Leo Durocher
American baseball player and coach
Mickey Mantle, nicknamed “the Mick” and “the Commerce Comet,” was a legendary American baseball player who spent his entire MLB career with the New York Yankees. Considered one of the best players and sluggers of all time, he won three MVP awards and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Despite a career plagued by injuries, Mantle became one of the greatest offensive threats in baseball history, hitting 536 home runs and batting .300 or more ten times.
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About the Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantlecareerwith the New York Yankees, primarily as a center fielder. Mantle is regarded by many as being one of the best players and sluggers of all time. He was an American LeagueMost Valuable Player three times and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.
Born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, Mantle was raised by his father to become a baseball player and was trained early on to become a switch hitter. Despite a career plagued with injuries, beginning with his knee injury in the 1951 World Series, he became one of the greatest offensive threats in baseball history, and was able to hit for both average and power. He is the only player to hit 150 home runs from both sides of the plate. Mantle hit 536 career home runs while batting .300 or more ten times; he is 16th all-time in home runs per at-bat and 17th in on-base percentage.
Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, when he led the major leagues in batting average(130). He was an All-Star for 16 seasons, playing in 16 of the 20 All-Star Games that he was selected for. He also had a solid .984 fielding percentage when playing center field, winning a Gold Glove in that position. He appeared in 12 World Series, winning seven championships, and holds World Series records for the most home runs (18), RBIs (40), extra-base hits (26), runs (42), walks (43), and total bases (123), and he has the highest World Series on-base and slugging percentages.
After retirement, Mantle worked as sports commentator for NBC for a few years and had a brief stint as first base and hitting coach for the Yankees in the 1970 season. Despite being one of the best paid athletes of his era, he was a poor businessman and suffered financial setbacks from business failures. His private life was plagued by tumult and tragedy. His marriage fell apart due to his alcoholism and infidelity, and three of his sons became alcoholics, two of them dying from it. Towards the end of his life, Mantle came to regret his hard lifestyle and the damage he had inflicted on his family. Before his final year, he was treated for alcoholism and became sober, afterwards warning others of the dangers of hard drinking. He died from liver cancer brought on by years of alcohol abuse in Dallas, Texas, aged 63.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mickey Mantle was nicknamed ,the Mick, and ,the Commerce Comet,.
Mickey Mantle won the American League MVP Award three times during his career.
Mickey Mantle holds the record for the most home runs in a World Series, with 18 career home runs.
Mickey Mantle was a switch hitter, the only player to hit 150 home runs from both sides of the plate.
Mickey Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, leading the major leagues in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.
Mickey Mantle’s private life was plagued by tumult and tragedy, including alcoholism, infidelity, and the deaths of two of his sons due to alcoholism.
After retiring from baseball, Mickey Mantle worked as a sports commentator for NBC for a few years and had a brief stint as a first base and hitting coach for the Yankees.
25 Quotes by Mickey Mantle
- 1.
Well, baseball was my whole life. Nothing’s ever been as fun as baseball.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 2.
Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, ‘Sure, every time.’
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 3.
When I hit a home run I usually didn’t care where it went. So long as it was a home run was all that mattered.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 4.
The only thing I can do is play baseball. I have to play ball. It’s the only thing I know.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 5.
Today’s Little Leaguers, and there are millions of them each year, pick up how to hit and throw and field just by watching games on TV. By the time they’re out of high school, the good ones are almost ready to play professional ball.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 6.
I’ll play baseball for the Army or fight for it, whatever they want me to do.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 7.
The biggest game I ever played in was probably Don Larsen’s perfect game.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 8.
I always loved the game, but when my legs weren’t hurting it was a lot easier to love.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 9.
I don’t care who you are, you hear those boos.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 10.
It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 11.
It was all I lived for, to play baseball.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 12.
You don’t realize how easy this game is until you get up in that broadcasting booth.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 13.
As far as I’m concerned, Aaron is the best ball player of my era. He is to baseball of the last fifteen years what Joe DiMaggio was before him. He’s never received the credit he’s due.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 14.
He who has the fastest golf cart never has a bad lie.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 15.
After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 16.
My views are just about the same as Casey’s.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 17.
To play 18 years in Yankee Stadium is the best thing that could ever happen to a ballplayer.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 18.
I guess you could say I’m what this country is all about.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 19.
Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them. That’s the way I always saw Joe DiMaggio. He was beyond question one of the greatest players of the century.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 20.
I could never be a manager. All I have is natural ability.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 21.
Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 22.
A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 23.
Sometimes I think if I had the same body and the same natural ability and someone else’s brain, who knows how good a player I might have been.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 24.
If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player
- 25.
Roger Maris was as good a man and as good a ballplayer as there ever was.
Mickey MantleAmerican baseball player