Mickey+Mantle

Mickey Charles Mantle was born on October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma. Mickey's father, Mutt, wanted his son to grow up to be a professional baseball player so he was named after Hall of Fame catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, Mickey Cochrane. The family soon moved to Commerce, Oklahoma where Mutt worked in the Lead and Zinc mines. Every day when Mutt would come home from the mines, they would practice baseball next to an old tin barn. Mutt would pitch tennis balls (right handed) to Mickey while he batted lefty. Mickey's grandfather, Charlie, would then pitch left handed to Mickey while he batted righty. By the age of five, Mickey was already showing promising signs as a baseball player and impressing the neighbors. Mickey's childhood home and the old tin barn still stand in Commerce, Oklahoma. Mickey was actually a catcher, like Mickey Cochrane, when he was 10 years old and playing in the Pee Wee League in Douthat. At the age of 15, Mickey played for the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids in a semi-pro league which was composed of players up to 21 years old. Mickey attended Commerce High School and excelled in baseball, football and basketball. During a football practice in 1946, Mickey was kicked in the shin. A bone infection, known as osteomyelitis, developed which almost resulted in the amputation of Mickey's leg. Yankee scout, Tom Greenwade, discovered Mickey while he was playing for the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids in 1948. On that particular day, Mickey hit two tape measure home runs (one from each side of the plate) that cleared the fence and rolled into the river which was 400+ from home plate. Greenwade returned to Commerce on Mickey's graduation day and signed him to a professional contact with the New York Yankees for $140/month plus a $1,150 signing bonus.
 * Biography **

**NEW YORK YANKEES** Mickey was invited to the Yankees instructional camp in Phoenix, AZ in the spring of 1951. He impressed reporters, fans, teammates and opponents with his tremendous power, his blazing speed and his powerful throwing arm. Casey Stengel and the Yankees had planned to let Mickey play 1951 on a Class A minor league team but decided to give him a try in the majors after his phenomenal spring. Mickey was assigned uniform #6. Since Babe Ruth had been #3, Lou Gehrig had been #4 and Joe DiMaggio was #5, Mickey was assigned the next number of greatness which proved to be a great mental burden for the young Mick. Mickey's first game in the Major Leagues was on April 17, 1951 in which he went 1 for 4 at the plate and played right field while Joe DiMaggio played center field. On July 15, Mickey was hitting .260 and had struck out 52 times in 246 at bats. That was not good enough for the manager Casey Stengel. Stengel sent Mickey down to the Triple-A Kansas City Blues to get his batting confidence back and to learn how to play center field. By August 24, Mickey's stats were quite impressive. In 40 games, he had collected 11 homers, 3 triples, 9 doubles, 50 RBIs and a batting average of .364. The Yankees realized that it was time to bring Mickey back to the majors. This time, Mickey was given uniform #7 which was to become his trademark. During the 1951 World Series vs. the New York Giants, Mickey badly injured his right knee while trying to catch a fly ball off the bat of Willie Mays. The injury would plague Mickey for the rest of his life and resulted in him needing to tightly wrap his leg from the hip to the ankle before every game. Despite his leg injury, Mickey was clocked at 3.1 seconds from home plate to first base which is a record that still stands today. On April 17, 1953, the term "tape measure home run" was used due to a blast by Mickey at Griffith Stadium which traveled a record 565 feet. During his eighteen year career, Mickey hit many other tape measure homers and became famous for his mammoth blasts. His 565' blast still stands today as the longest measured home run in the history of baseball. Mickey's greatest year was in 1956 when he won the Triple Crown, Male Athlete of the Year award, the American League MVP award by a unanimous vote and the Player of the Year award. That year he led the major leagues with a .353 batting average, 52 home runs and 130 RBIs. Mickey also won the MVP in 1957 and 1962 as well as a Gold Glove in 1962. Post-Season Appearances 1951 World Series 1952 World Series 1953 World Series 1955 World Series 1956 World Series 1957 World Series 1958 World Series 1960 World Series 1961 World Series 1962 World Series 1963 World Series 1964 World Series ** Awards and Honors ** 1956 AL MVP 1956 AL Triple Crown 1957 AL MVP 1962 AL Gold Glove 1962 AL MVP ** Hitting Streaks ** 16 games (1961) 15 games (1961) 15 games (1962) ** All-Star Selections ** 1952 AL 1953 AL 1954 AL 1955 AL 1956 AL 1957 AL 1958 AL 1959 AL 1960 AL 1961 AL 1962 AL 1963 AL 1964 AL 1965 AL 1967 AL 1968 AL