Who Was Mickey Mantle?
Career Statistics and Biography of the New York Yankees Legend
Mickey Mantle was one of the all-time greats in baseball history. As great as he was, some say he never reached his full potential. Here's a part of his story.
Mickey Mantle was the centerfielder for the New York Yankees from 1951 through 1968. Although plagued by serious injuries for the majortiy of his playing career, Mickey Mantle still became one of baseball’s greatest players.
Growing Up and Getting Signed
Mickey Mantle was born on October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma. His family soon moved to nearby Commerce so that Mantle’s father, Mutt, could work there in the zinc mines. Mutt was a huge baseball fan who named Mickey after Basseball Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane (whose actual given name was Gordon.) Mutt taught Mickey the game of baseball, working with his son every evening on hitting, fielding, and throwing. Mutt’s attentive tutoring soon paid off. Mickey became a star player at Commerce High School.
After he graduated, Mickey was signed in 1949 by New York Yankees agent Tom Greenwade for the princely sum of $1,500.
The Young Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle debuted with the New York Yankees in 1951, which was also the last year of Joe DiMaggio’s career. During spring training, Mantle hit the cover off the ball and ran the bases like a jack-rabbit, which prompted Manager Casey Stengel to proclaim that Mickey Mantle would be Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio all rolled into one. That put a lot of pressure on the young Mick, and it made the Yankee Clipper very cold towards him. Joe wasn’t quite ready to step out of the spotlight just yet, and not for some greenhorn kid from Oklahoma. The two players never got along.
But by 1952, DiMaggio was gone and the 20-year old Mantle stepped right into his shoes. He hit .311 with 23 HR and 87 RBI, and finished third in the voting for MVP. Mickey was also the hero of the 1952 World Series, hitting two game winning home runs.
Mickey Mantle got increasingly better over the next three seasons, averaging .301 with 29 HR, 99 RBI, and 120 Runs over that period. Then, in 1956, he put together a season for the ages, hitting .353 with 52 home runs and 130 RBI to become the first winner of the AL Triple Crown in 10 years. He also won the American League MVP for 1956. Mantle won the award again in 1957, becoming just the third player ever to win back-to-back MVPs.
The 1961 Baseball Season and the Chase for Babe Ruth
Mickey Mantle’s most storied year came in 1961 baseball season. That was the year that he and Roger Maris chased Babe Ruth’s single season home run record of 60. As the summer rolled on, and it became clear that both men had a chance to break the record, the fans turned against Roger Maris. Because he had only played in New York for one year, the fans did not consider Maris a true Yankee. By comparison, the fans embraced Mantle like never before, elevating him to the status of the most beloved athlete in New York.
In the end, Mantle was knocked out of the final nine games of the season with an injury and finished with 54 home runs. Maris broke Ruth’s record when he hit number 61 on the last day of the season.
Mickey Mantle’s Later Years
Mantle won his third MVP award in 1962. He hit .314 in 1963. In the 1964 season, he hit .303 with 35 HR and 111 RBI to finish second to American League MVP Brooks Robinson. Beginning in 1965, however, injuries and alcohol began to erode Mickey’s skills. His knees were so damaged that he could hardly run. His shoulders, arms and legs constantly ached as a residual of the fifteen bone fractures he had suffered in his career. Teammates watched as Mantle wrapped his legs from ankles to hips before every game just so he could walk on the field.
But Mantle played on through the pain, and for the rest of his career, he was still a feared power hitter. But he really couldn’t hit for average anymore, and that may have hurt his legacy just a little. At the end of the 1964 season, Mickey Mantle had a career .309 batting average. By the time he retired, it had dropped to .298.
Mickey Mantle’s Legacy as a Player
Mantle’s career numbers are still eye-popping. He hit 536, won 3 MVP awards and played in 20 All Star games. He also led the American League in home runs five times, runs scored seven times, and walks six times. His Yankee teams won 12 American League Pennants and 7 World Series crowns. Despite speculation about what could have been, there is no denying that he is still truly one of the baseball's all-time greats.
