Mickey Mantle in Retrospect
Between 1951 and 1968 Mickey Mantle, one of baseball’s all-time greats, made his home at the New York Yankees. The brilliant career that he had earned him election to the National Baseball Hall of Famein 1974.
The Early Life and Career Beginnings of Mickey Mantle
On October 20th, 1931, in Spavinaw, OK, Mickey Charles Mantle was born. He would go on tomajor league baseball. Mantle’s father, who was a Tiger fan, named him after Mickey Cochrane, the catcher on the Detroit Tigers. He was born into a baseball family. Mantle was a switch-hitter who showed promise as a boy. At the age of nine, he nearly hit a ball in his first organized game over the centerfield that won the game for his team. Having seen his talent, a scout for the New York Yankees signed him up when he still high school. Mantle, then 19 years old, signed with the Yankees and this year began his training in the minor leagues. He made his debut for New York in that same year.
Career with the New York Yankees
In 1951 Mantle made his debut for the Yankees, permanently replacing Joe DiMaggio in center field three years later. Over the course of his 18-year career, Mantle was best known for his extraordinary power. He hammered the ball 536 times in his life. A switch-hitter with remarkable versatility, he twice won the American League’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award (1956, 1957). In his most brilliant season, the 1956 campaign, Mantle swept the American League Triple Crown by leading it with 52 home runs, 130 RBIs, and a.353 batting average. In spite of injuries and leg pain throughout his career, Mantle’s determination insured him a place as one of baseball’s all-time greats.
Life After Baseball
A restaurateur, television commentator
In 1969 after retiring from baseball Mantle decided to go into business for himself. You might say that Mantle’s latter post-baseball years were times of leisurely fishing and relaxation–though he also appeared in various sports documentaries on video. And not forgetting the average fan, Mantle’s place in National Baseball’s Hall of Fame was assured in 1974.
Struggles and Arriving At The End
Mantle’s health deteriorated in later years, largely as a result of his heavy drinking. In 1994 he went to the Betty Ford Clinic and was diagnosed as suffering from cirrhosis, hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Looking back on his life Mantle famously said, “If I had known I was going to live to be this old, I would have taken better care of myself.” In 1995 he received a liver transplant but although his health had rallied, it was only temporary – on August 13th, 1995 (aged 63), Mantle passed away from a heart attack in Dallas, Texas. Mantle was survived by his wife, Merlyn; and three out of their four children: David, Danny, Mickey Jr., with their fourth child Billy having died from Hodgkin’s disease a year previously. ill’s lesson for himself, as he said upon his retirement: “At least one thing good has come of it. I know now–for the first time ever–what’s in this life after baseball.”
Quick Facts About Mickey Mantle
Name: Mickey Mantle
Birth Date: October 20, 1931
Birthplace: Spavinaw, Oklahoma, USA
Death Date: August 13, 1995
Death Place: Dallas, Texas, USA
Career: Baseball Player
Known For: Playing for the New York Yankees (1951-1968) and induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
Famous Quote: “Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part.”
Mickey Mantle’s status as a legendary figure in baseball endures more profoundly these days than it did at any other time–partly on account of his own home run call and unbiased remembrances of his own life.
