JANUARY:
January 16, 1974: Mickey
is elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY in his first year of eligibility.
In addition to Mickey, his close friend Whitey Ford is also elected, along with
Negro League star Cool Papa Bell and umpire Jocko Conlan. The induction ceremony
is scheduled for August 12, 1974.
(Mickey's Hall of Fame plaque is shown in the picture on the right. It reads,
"Mickey Charles Mantle New York
A. L. 1951 - 1968 Hit 536 home runs, won league homer title and
slugging crown four times. Made 2415 hits. Batted .300 or over in each of ten
years with top of .365 in 1957. Topped A. L. in walks five years and in runs
scored six seasons. voted Most Valuable Player 1956-57-62. Named on 20 A. L.
All-Star Teams. Set World Series Records for Homers, 18; Runs, 42; Runs Batted
In, 40; Total Bases, 125; and Bases on Balls, 45.")
FEBRUARY:
Feb. 2, 1954:
Mickey enters the hospital in Springfield, MO to
undergo surgery to have a cyst removed from his right knee by Dr. Dan Yancey.
Mickey had surgery the previous November to have cartilage removed from the same
knee.
Feb. 2, 1959:
The grand opening for Mickey’s bowling alley is held in Dallas, TX. Mickey,
Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and other Yankees players attend to help
kick-off Mickey's new business.
Feb. 3, 1954:
Mickey undergoes surgery in Springfield, MO to have a cyst removed from his
right knee by Dr. Dan Yancey, the same knee that was operated on to remove
cartilage the previous November. The cyst had been in the tendon muscle of his
hamstring since his knee injury in the 1951 World Series, but fluid didn’t
accumulate until he tested his knee after his November surgery.
Feb. 3, 1957:
The New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America presents
Mickey their Player of the Year plaque, the Mercer Award, at an awards dinner at
the Waldorf Astoria. The award is named after baseball writer Sid Mercer as a
memorial.
Feb. 3, 1957:
At the NY Baseball Writers Association dinner Casey Stengel says, “Mickey is the
greatest hitter I’ve seen – for distance – as a modern-age ballplayer. I’ve seen
hit balls so far in this park (Yankee Stadium) and in Washington that even the
President came out to see him twice.”
Feb. 4, 1954:
Mickey’s doctors say that Mickey “will be as good as
new” and “feeling fine” when he reports to spring training after his surgery
yesterday to remove a cyst from his right knee. They also say that he will be up
and around tomorrow, and that the 22-year-old switch-hitter will probably be
released from the hospital next week.
Feb. 4, 1957:
After winning the Triple Crown in 1956, difficult, sometimes bitter salary
negotiations and a holdout, Mickey signs his contract for the 1957 season for
$60,000. The $27,500 raise is the largest raise of his career. Adjusted for
inflation, his $60,000 salary was equivalent to approximately $500,000 in 2013,
a steal by any standard.
Feb. 5, 1954:
It’s announced that
Mickey is recovering ahead of
schedule after surgery to remove a cyst from his right knee and will leave the
hospital tomorrow.
Feb. 5, 1962:
After over 35 years in St. Petersburg, the Yankees open their new million dollar
spring training facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The team is quartered in a
hotel appropriately named, “The Yankee Clipper.”
Feb. 5, 1966:
The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN announces that Mickey is leaving St. Mary’s
Hospital after surgery to remove a bone chip from his right shoulder. He will
remain at the Mayo Clinic for several weeks of physical therapy. A clinic
spokesman says Mickey was “doing well” recovering from the operation, but made
no comment whether Mickey would be ready for spring training.
Feb. 6, 1954:
Mickey leaves the hospital on crutches in Springfield, MO after knee surgery
performed by Dr. Dan Yancey to remove a cyst from the back of his right knee. He
had surgery on the same knee the previous November to remove cartilage. His
17-year-old twin brothers, Ray and Roy, drive him home to Commerce, Oklahoma by
automobile.
Feb. 6, 1970:
In a Pro-Am golf tournament in Phoenix Mickey, paired with football great Joe
Namath, makes a remarkable shot out of a lake to just a couple of feet from the
hole. One spectator is so shocked he falls backward into the lake!
Feb. 7, 1959:
Mickey uses the only leverage baseball players had before free agency to try to
get a better salary. He refuses to sign his Yankees’ contract for the 1957
season and “holds out” for a better salary.
Feb. 8, 1959:
Mickey says he will “never set foot in St. Pete” until he reaches terms with the
Yankees on a new contract for the 1959 season. The Yankees want Mickey to take a
pay cut from last year’s $75,000 salary – Mickey wants a raise to $80,000.
Feb.9, 1952:
Mickey signs his contract for the 1952 season and returns it to the Yankees.
Says Mickey, “It’s a pretty good contract.” Mickey receives the same salary he
was paid his rookie year, $7,500. Adjusted for inflation, $7,500 in 1952 was
equivalent to about $64,000 today. It’s $2,500 over the $5,000 major league
minimum, which is now is $79,000 a year.
Feb. 11, 1952:
Mickey arrives in New York for a check-up on his right
knee, injured in the 1951 World Series. The exam will be performed by the
Yankees’ team doctor, Dr. Sidney Gaynor.
Feb. 11, 1952:
New York Yankees’ General Manager Roy Hamey acknowledges receiving Mickey's
signed contract for the 1952 season.
Feb. 13, 1954:
The Yankees sign outfielder Irv Noren as a backup center-fielder in case Mickey
is slow to recover from his two knee surgeries. Yankees’ PR man Red Patterson
says, “With Mickey’s condition doubtful right now Casey has to worry about that,
and Noren is the guy who will have to take over if Mantle doesn’t recover from
that cyst operation on the back of his right knee.”
Feb. 14, 1962:
M&M mania continues! Shooting begins on the film “Safe
at Home,” written especially for and starring Mickey and his teammate and friend
Roger Maris, at the Yankees’ new million dollar spring training complex in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida.
Feb. 14, 1965:
Mickey signs his Yankees contract for the 1965 season,
his third straight $100,000 contract. It makes him the highest paid player in
baseball for the sixth year in a row. (After adjusting for inflation, $100,000
in 1965 is equivalent to about $729,000 in 2013. In contrast, the average MLB
salary in 2012 was over $3.3 million and the minimum salary was $414,500.)
Feb. 15, 1955:
Mickey signs his Yankees contract for the 1955 season
for $25,000. (Adjusted for inflation, $25,000 in 1955 was equivalent to about
$220,000 in 2013.)
Feb.15, 1965:
Mickey signs his Yankees contract for the 1965 season,
his third straight $100,000 contract. It makes him the highest paid player in
baseball for the sixth year in a row. (After adjusting for inflation, $100,000
in 1965 was equivalent to about $728,000 in 2013. In contrast, the average MLB
salary in 2012 was over $3.3 million and the minimum salary was $414,500.)
Feb. 16, 1954:
Mickey, still on crutches after knee surgery, says he expects to join his
teammates in spring training on March first in St. Petersburg. Mickey remains
unsigned for the 1954 season.
Feb.16, 1961:
Mickey signs his contract for the 1961 season for
$75,000, a $10,000 raise over his 1960 salary. It makes him the highest paid
player in baseball. (Adjusted for inflation, $75,000 is equivalent to about
$575,000 in 2013.)
Feb. 17, 1952:
The NY Times reports that outfielder Jackie Jensen says that he will beat out
Mickey as the center-field replacement for Joe DiMaggio in spring training. The
Times got the story off the wire from a story written by a reporter in Oakland,
California.
Feb. 17, 1956:
In Miami Mickey shoots a 99 in the National Baseball Players’ Golf Championship
to finish in the top 20 in the Major League division.
Feb. 18, 1959:
It’s reported that the Yankees have asked Mickey to accept a “good behavior”
clause in his 1959 contract – Mickey refuses.
Feb. 19, 1959:
After an initial offer of $60,000 - a $10,000 pay cut - Mickey signs his
contract for the 1959 season for $72,000, a $2,000 raise.
Feb. 20, 1954:
Mickey declares his right knee is “in good shape” after surgery to remove a cyst
behind his right knee and that it will stand up to a full season’s play.
Feb. 21, 1953:
Mickey attends the National Sportsman’s Show in NY at
the Grand Central Palace, demonstrating how to tie fly fishing ties.
Feb. 21, 1957:
Mickey reports to spring training in St. Petersburg
after playing in golf tournaments in Miami and Lake Worth, FL.
Feb. 21, 1958:
After tough negotiations with Yankees General Manager
George Weiss and threatening to hold-out, and despite a career high .365 batting
avg. in 1957, Mickey signs his 1958 contract for $70,000, just a $10,000 raise.
Weiss justified the contract by saying that Mickey hadn't won another Triple
Crown in 1957 like he had in 1956.
Feb. 21, 1959:
Yogi Berra unwittingly starts a rumor that The Mick has come to training camp
when he is overheard saying he played 18 holes of golf with Mickey. Mickey is
actually in Texas, contract unsigned, holding out for a raise to his salary. It
turns out Berra played golf with a different Mickey, St. Pete local farmer and
restaurateur “Chicken” Mickey.
Feb. 22, 1952:
Mickey, convalescing from his World Series’ knee
injury, participates in the Yankees’ opening spring training drills. He’s the
only outfielder to participate other than a dozen battery-men (pitchers and
catchers). Although still limping, Mickey says he has no pain and expects to be
as good as ever after his spring training strengthening and conditioning drills.
Feb. 22, 1954:
Mickey, along with 23 other players, remains unsigned for the 1954 season, but
isn’t due to report to spring training in St. Petersburg, FL until March 1st.
Feb. 23, 1951:
Mickey’s a no-show at spring training - he doesn't
have the train fare. The team can't reach him because his family doesn't own a
phone. A local sportswriter locates Mickey so the Yankees can wire him the train
fare to spring training in Phoenix, where the Yankees have swapped facilities
with the NY Giants, who train at the Yankees’ camp in St. Pete, FL.
Feb. 23, 1952:
Observers say
Mickey, still limping from his World
Series knee injury, won’t play as a regular until late in the exhibition season.
Feb. 23, 1955:
One of Mickey’s twin brothers, Roy, stars at bat the second day in a row,
hitting a homer and a single in the Yankees' rookie camp.
Feb. 24, 1953:
After strained contract negotiations,
Mickey signs his
1953 contract for $17,500, more than double the $7,500 salary he made in 1951
and 1952.
Feb. 24, 1960:
After a lengthy salary dispute Mickey finally signs
his 1960 contract for $65,000, a $7,000 pay cut. However, it's $10,000 more than
the Yankees' original offer of $55,000 that represented a $17,000 pay cut! It's
the first and only pay cut of The Mick's career.
Feb. 25, 1951:
Playing a game of pepper on his first day of spring
training, Mickey bats a ball that smacks a passing player in the shin. It's Joe
DiMaggio. That's how Mickey first meets the Yankee Clipper!
Feb. 25, 1955:
Mickey arrives early for spring training at the Yankees' training facility in
St. Petersburg, FL. It’s the first time in his career that his team is not the
defending World Champion.
Feb. 25, 1955:
New York Times columnist Arthur Daley reports that Casey Stengel is considering
converting Mickey from a switch-hitter to batting exclusively as a right-handed
hitter.
Feb. 26, 1952:
After a reporter in Oakland writes that
Jackie Jensen
said he’d outplay Mickey in center-field, Jackie Jensen denies it and writes
Mick a letter explaining that he was misquoted. Says Yogi Berra, “It left nobody
feelin’ hurt at nobody.”
(Photo of Mickey with Jackie
Jensen in Boston on the right.)
Feb
26, 1955:
In his “Sports of the Times” column, writer Arthur Daley declares that 1955
“could be a year of decision” for Mickey.
Feb. 26, 1959:
On the first day of spring training Mickey officially
becomes a “holdout” when he doesn’t report, his 1959 contract unsigned.
Feb. 26, 1962:
Shooting of "Safe at Home" - a film written especially
for and starring Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris - is completed at the Yankees'
new Fort Lauderdale spring training facility. The film is in response to "M&M
Boys" mania, generated by the 1961 home run race between Mickey and Roger, when
Roger broke Babe Ruth's single-season home run record by hitting 61 home runs.
Feb. 27, 1952:
Yankees’ physician, Dr. Sidney Gaynor, examines Mickey knee, injured in the ‘51
World Series, and again expresses satisfaction with the way it is coming along.
Feb
27, 1954:
Mickey signs his 1954 contract with the Yankees for $22,500 and is immediately
leaving his home in Commerce, Oklahoma by car for spring training. He expects to
arrive in camp on Monday, March 1 or Tuesday March 2.
Feb. 27, 1955:
In spring training the Yankees “powers-that-be” look to Mickey’s younger twin
brothers, Ray and Roy, for help in the future.
Feb. 27, 1957:
Although he engages in only the lightest drills with almost no running, Mickey
insists there’s nothing wrong with his knees. Trainer Gene Mauch asks Mickey to
not participate in the Baseball Players’ Golf Tournament in Tampa.
Feb
27, 1963:
Mickey finally joins the elite six-figure club in baseball when he signs his
1963 contract for $100,000. It makes Mickey the highest paid player in baseball
and is his highest career salary. Only Joe DiMaggio has been paid $100,000 prior
to Mickey. (Adjusted for inflation, $100,000 in 1963 is equivalent to about
$750,000 in 2011 - a steal by today's standards.)
Feb. 27, 1969:
Mickey Mantle and Joe Namath, teamed together at the American Airlines golf
classic, shoot a 12 under par 60 to place just one shot behind the leaders on
the first day of the tournament.
Feb. 28, 1959:
Casey Stengel tells reporters that Mickey could become the top earner in
baseball, forecasting a $150,000 yearly salary.
Feb. 28, 1969:
Ralph Houk says that how the Yankees play for the 1969 season hinges on Mickey.
Feb. 29, 1952:
Mickey bears down in spring training drills, running hard and in spurts with no
trace of a limp. Oddly, only when he slows down does he still show a slight
limp.
MARCH:
March 1, 1969: Mickey
announces his retirement from baseball at a press conference at Yankee
Stadium in New York. Mickey played 18 seasons for the Yankees, from
1951-1968. He played a total of 2,401 games, the most games of any Yankees
player. (Photo on the right.)
March
11, 1956: In a spring training game in St.
Petersburg against the St. Louis Cardinals Mickey crushes a
spectacular home run over the left-field bleachers, across a street and into
Tampa Bay.
(The path of this home run is shown by the middle arrow in the photo on the
left. Photo of the field was taken after the bleachers were removed.)
March 12, 1956: Warming
up for what will be his Triple Crown winning season, Mickey clouts
a second formidable home run against the Cardinals in St.
Petersburg, a one-hopper
into Tampa Bay.
(The path of this home run is shown by the broken arrow on the right in the
photo on the left.)
March
18, 1960: Mickey's fourth son, Danny, is born.
March 20, 1961: In
his first spring under manager Ralph Houk, Mickey crushes a high home run
off Roger Craig against the Dodgers at Dodgertown in Vero
Beach, Florida. Mickey's left-handed drive goes completely out of the park
over the rightfield fence and disappears into the distance.
(The red arrow in the in photo on the right shows the path of Mickey's
homer.)
March 20, 1956: On
a tear for what will be his finest spring training since 1951, Mickey -
facing the Cardinals in St. Petersburg yet again - unleashes
another tremendous tape-measure home run, this one high over the centerfield
barrier at Al Lang Stadium, at least 500 feet long. Cardinals'
centerfielder Bill Virdon (Yankees manager from 1974-75) says it's the
longest homer he ever saw.
(The path of this home run is shown by the arrow on the left in the photo
above on the left.)
March
24, 1956:
Mickey hits yet another historic home run, this
time at Miami Stadium in Miami against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
The ball goes over the 35-foot centerfield wall at the 400-foot mark.
It's the first time ever a ball has gone out of Miami Stadium over the centerfield wall. The next day the homer is reported as a
500-footer by the Associated Press.
March 26, 1951: Mickey
crushes two epic, monster home runs in an exhibition game played at Bovard Field at
the University of Southern California (USC). Both are hit left-handed.
The first - a moon shot if ever there was one - left the park in
right-centerfield, crossed a football field adjacent to the baseball diamond
then short-hopped a low wall out of the facility and onto a neighboring street,
never to be seen again. The exact spot where it landed was witnessed by
legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux and center-fielder Tom Riach. Each led observers
to the landing point they saw, which were a mere two feet apart. It may the
longest home run ever measured, traveling a mythic 656 feet!
Mickey's second homer is also remarkable: an opposite-field blast that travels
well over 500 feet. It sails out of the park, across the street bordering the
field, then crashes into the second-story porch of the third house down down the
street. He also triples and, in his final at-bat, uses his world-class speed to
beat out a routine grounder for a single. His box score for the game: 5-AB, 4-H,
2-HR, 1-3B, 1-1B, 7-RBI.
(The red arrows in the diagram above left show the paths of both homers.)
APRIL:
April
9, 1965: Mickey hits the first home run
ever in the Houston Astrodome in an exhibition game against the
Houston Astros. Leading off the sixth inning, Mickey crushes a high
drive off Astros' pitcher Turk Farrell that lands in centerfield near
the 406 foot marker. Mickey also got the first hit in the Astrodome,
a single to center to lead off the first inning.
(In the photo on the right Mickey waits for the pitch from Astros' pitcher
Turk Farrell that he slammed into the centerfield seats for the first home
run ever hit at the Astrodome in Houston.) April
10, 1962: Mickey hits his last Opening
Day home run. It goes some 425 feet into the right-centerfield bleachers at
Yankee Stadium as the Yankees nip Baltimore 7-6.
April
12, 1953: Mickey's first son, Mickey
Jr., is born.
April
13, 1955: Mickey homers on Opening Day
for the first time.
April
17, 1951:
Mickey
makes his Yankees debut against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee
Stadium before nearly 45,000 fans. Whitey Ford, on leave from the Army,
throws out the first pitch. Mickey gets his first hit, a single in the sixth
inning that drives in his first run, as the Yankees shut out the
Red Sox 5-0. Mickey goes 1-for-4 with an rbi and a run scored.
April
17, 1953: Mickey, batting right-handed, blasts a monster
565-foot homer out of Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC. Yankees PR director
Red Patterson coins the term "tape measure home run" by
measuring the homer during the game. It may be the most famous home run ever
hit. The Guinness Book of World Records lists it as the longest home run
to be measured at the time it was hit.
(The photo on the above right illustrates the path of Mickey's homer. Mickey is shown
batting left-handed but he hit the home run right-handed. The yellow arrow in
the diagram below the photo shows how far it went after it left Griffith Stadium.)
April
17, 1956:
Mickey
belts two tremendous Opening Day homers against the Washington Senators at
Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC. President Eisenhower cheers Mickey from
his seat behind the Senators dugout. Both homers are searing line drives
hit left-handed off Camilo Pascual. Each
goes over 500 feet, clearing the 31-foot wall in centerfield. The first
homer lands atop a house across from the park. The second homer ricochets off
a tree growing in a clump of
trees outside the park. It caroms out and onto adjacent Fifth Street. Only Babe Ruth had ever hit a ball into the
trees outside Griffith Stadium, and he only did it once.
(In the diagram on the left Mickey's two
Opening Day homers are shown in red. The red arrow in the center shows the path
of Mickey's first home run that landed atop a house across Fifth Street. The red
arrow on the left shows the path of his second home run that ricocheted off a
tree behind the centerfield wall and then caromed out onto Fifth Street. For
comparison, the yellow arrow shows the path of his 565-foot homer hit on April
17, 1953, exactly two years earlier.) April
20, 1951: Mickey plays his first major
league game at Yankee Stadium.
MAY:
May 1, 1951:
Mickey
hits his first major league home run at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The ball
travels nearly 500 feet.
May 1, 1956:
Mickey begins the scoring with a first-inning solo home run to right-field that
just clears Al Kaline’s glove, who makes a leaping stab at the ball in an
attempt to take Mickey’s homer away from him, and the Bombers go on to beat the
Tigers 9-2 at Yankee Stadium.
May 2, 1961:
In the Yankees’ first game ever in Minnesota, Mickey hammers a tenth-inning
grand slam over the 402-foot sign on the screen in center-field to give them a
6-4 win over the Twins. It’s only the sixth extra-inning grand slam in Yankees’
history. The Yankees are 10-5, and seven of their ten wins are due to Mickey’s
clutch hitting. How sweet it is!
May 3, 1956:
Mickey goes 2-for-2 with 2 runs, 2 rbi and his first right-handed homer of the
year, a titanic 440-foot blast deep into the left-field seats, giving him seven
homers and 18 rbi on the year. Despite three Yankees’ homers they’re nipped by
the A’s in the ninth by a bunt and a sacrifice and lose 8-7 to the Kansas City
Athletics at Yankee Stadium.
May 4, 1951:
Mickey’s second career home run is an historic and formidable 500-plus-foot
blast that flies over the roof and completely out of Sportsman’s Park in St.
Louis as the red hot Bronx Bombers’ win their sixth straight game.
(The path of The Mick's blast at Sportsman's Park
is shown in the diagram on the right.)
May 4, 1961:
Mickey wins a case of beer by hitting a home run directly into the teeth of a
25-mph wind in a 5-2 win in Minnesota after the Twins’ pitcher, Ted Sadowski,
bets The Mick a case of beer that he can’t homer with the wind blowing in at
him. While rounding third base Mickey yells to Sadowski, on the mound in shock
after witnessing Mick’s amazing feat, “I’ll take Budweiser!”
May 5, 1956: Mickey hits his first
home run to strike the façade at Yankee Stadium. It's off righty Moe
Burtschy of the Kansas City
A's
and his second homer of the game as the Yankees win
5-2. It's his first homer to nearly go out of Yankee Stadium. A's broadcaster
Merle Harmon says, "If not for the roof, it would have hit the subway
across the street!" (The path
of Mickey's first façade shot at Yankee Stadium is diagrammed in the photo on the right.)
May 5, 1957:
Mickey goes 3-for-3 with a walk, a run, 2 rbi, a stolen
base and a two-run homer into the top deck in left-field at Comiskey Park in
Chicago for a 5-2 win over the White Sox.
May 5, 1962:
Mickey goes 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored, a run-batted-in, and a two-run homer
deep into the third deck in right-field as the Yankees nip the Washington
Senators 7-6 at Yankee Stadium.
May 6, 1962:
Mickey goes 4-for-8 with 3 runs, 5 rbi and 3 homers in a doubleheader split
against the Senators at Yankee Stadium. His tape-measure shot in the first game
goes 460-feet into the last row of the right-field bleachers. In the second game
Mickey switch-hits homers for the ninth time in his career – only one player in
the American League had done it before, and only once.
May 6, 1962:
Mickey goes 4-for-8 with 3 runs, 5 rbi and 3 homers
in a doubleheader split against the Senators at Yankee Stadium. His tape-measure
shot in the first game goes 460-feet into the last row of the right-field
bleachers. In the second game Mickey switch-hits homers for the ninth time in
his career – only one player in the American League had done it before, and only
once.
May 6, 1963:
Mickey goes 3-for-3 with a walk, a run, 3 rbi, a sacrifice fly and a bazooka
shot home run to the upper deck in left-field to beat the Tigers 10-3 at Tiger
Stadium in Detroit.
May 6, 1964:
Mickey goes 3-for-8 with a walk, 2 runs, 5 rbi and his first two homers of the
year, one in each game of a doubleheader split against the Senators at DC
Stadium in Washington.
May 6, 1968:
Mickey passes Ted Williams for fourth in the all-time career home runs with
#522, a two-run shot into the lower deck in right off Indians’ lefty Sam
McDowell in a 3-2 loss in NY. McDowell, who breaks the AL record this day for Ks
in consecutive games with 30, later says it “was a change-up in which I knew
that I had him fooled, yet he hit it out to the opposite field.”
May 6, 1998 (14
Years):
WCBS-TV in New York reports that the FBI maintains a 29-page file on Mickey.
They say it contains a report that an unidentified blackmailer tried to extort
$15,000 from Mickey after he was caught in a “compromising situation” with a
married woman, that he received calls from a known gambler in 1963 and letters
threatening to shoot him.
May 7, 1954:
Mickey’s sky-high howitzer blast over the 402-foot sign in left soars over 425
feet, past the double rows of box seats, and leads the Bombers to a 2-0 win over
the Philadelphia Athletics at Yankee Stadium.
May 7, 1955:
Mickey launches a towering solo home run in the eighth deep to dead center-field
in Fenway Park to put the Yankees ahead for good as the Bombers beat the Red Sox
9-6.
May 7, 1998 (14
Years):
The FBI
confirms that it kept a 29-page file on Mickey. 24 pages concern a blackmail
attempt and letters threatening to shoot him. Five pages are their response to a
1969 White House request that Mickey’s name be checked to see if it turned up in
other files. Says the FBI, “By no stretch of the imagination was Mickey Mantle
ever the subject of an FBI investigation.”
May 8, 1956:
Mickey, despite a painful muscle spasm in his left thigh and fouling a ball off
his right big toe in batting practice, still manages to knock a homer into
Yankee Stadium’s lower right-field seats for a 4-3 win. Mickey’s dinger came off
Indians’ right-hander Early Wynn, Mickey’s favorite pitcher for career home
runs. Wynn gave up 13 to The Mick, the most of any pitcher.
May 8, 1957:
Mickey belts a 440-foot three-run home run to deepest center-field in
Cleveland's cavernous Municipal Stadium, adding to his total of career home runs
hit off Early Wynn, but the Yankees lose 10-4.
May 8, 1964:
Despite tornado warnings and stormy skies, Mickey rips a homer through the winds
over the right-field fence at Cleveland’s cavernous Municipal Stadium as the
Yankees crush the Indians 10-3.
May 9, 1953:
Mickey catapults a tremendous home run off the light-tower above the net in
left-field and is later robbed of a homer when Jimmy Piersall makes a leaping,
back-hand catch above the wall in deep center near the 420-foot sign as the
Bombers beat Boston 6-4 at Fenway Park.
May 9, 1958: Mickey hits the first
of three inside-the-park home runs in less than a month,
a 450-ft drive into the monuments in center-field at Yankee Stadium. The Mick
turns on the after-burners and flies around the bases for an inside-the-park
home run. He goes 3-for-5, scoring 2 runs and driving home an rbi, and steals
third as part of a double steal as the Bombers beat the Senators 9-5 in NY. This one is against
the Senators at Yankee Stadium.
May 9, 1964:
Mickey hits his 12th and final career homer off left-handed pitcher
Pedro Ramos (his second favorite pitcher for hitting home runs) as the Bronx
Bombers beat the Indians 6-2 at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.
May 9, 1966:
Slowed by major shoulder surgery in the off-season, Mickey finally hits his
first homer of the year in the 23rd game of the season. It’s the latest he’s
homered in any year of his career, but it comes at a good time as it enables the
Bombers nip the Minnesota Twins 3-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis.
May 10, 1959:
In a doubleheader sweep over the Senators at Yankee Stadium, in the first game
Mickey smacks a 410-foot homer into the left-field bullpen and scores two runs.
In the second game he singles and scores the winning run in the bottom of the
tenth.
May 10, 1965:
Mickey
goes 3-for-4 with a run, 2 rbi, a long homer to right and a double. The Mick’s
double comes with two out in the ninth, a long, hard hit ball that caroms high
off the left-center-field wall, missing being a homer by two feet. Mickey's
pinch runner is stranded at second and the Yankees lose 3-2 at Fenway Park. It
is pitcher Jim Lonborg’s first big league win.
May 11, 1963:
Mickey goes 2-for-4 with a walk, 3 runs, 3 rbi and a homer off Milt Pappas in a
13-1 massacre of the Orioles at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Roger Maris
homers too, the first time M&M homered in the same game this season.
May 11, 1965:
After Mickey hurt his hands hitting a hard sinker off the end of his bat,
pitcher Arnie Earley sees Mickey set-up in the back of the batter’s box. On a
3-2 pitch Earley fires another hard sinker well outside. Rather than walk,
Mickey reaches out and smashes it 430-feet into the seats beyond the Red Sox
bullpen in right-center-field and the Yankees win 5-3 at Fenway.
May 12, 1957:
Mickey belts a game-winning homer deep into the right-field seats with two out
in the eighth inning to lead the Yankees to a 4-3 win over the Orioles at
Municipal Stadium in Baltimore.
May 12, 1959:
Mickey hits a tremendous drive all the way to the 457-foot sign in
left-center-field at Yankee Stadium then races around the bases for an
inside-the-park homer, but the Bombers lose 7-6 to the Indians in NY.
May 12, 1962:
Mickey crushes a 450-foot ninth inning blast into the bullpen in right-field to
help seal a 9-6 victory over the Tribe at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.
May 13, 1951:
Mickey’s first right-handed major league home run is overshadowed by the
Philadelphia Athletics sweep of a doubleheader from the Yankees at Shibe Park.
With a runner on third Mickey popped out trying to bunt to end the first game.
In the second game he made a rookie running mistake and missed touching second
base. Game two was called after 8 innings due to a curfew.
May 13, 1955: Mickey has the only
three-homer game in his career and first switch-hit homer game – one righty
and two lefty – goes 4-for-4 and drives in all five runs to beat the Detroit
Tigers
in New York. All three homers are hit to the right-centerfield bleachers. Each
is well over 400 feet.
May 13, 1960:
Mickey, batting second for one of the few times in his career, bashes a
tremendous opposite-field homer over the 31-foot high wall in right-field,
completely out of Griffith Stadium – a rare feat for a right-handed hitter - and
the Yankees beat the Senators 7-3 in Washington.
May 14, 1966:
Mickey mauls a monster mash of a homer - over 500 feet - that clears the
outfield fence in deepest right-center-field and continues rocketing to the base
of a second, outer fence - something never before accomplished - but the
Athletics go on to win 4-2 in Kansas City.
May 14, 1967:
On a two out full count Mickey smokes Orioles’ pitcher Stu Miller’s “pitcher’s
pitch” (low & away) deep into the lower seats in right for career homer #500.
It's the difference in the Bombers' 7-6 win at Yankee Stadium. Only the 6th
player ever to hit 500 career homers, Yankees’ 3rd base coach Frank Crosetti
breaks tradition by shaking The Mick’s hand as he rounds 3rd.
May 15, 1957:
While celebrating Billy Martin’s birthday, Mickey,
Billy, Yogi Berra and Hank Bauer are involved in a brawl at the Copacabana
nightclub. When the players ask a drunk bowling team to stop yelling racial
slurs at Sammy Davis during his performance, they challenge the Yankees to a
fight in the cloak room. The highly publicized incident gives GM George Weiss an
excuse to trade Billy to Kansas City. One of the bowlers sues Hank Bauer for
$1,000,000. The judge throws out the case.
May
16, 1951: Mickey hits his first major
league home run at Yankee Stadium.
May 20, 1958: Mickey hits the second of
three inside-the-park home runs in less than a month. This one is against the
White Sox at Comiskey Park.
MAY
21
May 21,
1963:
Mickey goes 2-for-4, scoring 2 runs with 5 rbi. Both of his hits are home runs
to right (one goes into the lower seats, the other soars into the bullpen) to
help the Yanks beat the Kansas City A's 7-4 at Yankee Stadium in NY.
MAY 22 May
22, 1962: Mickey hits what he calls "the hardest
ball I ever hit" at Yankee Stadium off Bill Fischer of the
Kansas City A's. The ball
hits the façade inches from the top and bounces back to the infield. It wins
the game in the bottom of the tenth inning.
(The diagram in photo on right shows the
location where Mickey's home run off Bill Fischer hit the façade at
Yankee Stadium.)
MAY
23
May 23, 1959:
Mickey breaks a personal slump and a team
slump with a great game by going 3-for-3 with 2 walks, 3 runs scored, an rbi
double in the first followed by a steal of third - when the catcher's throw gets
away Mickey races home to score, plus a hefty home run in the fifth belted deep
over the barrier in right to give the Yankees a 13-5 win at Memorial Stadium in
Baltimore.
MAY
24
May 24, 1956:
Mickey has a great day, going 5-for-5 with a long home run into the stands in
right in the second inning, plus a walk, 3 runs, and 3 rbi as the Yankees pound
Detroit 11-4 at Tiger Stadium. Mickey's performance raises his average to .421,
with 17 homers and 39 rbi - the best in the majors, and speculation about Mickey
winning the Triple Crown begins!
MAY
25
May 25, 1954:
Mickey goes 3-for-4 with a walk, 2 runs, 1 rbi, uses his
blazing speed to beat-out two infield singles, and then in the eighth inning
catapults a homer well over Griffith Stadium’s 31-foot high wall in right-field
to help the Yankees beat the Senators 9-3 in Washington.
May 25, 1957:
Mickey goes 2-for-4 with a run and 2 rbi, then in the
fifth inning picks on home run favorite Pedro Ramos again by hitting another
homer off him, a sharp drive into the lower seats in right-field, as the Yankees
beat the Senators 8-1 at Yankee Stadium.
May 25, 1966:
Mickey has his first two-homer game since Aug. 12, 1964.
He goes 3-for-3 with 2 walks, 3 runs, 5 rbi and 2 homers. He hits one homer into
the back of the bullpen in right-field, and the other homer he slices to the
opposite-field stands in left, helping the Yankees knock the halos off the
Angels 11-6 at Yankee Stadium.
MAY
26
May 26, 1957:
Mickey’s towering “eye-opening” homer disappears through a runway opening in the
top tier in right, bringing the Yankees back to even from a 6-0 deficit, but the
Senators manage to eke out a 9-6 win anyway in the first game of a twin-bill
split with Washington at Yankee Stadium.
May 26, 1963:
This game against the Senators is a tense pitcher’s
duel until the 6th inning when Mickey kites an opposite-field homer
that sails into the lower deck in right-field, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
That opens the floodgates and the Bombers go on to win 7-1 at Yankee Stadium.
MAY 27
May 27, 1959:
Mickey wins this game with his speed rather than his bat.
He stretches a line single into a double, steals a base and gets 3 walks. After
Mickey walks in the 8th Bosox hurler Murray Wall, mindful of his speed, tries a
half-dozen pick-off attempts. When he finally pitches to Moose Skowron it’s a
gopher ball. Moose parks it in the right-field seats for a 3-2 win in NY.
MAY 28
May 28, 1960:
Mickey breaks a scoreless tie (and an 0-for-20 slump) in the 6th inning with a
lead-off opposite-field homer that travels over 400 feet into the bleachers in
right to lead the Yankees to a 5-1 win over the Senators at Yankee Stadium. New
right-fielder Roger Maris – traded for in the off-season - also homers, the
first time the “M&M Boys” both homer in the same game.
MAY 29
May 29, 1960:
Mickey, batting
right-handed, lifts an opposite-field drive into the bleachers in right-field
for a home run to start a three-run rally in the sixth inning, leading the
Yankees to a 6-4 win over the Senators at Yankee Stadium.
It’s his third righty homer of the year, and all have been hit to the opposite
field.
MAY
30
May 30, 1956:
In a Memorial Day doubleheader at Yankee Stadium Mickey
launches his first façade shot off Pedro Ramos in game 1. It misses
going out by 18 inches and
reporters estimate it would’ve gone at least 600 feet! In game 2 he clouts a
450-footer off Camilo Pascual that goes half-way up the bleachers in right to
lead the Yankees to a twinbill sweep over the Senators.
(The façade home run hit the
façade a little to the right of the home run shown in the "hardest ball"
photo diagram just above this entry.)
May 30, 1961:
The Yankees turn on the power and hit 7 homers. Mickey & Roger Maris hit two
each - two back-to-back and each of the four over 400 feet - as NY clobbers the
Bosox 12-3 at Fenway Park.
May 30, 1965:
Mickey, playing left-field, goes 2-for-4 and homers in the fourth for the first
run as the Yankees beat the Chisox 3-1 at Comiskey Park.
May 30, 1968:
In his finest game as a first-baseman, Mickey has his fourth and last 5-hit game
and third 5-for-5 game, with 2 homers, a double, 2 singles, 3 runs and 5 rbi to
beat the Senators 13-4 in game 1 of a twinbill sweep in NY.
MAY 31
May 31, 1954:
Though his 11-game hitting streak ends in game 1, Mickey goes 3-for-3 with a
run, 2 rbi & a triple in the nightcap to give the Yanks a twinbill split with
the Senators in NY. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie is in attendance.
May 31, 1960:
The NY Times reports Mickey’s face and jaw are bruised by fans running on the
field, clawing and grabbing him after the Memorial
Day twinbill.
Stadium security is beefed up due to the incident. Mickey later
says “I learned to throw the ball one way, my cap the other way, and then to run
like hell for the clubhouse.”
May 31, 1956:
Arthur Daley devotes his NY Times column primarily to tape measure homers at
Yankee Stadium due to Mickey’s tremendous homer off the façade on May 30.
May 31, 1961:
Mickey hits the key blow, a 400+-foot home run to center-field with Roger Maris
on base (Maris also homered earlier) to give the Yankees a 7-6 win over Boston
at Yankee Stadium.
May 31, 1964:
Sitting out due to a leg injury that prevents him from running, Mickey is called
on to pinch-hit. Batting right-handed, he hits a shot that scores two-runs. It
would normally have been a double but The Mick has to jog to first and stop
there because of his injury. Thus far in the season his average batting
right-handed is .559, with 18 rbi in 34 at-bats!
May 31, 1965:
Mickey singles, steals second base, races to third on a ground ball, then scores
on a passed ball. His daring base running makes the difference, giving the
Yankees a doubleheader split with Detroit at Yankee Stadium.
JUNE:
JUNE 1
June 1, 1960:
Mickey whacks a 400+-foot homer to center his first at-bat for the Yankees’ only
hit. He also makes a great catch, turning his back to the ball and racing to the
fence in center for a spectacular backhanded grab, but it’s not enough as the
Bombers lose 4-1 to the Birds in Baltimore.
June 1, 1966:
Mickey’s homer into the center-field bullpen in the ninth spoils White Sox
pitcher Juan Pizarro’s shutout, but the Bombers lose to the Pale Hose 6-2 at
Comiskey Park in Chicago.
JUNE 2
June 2, 1957:
Mickey’s two-run first inning homer off Orioles’ righty Hal Brown flies high
into the top deck in right, followed by solo shots from Berra and Howard - all
the Yankees need to ground the Birds 4-0 at Yankee Stadium in NY.
June 2, 1958:
Mickey’s solo clout in the first is enough for Whitey Ford, who ties the AL
record with six consecutive strikeouts, but Hank Bauer hammers two homers also
as the Pale Hose wash out at Yankee Stadium 3-0.
JUNE 3
June 3, 1955:
Mickey crushes a solo homer that caroms off Comiskey Park’s upper deck in
left-center to tie the game 2-2 in the sixth, but Chicago holds off the Yankees
and ekes out a 3-2 win.
June 3, 1958:
Mickey
lines a 3-run shot into the seats in right in the first to get the Yankees
rolling (Mickey works Chisox pitchers for 3 walks and scores 3 runs, too) as the
Pale Hose get hosed 13-0 at Yankee Stadium.
June 3, 1959:
With the game tied 5-5 in the ninth inning, Mickey swings at a pitch but doesn’t
get it all. But even a little can be a lot when it’s The Mick. He lofts a fly
ball to right-center that looks like a fly out. To everyone’s surprise – except
Mickey’s – it keeps going and going, eventually carrying over the fence for a
game-winning homer and a 6-5 Yankees’ win in Detroit.
JUNE 4
June 4, 1953:
Mickey belts 420-foot homer into the Yankees’ bullpen in the third inning, then
singles to ignite a four-run rally in the tenth inning that leads to a 9-5 win
at Comiskey Park in the Windy City.
June 4, 1958:
Mickey’s 478-foot blast to row 19 of the bleachers in left-center is only the
eighth ball ever hit there. The Mick has now homered to all of the seating areas
at Yankee Stadium, but the Chisox take this one 7-2.
June 4, 1963:
With Orioles’ ace Steve Barber in command in the second, Mickey lunges at a
full-count pitch. Though fooled on the pitch, The Mick’s off-balance poke
demonstrates his incredible strength. The resulting lazy fly ball to the
opposite-field just keeps on carrying, sailing 360 feet to the bleachers in
left. It’s the Yankees’ only run in a 3-1 loss at Memorial Stadium in Charm
City.
JUNE 5
June 5, 1953:
Mickey extends his hitting streak to 10 games by racking up a single and belting
a homer into the seats in right-center as the Bombers beat the Browns 5-0 at
Busch Stadium in Mound City.
June 5, 1955:
Mickey
launches a tape measure rocket that leaves the field between the 352-foot and
367-foot signs, flying over the Comiskey Park roof and sailing into a parking
lot over 550 feet away as the Yankees split a twinbill with the Pale Hose in
Chicago.
(A diagram of Mickey's homer on 6/5/55 homer out of Comiskey Park in Chicago is
in the photo on the right.)
June 5, 1956:
A’s manager Lou Boudreau uses the “Mantle Shift” when Mickey is batting lefty
with no one on base. Complicated, it moves fielders to the right to give KC five
outfielders. Mickey tries bunting twice but strikes out. In the eighth with no
shift Mickey belts a 2-run homer but the Yankees lose 7-3. Says GM George Weiss
of the shift, “It got him thinking, and that’s bad.”
June 5, 1957:
Mickey
goes 3-for-5, scores two runs and slams a long 450-foot homer to right as the
Yankees scalp the Indians 13-3 at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.
June 5, 1958:
Mickey hits his third inside-the-park home run in less than a month – half his
career total - when he wallops a shot to the 461-foot sign in center and blazes
around the bases as the Yankees split a twinbill with Chicago’s Pale Hose at
Yankee Stadium in NY.
June 5, 1960:
Mickey goes 2-for-3 with a single and a home run in the first game to help the
Bombers win 5-4 and sweep a doubleheader from the Bosox at Yankee Stadium in NY.
June 5, 1961:
Mickey’s
420-foot 2-run homer to the bleachers in right helps the Bombers sweep a
twinbill from the Twins at Yankee Stadium in NY. It’s his 15th homer
of the season and career home run #335. His homers are almost perfectly divided:
The Mick’s hit 168 homers on the road and 167 at home.
June 5, 1963:
It's a black day for The Mick. Chasing a fly ball in Baltimore he crashes into
the center-field railing, breaks a bone in his left foot and tears a cartilage
in his knee. He's carried off the field on a stretcher. As a result he plays in
only 65 games this season.
June 5, 1965:
Mickey homers in the sixth, then makes a fine running catch to rob a bid for
extra-bases to help Mel Stottlemyre, who pitches the full ten innings and hits
his first major league home run. Elston Howard, newly back from elbow surgery,
rips a single to left to drive in the winning run in the tenth as the Bombers
nip the Pale Hose 4-3 at Yankee Stadium.
June 5, 1967:
Mickey goes after a “waste pitch” from Senators’ reliever Darold Knowles – a
sinker thrown ankle-high and about a foot outside - and golfs a drive that
slices towards the opposite-field, continuing to carry until it sails into the
lower right-field seats for a home run, as the Yankees beat the Senators 4-2 at
Yankee Stadium.
JUNE 6
June 6, 1954:
Mickey goes 2-for-4 with 2 runs, 2 rbi and a homer into the right-field stands
as the Bombers beat the first-year Orioles (the former St. Louis Browns) 5-2 at
Yankee Stadium.
June 6, 1955:
Mickey hits a 450-foot homer that clears the 440 foot sign and lands in the
stands in dead center at Tiger Stadium - the first homer ever hit there! It
leads the Bombers to a 7-5 win over the Tigers in Detroit.
June 6, 1957:
Mickey goes 2-for-3 with 3 walks, 3 runs, 4 rbi and a 450-foot homer that clears
the fence and one-hops off a cinder track into the never-before-reached seats in
center-field for a 14-5 win over the Tribe in Cleveland.
June 6, 1958:
Mickey goes 3-for-3 with a walk, 3 runs, 4 rbi and 2 homers – one caroms off the
railing of the upper deck in left – as the Bombers nip the Cleveland Indians 6-5
at Yankee Stadium.
JUNE 7
June 7, 1957:
Mickey silences a large crowd in Detroit when he launches a prodigious blast in
the first inning that ricochets off the facing of the right-field roof to give
the Yankees a temporary 1-0 lead at Tiger Stadium, but the Tigers eventually
prevail over the Bombers 6-3.
June 8, 1969:
"Mickey
Mantle Day" - the third day honoring Mickey - is held at Yankee Stadium. 70,000 people attend.
(Mickey is overcome with emotion on "Mickey Mantle Day" in
photo on the right.)
JUNE 8
June 8, 1958:
Mickey blasts his seventh homer in seven days but today it's not enough and the
Bombers still lose a doubleheader to the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium.
June 8, 1960:
Mickey is red hot with his fourth consecutive 2-hit game (minus a 3 walks in 3
at-bats game). He’s 2-for-4 with 2 runs, 3 rbi and 2 homers into the seats in
right - #9 & #10 on the year, one his first back-to-back homer with Roger Maris
- in a 6-0 win vs. Chicago. Maris benefits from Mickey batting behind him. He
already has 16 homers, his total for last year.
June 8, 1969:
Approximately 70,000 people turn out for “Mickey Mantle Day” at Yankee Stadium
to honor Mickey and his 18-year career with the Yankees. NY Mayor John Lindsay
passes a resolution proclaiming June 8, 1969 as Mickey Mantle Day in New York.
It’s the third day held at Yankee Stadium to honor Mickey, the most of any
player! (A fourth MM Day will be held after his death.)
JUNE 9
June 9, 1959:
Mickey goes 2-for-5 with 2 walks, 2 runs, 2 rbi, 2 stolen bases and a home run
hit deep to right-field to lead the Yankees to a 9-8 win in 13 innings over the
Kansas City A’s at Yankee Stadium.
June 9, 1960:
Mickey pounds a right-handed home run into the opposite-field bullpen in right
as the Chicago Pale Hose fade to the Yankees 5-2 at Yankee Stadium.
June 9, 1961:
Mickey gets on base four times in two official at-bats, going 2-for-2 with 2
walks, 2 runs and 4 rbi. He walks in the second, moves to second on an out and
scores on a single, lifts a 3-run homer to left in the third (#16), and singles
home Kubek from second in the fifth in a game delayed by rain four times. Maris
also homers (#18) as the Yankees beat KC 8-6 in NY.
JUNE 10
June 10, 1954:
Mickey goes 2-for-5 with 2 runs and 2 rbi, and slams a back-to-back homer with
Dr. Bobby Brown deep into the seats in right to beat the Tigers 9-5 at Yankee
Stadium in NY.
June 10, 1957:
Mickey goes 2-for-3 with a walk, a run and 1 rbi with a homer to right in the
sixth but the Tigers still beat the Yankees 9-4 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit.
June 10, 1960:
Mickey’s powerful homer in the eighth breaks a 3-3 tie to beat the Cleveland
Indians 4-3 in NY. His fourth homer in six games and sixth in June, he also
makes a great running catch in deep center-field in Yankee Stadium to rob the
Tribe of a triple.
June 10, 1961:
Mickey hammers a triple and belts season homer #17 to lead the Yankees to a 5-3
win over the Kansas City A's at Yankee Stadium. The Mick goes 2-for-3 with a
walk, three runs and one rbi. Whitey Ford pitches and gets the complete game win
to go 9-2 on the season. It's the Yankees' seventh win in eight games of their
11-games-in-8-days home stand.
JUNE 11
June 11, 1953:
Mickey rockets a shot off the roof of the top deck in right-center-field at
Briggs Stadium – only Ted Williams had ever cleared the roof, but the Detroit
Free Press says Mickey's would’ve gone further but for the roof. It gives The
Mick a 16-game hitting streak and the Yankees their 14th win in a row
as they beat the Tigers 6-3 in Detroit.
June 11, 1957:
Mickey crushes a homer high into the top deck in right at Comiskey Park, then
doubles and scores the winning run in a 3-2 win over the Pale Hose in Chicago.
June 11, 1959:
Mickey’s solo homer plus home runs hit by Marv Throneberry and Norm Siebern
aren’t enough as the Kansas City A’s beat the Yankees 9-5 at Yankee Stadium in
NY.
June 11, 1961:
In game one of a twinbill vs. the Los Angeles Angels in NY, Mickey robs the
Angels of extra bases with an incredible, backhand grab in left-center & Maris
robs them of two more homers with great catches. In game two Mickey belts a long
three-run homer & Maris hits two to give the Bombers the sweep.
June 11, 1964:
After two weeks off due to injury, Mickey comes back into the line-up and
catapults two long home runs deep to right – one onto the runway and the other
into the seats – to lead the Yankees to an 8-4 win over the Bosox at Fenway
Park.
June 11, 1968:
Mickey hammers a two-run homer and Tom Tresh hits a three-run dinger but it's
not enough as the Pale Hose from the Windy City win 9-5 at Yankee Stadium.
JUNE 12
June 12, 1957:
In a game with several rain delays on a stormy Chicago night, Mickey goes
4-for-5, scoring two runs and driving in four. He switch-hits two homers - one a
two-run shot into the bullpen in center in the ninth, but it’s not enough. The
Yanks lose to the Pale Hose 7-6 at Comiskey. Says pitcher Jack Harshman about
Mickey, “They ought to create a new league for that guy.”
JUNE 13
June 13, 1958:
Mickey smashes a towering, cloud-duster of a home run that carries deep into the
seats in left to tie the game against the Tigers 1-1 in NY, but the Bengals go
on to win 4-2 at Yankee Stadium.
June 13, 1959:
Mickey’s first inning solo home run clubbed into the front rows of seats in
right-field starts things off for the Yankees, who go on to beat the Detroit
Tigers 6-4 at Yankee Stadium. It’s win #1,000 for the Yankees under their
legendary manager, Casey Stengel.
June 13, 1964:
In a crucial series against the first place White Sox at Yankee Stadium, Mickey
comes up big, going 3-for-3 with a walk, a run, and 2 rbi. He singles in a run
in the first, then rips a solo homer to right in the fourth for season #11,
career #430 (215 on the road and 215 at home!). The Yankees go on to beat the
Chisox 6-3, their third win over Chicago in 24 hours!
JUNE 14
June 14, 1956:
Mickey goes 2-for-3 with a walk, 2 runs scored and 2 rbi. He doubles home a run
in the third, then in the seventh he breaks a short home run drought by blasting
his first homer in eight games. He drills it 20 rows deep into the bleachers in
right for season homer #22, leading the Yankees to a 5-1 win over the Chisox at
Yankee Stadium.
June 14, 1957:
Mickey does his part (1-for-3, 3 walks, 2 runs, 2 rbi, solo homer) in the Yanks’
10-1 rout of the A’s at Municipal Stadium. Mickey’s pal Tom Sturdivant pitches a
complete game to go 5-3 on the year. Talk of his pitchers throwing “bean balls”
leads Casey Stengel to say, “Now that Mantle wears a protective helmet, pitchers
walk him by throwing at his legs and feet.”
JUNE 15
June 15, 1952:
Mickey hits his first left-handed homer of the year, a three-run shot, to lift
the Bronx Bombers to a twinbill sweep of the Tribe before 69,468 fans in
Cleveland.
June 15, 1956:
In the first inning Mickey slices a 2-run opposite-field homer over the fence in
left, putting him five games ahead of Babe Ruth’s 1927 record 60-homer pace as
the Yankees beat the Indians 6-2 in Cleveland.
June 15, 1957:
Mickey’s best friend, Billy Martin, is traded by Yankees' General Manager George
Weiss to the Kansas City Athletics in the wake of the Copacabana nightclub
incident on May 15. Weiss thinks Martin is a bad influence on The Mick and was
looking for a reason to trade him. Mickey is devastated by the loss of his best
pal.
(Mickey and Billy are in the photo on the right.)
June 15, 1961:
Mickey slams a homer in the seventh inning to tie the game at one all, then the
Yankees go on to win 3-2 in the eleventh inning on John Blanchard’s pinch-hit
rbi single at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.
June 15, 1967:
After missing five games due to a pulled thigh muscle, Mickey returns to the
lineup and rockets a 450-foot drive high into the upper deck in
left-center-field at DC Stadium in Washington to lead the Bombers to a 2-0 win
over the Senators.
JUNE 16
June 16, 1956:
Trailing 1-0 in the third, Mickey wallops a long 2-run homer well over the
left-field fence to give NY the lead and help beat the Indians 3-1 in Cleveland.
June 16, 1962:
A big moment for Mickey. Benched by a severe muscle tear, he's asked to
pinch-hit in the eighth with two men on. He’s determined to hit a homer since he
can't run due to his injury. He misses a fastball for a strike, then smashes a
dramatic three-run homer to give NY a 9-7 lead in Cleveland. The fans cheer him
like one of their own as he limps around the bases.
June 16, 1968:
Angels’ pitcher Clyde Wright struck out Mickey on a curve-ball last season, so
he thought he’d try it again. Mickey is waiting for it. He belts it 450 feet for
a two-run homer and a 4-3 Yankees’ win over Anaheim in Los Angeles.
JUNE 17
June 17, 1952:
Mickey booms a cannon shot into the upper deck in left-center in Detroit, the
first one ever hit there. It’s one of his earliest long distance homers.
June 17, 1955:
Mickey swats a homer ten rows deep into the upper deck in right-field with
two-out in the eighth inning to tie the Chisox 1-1 at Yankee Stadium in NY.
June 17, 1959:
On a 50° Bronx night Mickey smashes a three-run homer halfway up the third deck
in right, just missing the façade, in a 7-3 win vs. the Pale Hose. The Chicago
papers report that it would’ve gone 480 feet if unobstructed.
June 17, 1960:
The Yankees mock the new $300,000 exploding scoreboard at Comiskey Park (it sets
off fireworks after a Chisox homer) by waving sparklers after homers by Clete
Boyer in the second and Mickey in the eighth. Mickey and Casey Stengel lead the
dugout celebration and Yogi Berra leads the bullpen. The first game of a key
4-game series, the Yanks win 4-2 and sweep the series.
June 17, 1961:
With two on and two out In the ninth, Mickey launches a spectacular homer into
the third deck in right-field at Tiger Stadium. Elston Howard follows with a
solo homer but it’s not enough and the Yanks lose to the Tigers 12-10 in
Detroit.
June 17, 1964:
Mickey called Bosox reliever Dick Radatz, “the toughest pitcher I ever faced.”
In the bottom of the eighth Mickey finally gets a Radatz pitch he can hit. He
jumps on it and skies it to right. At first he thinks he’s flied out. But the
ball has plenty of carry, finally landing in the bleachers in right. Crossing
the plate Mickey says to Radatz, “I finally got you!”
JUNE 18
June 18, 1953:
Mickey rips a two-run home run into the seats in left in the first game of a
twinbill sweep vs. the St. Louis Browns at Yankee Stadium. The Bombers won both
games by shutouts.
June 18, 1956:
Batting left-handed with two on in the eighth
inning and the score tied at 4-4, Mickey crushes a game winning homer that
clears the right-field roof in Detroit - only Ted Williams had done it before.
Detroit Manager Bucky Harris said, "That would bring tears to the eyes of a
rocking chair."
June 18, 1959:
Mickey singles in the fifth for career hit #1,300, then celebrates with a
walk-off homer in the bottom of the tenth as the Yankees complete a three-game
sweep of the Chisox at Yankee Stadium in NY.
June 18, 1960:
Mickey clouts a long home run to center-field at Comiskey Park and goes 2-for-4
with 2 walks, 2 runs and 2 rbi to help the Yankees beat the Pale Hose 12-5 in
Chicago.
June 18, 1965:
Mickey comes up in the first with the bases loaded thinking sacrifice fly.
Mickey reaches for an away pitch, hits a high fly and thinks, mission
accomplished. But Mickey is so strong that even his sacrifice flies have plenty
of carry. It keeps going and going, finally touching down in the seats in left
for a grand slam! It leads the Yanks over the Twins 10-2 in NY.
JUNE 19
June 19, 1951:
On Mickey’s first two-homer day he belts one in each game of a twinbill split
with the Chisox at Yankee Stadium. He’s 4-for-8 with a walk, 3 runs, 5 rbi & a
stolen base.
June 19, 1955:
In the second game of a key doubleheader with the first place Chicago White Sox
at Yankee Stadium, Mickey blasts career homer #100 20 rows deep into the seats
in right to help the Bronx Bombers sweep into first.
JUNE 20
June 20, 1954:
On a day when an electrical storm threatens to cancel their twinbill, Mickey
turns on the power and lights up Game One, going 2-for-3 with 3 walks, 4 runs
and 2 rbi. He whacks a long two-run homer and gets on base five times! The
Bombers hose the Pale Hose 16-6 at Comiskey Park. Game Two is called due to
darkness in the eighth inning with the Chisox ahead 7-3.
June 20, 1956:
Mickey launches two titanic “bazooka blasts” (per Tigers’ pitcher Paul Foytack)
off Billy Hoeft into Tiger Stadium’s never-reached center-field top deck in the
Yankees’ 7-4 win. In the ninth, 20 Tigers’ fans hop the fence in center, mob
Mickey, shake his hand and salaam. Afterward he leads his competitors in homers
(27 vs. 17), rbi (64 vs. 50) & avg. (.380 vs. .370).
JUNE 21
June 21, 1953:
Mickey hits for a twinbill cycle: in Game One he belts a single, triple and
425-foot opposite-way right-handed homer hit deep into the Bombers’ bullpen in
right, and a double in Game Two for a split with the Detroit Tigers at Yankee
Stadium in NY.
June 21, 1955:
Mickey makes history in a 6-2 win vs. the Kansas City Athletics at Yankee
Stadium, crushing an explosive 486-foot drive that clears the 30-foot hitters’
screen in center-field and lands in bleachers’ row 9. It’s the first ball ever
hit there!
June 21, 1960:
Mickey goes 3-for-5, scoring 3 runs with 3 rbi and a stolen base. He clobbers
two homers off “Yankee Killer” Frank Lary – first an opposite-way shot deep into
the stands in right, then another into the seats in left – to help Whitey Ford
toss a 6-0 shutout against the Tigers at Briggs Stadium in Detroit.
June 21, 1961:
Mickey wallops two mammoth shots in a 5-3 win in Kansas City that combine for a
distance of over a thousand feet! His first blast clears the wall in
right-center and hits the top of the scoreboard! His second tape measure shot
clears the fence in right, sails over a grassy knoll and an outer fence, then
bounces on Brooklyn Avenue adjacent to Municipal Stadium!
June 21, 1964:
Mickey blasts a long right-handed home run deep into the top deck in left-field
at Comiskey Park in Chicago as the Yankees win a pair of pitchers’ duels, 2-0
and - in the 17th inning - 2-1, to sweep a doubleheader and move into first
place. The wins give the Yankees nine wins in 11 days against the Pale Hose for
a 10-0 record against the White Sox on the year.
JUNE 22
June 22, 1952:
Mickey smacks a game-tying solo homer (2-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, rbi
and a stolen base) but the Bombers lose to the Pale Hose 2-1 at Comiskey Park in
Chicago.
June 22, 1955:
Mickey clouts a home run well over 400 feet deep into the bleachers in right to
lead the Bronx Bombers to a 6-1 win over the Kansas City Athletics at Yankee
Stadium in NY.
June 22, 1957:
In the first inning The Mick lines a 2-run shot to the opposite field in right
to help the Yankees win 6-5 in 13 innings against the Chisox at Yankee Stadium
in NY.
June 22, 1959:
Mickey’s big day - a solo homer, a three-run shot hit far over the fence in
center-field, a two-run triple and six runs-batted-in - leads the Yankees to a
10-6 win over the Athletics at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium.
June 22, 1965:
In the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium in NY an injured, hurting
Mickey belts a 475-foot homer to the rarely reached seats in left-center, then
has to limp around the bases. In the second game he tears a hamstring just feet
from home plate trying to score from second on a single.
June 22, 1968:
In Minnesota Mickey’s 380-foot homer to left-center-field gives the Yankees a
temporary 1-0 lead, but the Twins come back and pick-up the win, 5-2 at
Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis.
JUNE 23
June 23, 1953:
Mickey goes 2-for-4 with a walk, run, and rbi; and knocks a homer into the lower
right-field seats but the White Sox prevail nevertheless as the Bombers lose
11-3 to the Chicago nine at Yankee Stadium in NY.
June 23, 1957:
Mickey
hits one of the longest homers in Stadium history off the façade in right,
landing in the far edge of the top deck near where the grandstand meets the
bullpen. He also makes a spectacular leaping catch off the top of the wall in
deep right-center to rob Larry Doby of a homer in a twinbill split with Chicago
in NY. He leads the AL with a .392 avg and 21 homers.
June 23, 1959:
Mickey launches a two-run homer over the barrier in left-field – his third homer
of the series – in the Yankees 10-2 win over the Kansas City A’s at Municipal
Stadium.
June 23, 1962:
Mickey doesn’t start Game One due to a rain-soaked field but later pinch-hits a
single and scores. In Game Two he hits a leadoff homer in the ninth and NY
splits a twinbill with Detroit at Tiger Stadium.
June 23, 1964:
Mickey hammers a long three-run homer into the right-field bleachers in
Baltimore to give NY a 7-2 lead but it doesn't hold up as the Orioles please the
hometown fans with a come-from-behind 9-7 win at Memorial Stadium.
June 23, 1966:
Jim Palmer shuts Mickey down until the eighth inning, when The Mick unloads a
monstrous home run deep into the third deck in right-field. Nonetheless the
Bombers suffer a 5-2 loss to the Orioles at Yankee Stadium.
JUNE 24
June 24, 1958:
Mickey unloads a sweet 420-foot homer deep into the center-field bleachers,
setting off a five-run fourth and a 6-2 Yankees’ win over the Pale Hose at
Comiskey Park in Chicago.
June 24, 1967:
Mickey blasts a tremendous walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth - 440
feet plus - into the bleachers in right-center-field to beat the Detroit Tigers
at Yankee Stadium in NY. It’s The Mick’s eighth game-winning hit of the year -
seven by home runs!
JUNE 25
June 25, 1956:
Mickey beats the “KC Shift,” (conceived by KC manager Lou Boudreau - when Mickey
bats lefty he moves his fielders to center & right for extra defense on the
right but leaving the left side wide open) with two singles. Batting righty he
gets another single, an rbi, scores a run and just misses a homer with a
421-foot triple for a 9-3 win over the A's in Kansas City.
June 25, 1957:
Mickey
announces the formation of a fund to help fight Hodgkin’s Disease at a gathering
and press conference at Toots Shor’s restaurant in New York City.
June 25, 1961:
Mickey singles to give him a nine-game hitting streak and hits in 18 of his last
19 games. During that time he bats at a .370 clip, as the Bombers win 8-4
against the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis.
June 25, 1967:
Mickey, playing first-base, participates in a triple play. He also singles,
scores, and drives in a run to help beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 and sweep a
three-game series with them at Yankee Stadium.
JUNE 26
June 26, 1954:
In a wild game before 46,192 fans at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, Mickey makes
a bad throw to help the Tribe take an early 2-1 lead. But The Mick atones by
hitting an rbi double plus a solo home run to give the Yankees a 7-5 lead, and
the Bombers go on to win 11-9.
June 26, 1961:
Mickey crushes a long home run high over the 412-foot sign in deepest
center-field, and John Blanchard pinch-hits one. Then with the score 6-5 Angels
in the ninth, two out and Maris and Mantle on, Moose Skowron hits the
game-winner 420 feet at Wrigley Field - the Angels’ first year home run mecca -
for an 8-6 Yankees' win. The win makes Whitey Ford 13-2 on the year.
JUNE 27
June 27, 1952:
Mickey's raps his seventh homer of the season and third lefty homer, this one
with Yogi Berra on and one out in the fourth, giving the Yankees all they really
need, but he goes on to walk and score a run in the fifth too, as Joe Collins
shuts out the Philadelphia Athletics 10-0 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
June 27, 1964:
Mickey, batting against Denny McLain, lofts a solo home run that sails high and
deep into the seats in right-field to help power the Yankees to a 5-4 win over
Detroit's Bengal Cats at Yankee Stadium in NY.
JUNE 28
June 28, 1960:
Mickey homers into the left-field stands in the third inning to tie the score
2-2, as the Bronx Bombers go on to a 5-2 win over the Kansas City Athletics at
Yankee Stadium.
June 28, 1961:
Mickey
belts a towering blast over a light tower in left-center-field off Angels’
pitcher Ryne Duren in a 5-3 loss at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. After the game
Duren said he didn’t think Mickey’s homer was going out at first. Says A’s’
pitcher Art Fowler sarcastically, “It would’ve gone out of an airport!”
June 28, 1962:
Mickey hits an opposite-field shot into the bleachers in right-field,
back-to-back after Roger Maris’ homer in a 4-2 win over the Twins at Yankee
Stadium in NY.
June 28, 1966:
Mickey has another career two-homer game, driving in all three Yankees’ runs. He
starts with a two-run lefty blast slammed deep into the bleachers in
right-center in the first, then slices a lefty opposite-field solo shot in the
eighth onto the screen above the Green Monster in left that gets him a standing
ovation from Red Sox fans in a 5-3 loss at Fenway Park.
JUNE 29
June 29, 1958:
Mickey breaks an 0-for-17 slump (with nine strikeouts) against the Kansas City
Athletics by slamming a two-run homer but the Bombers still lose 12-6 at
Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.
June 29, 1966:
In Boston Mickey has his second two-homer game in a row. He blasts a 3-run shot
onto the screen in left-center in the first inning, then hits the middle homer
of three back-to-back-to-back homers in the third inning, giving The Mick four
rbi and the Bombers’ a 6-5 win at Fenway Park.
June 29, 1968:
In a doubleheader split with the Oakland Athletics at Yankee Stadium, Mickey
trades homers with Reggie Jackson in Game One – Mickey’s is career home run
#529. Then in Game Two he pinch-hits in the eighth inning and hammers a double
that lands just in front of the monuments in the field of play in deepest
center-field to drive in two runs and win the nightcap 5-4.
JUNE 30
June 30, 1954:
Mickey slices an opposite-field homer high into the net above Boston’s Green
Monster in left-field, averting a shutout to the Bosox at Fenway Park, 6-1.
June 30, 1960:
Mickey’s two-run cannon shot scatters players and coaches as it ricochets around
the bullpen in right-field. The Mick's shot is part of a five-homer barrage in
the Bronx Bombers’ 10-3 rout of the Kansas City Athletics at Yankee Stadium.
June 30, 1961:
Mickey bashes “the hitting showpiece of the game,” a titanic blast that sails
over the monuments in center-field, caroming high off the wall by the 461-foot
mark and rolling halfway back to second for a stand-up, inside-the-park homer,
his sixth and final one. Whitey Ford’s five-hit complete game gem gives him a
record eight wins in June, making him 14-2 on the year.
JULY:
JULY 6
July 6, 1953:
Mickey
slams his first pinch-hit home run, over 500 feet out of Shibe Park in
Philadelphia.
JULY
9
July 9, 1955:
Mickey
has his first five-hit game with a double and five singles.
JULY
10
July 10, 1956:
Mickey
and Ted Williams hit back-to-back homers in the All-Star Game at
Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Mick's homer is hit
right-handed off Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn.
(In the photo on the left Mickey poses with teammate Yogi Berra - on the left -
and Red Sox legend Ted Williams
- center - at the All-Star Game in Washington.)
JULY
13
July 13, 1951: After striking out four
times in a doubleheader in Boston, Casey Stengel sends Mickey down to the
triple-A Kansas City Blues.
JULY
23
July 23, 1957: Mickey hits for the
"cycle" (hitting a single, double, triple and home run in the same game) for his first and only time. He goes 4-for-5, scoring two runs and
driving in four. His homer flies 465 feet into the right-field bleachers to
beat the White Sox 10-6 in New York.
(In the photo on the right Mickey slams his home run as part of his "cycle"
against the White Sox on July 23, 1957.)
JULY 26
July 26, 1952: Mickey belts his first
career grand slam into the upper deck in left-centerfield at Briggs Stadium
in Detroit.
It's career home run #28.
JULY
28
July 28, 1952:
Just two days after hitting his first career grand slam, Mickey hits his second
career grand slam, this one at Comiskey Park in
Chicago. This one's
career home run #29.
AUGUST:
AUGUST 4
August
4, 1968:
"Mickey
Mantle Banner Day" - the second day honoring Mickey - is held at
Yankee Stadium.
AUGUST 5
August 5,
1954:
Mickey smashes the
famous "Joe Collins" home run, one of two home runs Mickey
hit that day, leading the
Yankees to a 5-2 win over the Indians in Cleveland. After Joe
hit a home run into the upper deck, he challenged Mickey to "go chase that
one, big boy." In his next at-bat Mickey clouted a longer home run into the
upper deck. (In the photo on the right
the red arrow on the left shows the approximate path of Joe Collins' home run at
Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The red arrow on the right shows the approximate
path of Mickey's home run.)
AUGUST 6
August
6, 1954:
Mickey
slams his first pinch-hit home run, over 500 feet out of Shibe Park in
Philadelphia.
AUGUST 7
August 7,
1953: Mickey hits his first
inside-the-park home run as the Yankees beat Chicago 6-1 at Yankee Stadium.
AUGUST 11
August
11, 1954:
Mickey
has his first two-homer game in a 7-0 win over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
AUGUST 12
August
12, 1964:
Mickey crushes a sky-high fly ball to centerfield. Mickey
thinks he's flied out. But the ball continues to carry until it finally lands 15
rows deep in the centerfield bleachers at Yankee Stadium. Distance: 502
feet. It's only the second home run ever to land in the centerfield "black
seats" at Yankee Stadium. The first: Mickey's home run on June 21, 1955.
August 12, 1974:
Mickey is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with friend and teammate
Whitey Ford. (In the photo on the
right Mickey poses with fellow Hall of Fame inductees - from left to right -
standing: Mickey and close friend Yankees' pitcher Whitey Ford, seated: Cool
Papa Bell next to umpire Jocko Conlan.)
AUGUST 10
August 10, 2009:
Mickey's wife, Merlyn Mantle, passes away in Dallas at age 77.
AUGUST 13
August 13, 1995:
Mickey passes away in Dallas at age 64.
August 13, 1996:
"Mickey Mantle Day" - the fourth day honoring Mickey -
is held at Yankee Stadium one year after his death.
AUGUST 22
August
22, 1951: Casey Stengel keeps his word
and brings Mickey back up to the Yankees from the minor leagues.
SEPTEMBER:
SEPTEMBER 1
September
1, 1963:
Mickey
hits the famous "hangover" home run in Baltimore after unexpectedly
being taken off the disabled list a day early and being called upon to pinch-hit.
SEPTEMBER 10
September
10, 1961: Mickey wallops a tremendous
home run over the rightfield roof at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The ball crosses
Trumbull Avenue and lands in the Brooks Lumber Yard. It was measured years later and found
to have gone 643 feet! The Guinness Book of World Records lists it as the
longest home run ever measured (after the fact) in baseball history.
(In the photo on the left the red arrow shows the path of Mickey's historic
643-foot home run hit into Brooks Lumber Yard across the street from Tiger
Stadium in Detroit.)
SEPTEMBER 17
September
17, 1952:
Mickey,
batting right-handed,
clouts a prodigious opposite-field home run off the upper deck football press box in right-centerfield, just below the
roof, to beat the
Tigers in Detroit. The ball bounced back onto the field almost to
second base. At the time Mickey called it, "the hardest ball I ever hit."
That, of course, would change as Mickey racked up more tape-measure blasts later
in his career.
September
17, 1958:
Mickey
batting left-handed against
Tigers' pitcher Jim Bunning,
belts a mammoth homer down the rightfield line that goes over the roof and out of
Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. The ball
crosses adjacent Trumbull Avenue and hits the second story of a building across
from the Stadium. It's recovered by taxi driver Bob Gilbert.
(In the photo on the right Mickey crushes his mammoth home run that went over
the right-field roof of Briggs Stadium in Detroit and struck the second
story of a building on the opposite side of Trumbull Ave. In the photo of
Tiger Stadium on
the right above, the shorter upper red arrow shows the path of this home run and
where it struck the
building across the street from the Stadium. It's above Brooks
Lumber Yard in the photo.)
SEPTEMBER 18
September
18, 1965:
"Mickey
Mantle Fan Appreciation Day" - the first day honoring Mickey - is
held at Yankee Stadium with Robert F. Kennedy in attendance. Mickey
plays his 2000th game for the Yankees. Among the gifts
Mickey receives are two quarter horses, and more than $32,000 is raised in
Mickey's name for research in the fight against Hodgkin's Disease.
(In the photo on the left Mickey greets Bobby Kennedy on Mickey Mantle Fan
Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium in New York, September 18, 1958.
Kennedy was a Senator for New York at the time.)
SEPTEMBER 23
September
23, 1961:
Mickey - in the starting line-up for the first time in six days due to a severe
viral infection - hits a three-run home run into the rightfield bullpen in his
first at-bat. It's home run #54 for his career-best season high. The Mick's
three-run homer
helps pal Whitey Ford win his 25th
game of the season, Whitey's career high for wins in a season.
(In the photo on the right Mickey blasts home run #54 - his career season high -
on September 23, 1961.)
SEPTEMBER 28
September 28,
1968: Mickey plays his last game –
number 2,401, the most ever for the Yankees – in Boston. Andy Kosco
substitutes for Mickey after his first at bat.
SEPTEMBER 30
September
30, 1956:
Mickey
beats out Ted Williams in the batting title race on the last day of the season
to win baseball's Triple Crown. His numbers: .353 average, 52 home
runs, 130 rbi, leading both leagues in each category. He is only the twelfth player in
history to win the Triple Crown. Mickey hit the most home runs of any
Triple Crown winner, and is the only switch-hitter to win it.
(Casey Stengel crowns Mickey with the Sultan of Swat Award crown at
Yankee Stadium in 1956 in the photo on the left. Mickey holds three bats with his winning numbers
written on each one.)
September, 1949:
Mickey
wins his first championship with the Yankees Organization as the Independence
Miners capture the K-O-M (Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri) league title.
OCTOBER:
OCTOBER 4
October 4, 1951:
Mickey plays his first World Series game
against the New York Giants and rookie Willie Mays at
Yankee Stadium in New
York.
OCTOBER 5
October 4, 1953:
Mickey crushes a tremendous first pitch grand
slam into the upper deck in left-centerfield as the Yankees beat the Dodgers
11-7 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. It's only the fourth grand slam in World
Series history. (In the photo on
the right Mickey is greeted by Yogi Berra as he crosses the plate after belting
his grand slam off Russ "Monk" Meyer in Game 5 of the 1953 World Series.)
October
5, 1951:
Mickey gets his first
World Series hit but is
seriously injured when his spikes get caught in a sprinkler head while
chasing
down a fly ball hit by Willie Mays in Game 2. His right knee is never the same
afterward. Mickey's knee injury is the first of many career injuries
Mickey suffers. (In the photo on the
left Mickey is examined by a doctor at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York after
injuring his knee.)
October 5, 1953:
The Yankees with their fifth consecutive World
Series championship led by Mickey's best pal and World Series MVP Billy
Martin, batting .500 with 12 hits and 8 rbi. Mickey, while batting only
.208, has five hits, seven rbi, and wins two games with home runs, one of them a
grand slam. It's the only time in history that a team wins five world
championships in a row.
OCTOBER 8
October 8, 1956:
Don Larsen pitches the
only perfect game in World Series history
as the Yankees beat the Dodgers 2-0
in game five of the 1956 World Series. Mickey hits
a solo
home run in the fourth inning for the first Yankees' run (the only
run they'll need, as it turns out), then makes a spectacular game-saving catch in
the fifth inning to rob Gil Hodges of an extra-base hit. Hodges drive would have
gone into the upper deck had the game been played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn,
but Mickey's tremendous speed enabled him to make the catch at Yankee Stadium.
(Mickey's game-saving catch of Gil Hodges' bid for extra bases in Don Larsen's
Perfect Game is shown in the three-panel sequence on the above right.)
OCTOBER 10
October 10, 1951:
Mickey wins his first
World Series championship
as the Yankees beat the Giants in six games. He watches it from his hospital
bed at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York, where he is recovering from his
knee injury in the World Series five
days before.
October 10, 1964:
Mickey
crushes the first pitch from Cardinals' relief pitcher Barney Schultz into
the third deck at Yankee Stadium for career World Series homer number 16,
breaking Babe Ruth's record. It's The Mick's "called shot" - he predicted
the homer to Elston Howard in the on-deck circle while Schultz warmed
up. Mickey's walk-off home run wins the game for the Yankees in the
bottom of the ninth inning. (Mickey's
swing for his walk-off home run in Game 3 of the 1964 World Series - his
record-breaking World Series home run #16 - hit off knuckleball pitcher Barney
Schultz, is shown in the photo on the right.)
OCTOBER 12
October
12, 1955: Mickey
and the Yankees
open
their tour of Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines with a 12-1 win over the Hawaii
Red Sox.
October
12, 1960: Mickey
and the Yankees win Game 6 of the 1960 World Series against the
Pittsburgh Pirates 12-0. Whitey Ford pitches a complete game shutout to
tie the Series at 3 games each.
October 12, 1964: The St.
Louis Cardinals beat Mickey and the Yankees in Game 5 of the 1964
World Series on Tim McCarver's three-run home run in the tenth inning to
take a 3 game to 2 lead in the Series. Tom Tresh's two-run home run tied the
game for the Yankees in the ninth inning. Bob Gibson strikes out 13 for
the Cardinals.
OCTOBER 13
October 13, 1960:
In one of the most dramatic games in World Series history, the Pittsburgh
Pirates beat Mickey and the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series
10-9 on Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning in
Pittsburgh to win the Series 4 games to 3. The Yankees tied the
game in the top of the ninth due to Mickey's remarkably intuitive base-running.
With the score 9-8 and one out, Mickey on first and Gil McDougald on third, Yogi
Berra grounded to Pirates' first-baseman Rocky Bridges in what appeared
to be a game-ending double-play ball. Bridges stepped on first to force Berra
but Mantle, instead of running to second, distracted Bridges from throwing home
to get McDougald, then dove around him - avoiding the tag - sliding safely back
into first. It allowed the tying run to score and took the game to the bottom of
the ninth. It's the sort of play that perhaps 1 in 1000 players might make. The
Yankees outscored Pittsburgh 55-27 in the Series. Mickey was so upset by
losing the Series that he cried on the plane trip home. He called it,
"The greatest disappointment of my career."
OCTOBER 14
October 14, 1964:
Mickey
adds to his World Series home run record by smashing Series home
run #17 as the Yankees beat
the Cardinals 8-3 in Game 6 of the 1964 World Series in St. Louis,
tying the Series at 3 games each. Mickey and Roger Maris hit back-to-back
homers in the sixth and Joe Pepitone added a grand-slam in the eighth inning to
seal the win. (In the photo on
the right Mickey and Roger Maris celebrate in the locker room after hitting
back-to-back homers to beat the Cardinals in Game 6 of the 1964 World Series.)
OCTOBER 15
October 15, 1962:
The San Francisco Giants come back to tie Mickey
and the Yankees in the 1962 World Series at 3 games each.
October 15, 1964:
Mickey
belts his 18th and final World Series home run - a three-run
homer - to set the all-time
World
Series home run record, but the Cardinals win the Series 4
games to 3. It's Bob Gibson's second complete game win of the Series.
Bobby Richardson sets an all-time World Series record with 13 hits. It is Mickey's last World Series game.
OCTOBER 16
October 16, 1962:
Mickey wins his seventh and final World Series
championship on Willie McCovey's dramatic line drive out with two on and two out
in the ninth inning of game seven. (In
the photo on the right Yankees' second baseman Bobby Richardson spears Willie
McCovey's line drive with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth inning
in Game 7 of the 1962 World Series. It ended the game and the Yankees held on to
win 1-0. They won the Series 4 games to 3.)
OCTOBER 18
October
18, 1951:
Commissioner Ford Frick announces
that a Yankees’ winning
World Series share is $6,446.09. Mickey buys his father a house with his share.
The NY Giants’ losing share is a record $4,951. In contrast, a winning share for
the World Champion San Francisco Giants in 2010 was
$317,631.29. The Yankees share is equivalent to $56,165.73 in 2011 after
adjusting for inflation.
OCTOBER 20
October 20, 1931:
Mickey
is born during the Great Depression in an unpainted, two-room house in Spavinaw, Oklahoma.
Spavinaw is a tiny town in northwestern Oklahoma near Commerce.
OCTOBER 21
October 21, 1953:
Mickey is named to the
Associated Press’ Major League All-Star team, compiled with American and
National League players.
OCTOBER 22
October 22, 1953:
Fan Ed Lynch of Buffalo
receives a check from Mickey that pays off a 5¢ bet he made with his aunt, a
Dodger fan. Lynch had a premonition in the 3rd inning of Game 5 that
Mickey would hit his grand slam. His aunt wrote on the check that it couldn’t be
cashed, “without the signature of Mickey Mantle.” Mickey signed it and
wrote, “What about the four times I struck out?”
OCTOBER 23
Oct. 23, 1952:
Due to pressure on the
draft board from right-wing extremists,
Mickey is given an
unprecedented third draft physical at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Already classified
“4F” due to his osteomyelitis, he is also exempt as the sole supporter of his
family. A decision is due in two days. Afterward he told doctors he was in a
hurry to get back to his off-season construction job.
Oct. 23, 1957: Mickey is a unanimous
choice for the UPI All-Star team. Fellow Yankees Yogi Berra and Gil McDougald
are also chosen.
OCTOBER 24
Oct. 24, 1960: Commissioner Ford Frick
announces the Yankees’ World Series share is $5,214.64 ea. The Pirates winning
share is $8, 417.94.
Oct. 24, 1962: Commissioner Ford Frick
announces the Yankees’ winning World Series share is $9,882.74. The Giants
losing share is $7,291.49.
Adjusted for
inflation it’s equivalent to $86,110.97 in 2011. In contrast, the Giants’
winning share last year was $317,631.29.
OCTOBER 25
Oct. 25, 1961: Mickey Mantle is named
Major League slugging leader for 1961 with a percentage of .687 by UPI. He also was
named slugging leader in 1955 and 1956.
OCTOBER 26
Oct. 26, 1955: Mickey pounds two
doubles to lead the Yankees to an 11-0 win on their exhibition tour of Japan.
They are 3-0 with one tie.
OCTOBER 28
Oct. 28, 1964: Baseball Commissioner
Ford Frick announces that the Yankees’ losing World Series share is $5,309.29
ea. The Cardinals’ winning share is $8,622.19 only $747.84 more than the
Yankees’ record losing share of $7,847.32 in 1963. Curiously, taxes on
admissions exceeded the amounts received by either the contending teams, the
clubs in the World Series or either league.
OCTOBER 29
Oct. 29, 1953:
Surgery to remove cartilage from Mickey’s right knee by
Drs. Bertram & Yancey is set for Monday, Nov. 5 in Springfield, MO.
OCTOBER 30
Oct. 30, 1956:
Mickey is chosen by Baseball Writers to the AP Major
League All-Star team. The team is made-up of players from both leagues. Yogi
Berra from the Yankees is also selected. The outfielders are Mickey, Hank Aaron
and Ted Williams.
OCTOBER 31
Oct. 31, 1957: The Yankees refund
fines assessed against Mickey and five other players for their involvement in
the Copacabana incident, a brawl during a celebration of Billy Martin’s birthday
in May at the nightclub in NY. A $250,000 lawsuit against Hank Bauer was thrown
out. Billy Martin was traded to Kansas City largely in reaction to the incident
by GM George Weiss.
NOVEMBER:
NOVEMBER 1
Nov. 1, 1955: Mickey, homesick on the
Yankees exhibition tour of Japan, is advised by Billy Martin to claim his wife
is due to have a baby at any moment and that he needs to race home. The team
relents and allows Mickey to fly back to Oklahoma. While his wife Merlyn is
expecting, she is months away from the birth of their son David. When the club
finds out Mickey is fined.
NOVEMBER 2
Nov. 2, 1953:
Mickey undergoes right knee surgery in Springfield, MO. Doctors find effects
from his 1951 Series and July 1953 injuries. Both ends of his semilunar
cartilage are damaged so it is removed.
Nov. 2, 1955:
A homesick Mickey arrives home in Oklahoma from the
Yankees’ exhibition tour in Japan after telling the Yankees’ brass that his wife
was expecting a baby any day
Nov. 2, 1955:
Mickey is named to the AP All-Star team along with teammates Whitey Ford and
Yogi Berra. Berra is 1st in votes, Mickey and Nellie Fox of the White
Sox tie for 2nd. The AP team is compiled with the best players from
both the American and National leagues.
NOVEMBER 3
Nov. 3, 1952:
The Army
classifies Mickey physically unfit (4-F) for military service for the third
time. Previously rejected due to his history of osteomyelitis (bone infection),
the Surgeon General says he is now disqualified due to a chronic knee defect
from the injury he suffered in the 1951 World Series. Unfortunately Mickey
continues to receive hate mail and death threats.
NOVEMBER 5
Nov. 5, 1966:
In its in-house newsletter, NY Yankees’ owner CBS announces that new Yankees’
head Michael Burke has begun a search for the next “Mickey Mantle.”
NOVEMBER 8
Nov. 8, 1956:
The NY Times reports that Mickey will demand a big salary increase for 1957
after winning the Triple Crown and MVP in 1956. Mickey made $32,500 in 1956
(equivalent to $272,000 in 2011). He tells the Times he is dissatisfied he only
hit .353. He thinks he should have hit .380. “I tried to hit too many home runs
late in the season and went after a lot of bad pitches.”
DECEMBER:
DECEMBER 2
Dec. 2, 1957: The
Baseball Writers Association of America announces that Mickey has won his second
straight Most Valuable Player Award. Mickey hit .365 with 34 home runs
and 94 rbi, and led the league in runs with 121 and walks with 146. The previous
year, 1956, Mickey was unanimously selected MVP after winning the Triple Crown
with a .353 average, 52 homers and 130 rbi.
(Mickey's 1957 MVP Award plaque is shown on the right.)
DECEMBER 4
Dec. 4, 1968:
Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays both pledge their support for a holdout if the
owners don’t revamp players’ pensions.
DECEMBER 5
Dec. 5, 1957:
Mickey's
third son Billy is born. He's named after Mickey's best friend, player and
manager Billy Martin.
DECEMBER 6
Dec 6, 1956:
Mickey
records the song, “I Love Mickey” with Theresa Brewer. It breaks into the
BILLBOARD Top 100, peaking at #87.
(Mickey and Teresa Brewer recording "I Love Mickey" in the
recording studio in the photo on the left.)
DECEMBER 10
Dec. 10, 1961:
Mickey signs his contract with the Yankees for the 1962 season. His salary?
$82,000, the equivalent of $603,000 in 2011 after adjusting for inflation.
DECEMBER 11
Dec. 11, 1951:
Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement from baseball, leaving Mickey to play
center-field full-time for the Yankees.
Dec. 11, 1959:
The Yankees trade Hank Bauer, Don Larsen, Norm Siebern & Marv Throneberry to the
KC A's for Joe DeMaestri, Kent Hadley and... Roger Maris!
DECEMBER 13
Dec. 13, 1956:
After winning the Triple Crown and leading both leagues in batting, home runs
and rbi, Mickey signs his 1957 contract with the Yankees for $60,000. The
$27,500 raise is the largest raise of his career. Adjusted for inflation,
$60,000 is the equivalent of $469,000 in 2010.
DECEMBER 16
Dec. 16, 1973:
Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris head the list of first year eligible players on
the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. Whitey Ford also appears.
DECEMBER 23
Dec. 23, 1951:
Mickey
marries his high school sweetheart, Merlyn Johnson.
(Mickey and Merlyn are shown in the photo on the right.)
DECEMBER 25
Dec. 25, 1989:
Mickey's
best friend and teammate, Billy Martin, dies in a motor vehicle accident.
DECEMBER 26
Dec. 26, 1955:
Mickey's
second son, David, is born.
© Copyright 1998- 2010 - Lewis Early |