Mickey Mantle

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Mickey Mantle (October 20, 1931- August 13, 1995) was one of the greatest baseball players ever, and arguably the finest raw talent ever to play the game. Born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, and raised in the small town of Commerce, Oklahoma (dubbed the Commerce Comet), Mantle revolutionized the game by hitting for power from both sides of the plate as a switch-hitter. That enabled him to hit well off both right-handed and left-handed pitchers. Mantle was also perhaps the fastest runner in the game at the time, clocked at 3.1 seconds running to first-base after batting left-handed.[1] In his 18-year career, Mantle hit 536 home runs, won 7 World Series titles while establishing records in that for the most home runs and the highest on-base and slugging percentages, won 3 MVPs (2 extraordinary seasons before he was 26 years old, and before alcoholism took its toll on his body), and was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Mantle ultimately converted to Christ after hearing a testimonial by NBA Hall of Famer Pete Maravich on Focus on the Family.[2] Mantle then initiated prayers with others who would visit with him.

Baseball cards and other memorabilia featuring Mickey Mantle are particularly valuable, probably because he was such a remarkable talent: a switch-hitter with power -- which no one had ever seen before -- who was also an extremely fast runner on the base-paths. His 1956 and 1957 seasons are considered the finest back-to-back seasons by any player in the modern era (which began in 1947).[3]

In 1951, Mantle played his first season while Joe DiMaggio played his last for the New York Yankees, and Mantle led the New York Yankees to a record 12 World Series appearances in 14 years. "The biggest game I ever played in was probably Don Larsen's perfect game," Mantle said.[4] Mantle said his biggest disappointment was losing the World Series in 1960 in a spectacular upset to the Pittsburgh Pirates, which was the first of two championships by Roberto Clemente,[5] about whom a strong argument can be made that he was an angel. The decisive 7th game of that World Series is called "the greatest game ever played."[6]

Like his father, Mantle was an alcoholic and as a result contracted liver cancer that killed him before he reached his 64th birthday. There was a controversy about how quickly he received an organ while on the supposedly neutral transplant list, a transplant that failed to save his life.

Mantle's rookie baseball cards are among the most valuable memorabilia in sports today.

Injuries

Mantle suffered a horrific knee injury during the 1951 World Series, when his foot got caught in an outfield drainpipe. That and numerous other injuries were thought to have kept Mantle from becoming the greatest player ever.[7]

Name

His name "Mickey" was after Mickey Cochrane, the greatest catcher as of that time. Mickey's father had been a semi-pro baseball player and trained his son Mickey to be a switch-hitter from an early age, hoping that he would become a phenomenal baseball player as he did.

References

  1. Batting left handed, Mantle was timed running from the batters’ box to first base in 3.1 seconds." Bleacher Report
  2. https://www.wnd.com/2006/10/38430/#HVs76bLL040xSEE5.99
  3. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/851531-mlb-mickey-mantle-produced-the-two-greatest-seasons-of-the-modern-era#:~:text=In%201956%2C%20Mantle%20stole%2010,success%20rate%20of%2087.5%20percent.
  4. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/quolars.shtml
  5. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1960ws.shtml
  6. https://www.espn.com.au/mlb/playoffs/2010/columns/story?id=5676003
  7. https://www.sportscasting.com/would-mickey-mantle-be-the-greatest-mlb-player-ever-without-injuries-and-alcohol/