symbolized the Yankees and their dominance of baseball.
In 1974 Mantle was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, an honor bestowed on few players in the history of the sport.
After retiring from baseball, Mantle pursued a business career, opening a restaurant franchise and dabbling in public relations for an Atlantic City casino.
He also made appearances to sign autographs and play in celebrity golf tournaments.
His experience in television commercials and small film roles led to occasional stints providing color commentary for televised Yankees games.
His career and personal life had been marred by alcoholism, however.
Mantle had married Merlyn, who was a bank employee, in the 1950s and had they four sons... David, Danny, Billy, and Mickey, Jr.
Mantle was absent for much of their childhood, however, and had a reputation for his drinking and all-night carousing.
He and his wife separated in 1988.
Their son Billy died of heart failure in March of 1994 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, the same illness that had taken Mantle's father and grandfather at an early age and that Mantle thought would eventually afflict him as well.
He would face a different fate, though.
Earlier in 1994 Mantle had stayed at the Betty Ford clinic to treat his alcoholism, but it was too late... his liver was damaged from years of heavy drinking.
He was diagnosed with cirrhosis, hepatitis, and cancer of the liver.
Although he underwent a liver transplant in June of 1995, the cancer had spread to most of his internal organs and Mantle died on August 13, 1995.
Epitomizing home run power greater than any man's since Babe Ruth, Mantle's name was on the lips of every would-be slugger on the sandlots of America during the 1950s and 1960s.
Mantle's outstanding abilities and courage in the face of pain made him a hero to a generation of youngsters and adults alike.
|
|
