January 16, 1974 (36 Years): 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.")

March 1, 1969 (41 Years): 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 (54 Years): 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.

March 12, 1956 (54 Years): 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.

 

March 20, 1961 (49 Years): 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 (54 Years): 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.

March 24, 1956 (54 Years): 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 (59 Years): Mickey crushes two monster home runs in an exhibition game played at Bovard Field at the University of Southern California (USC). The first goes out of the park, across the street bordering the field, and hits the second-story porch of the third house down. Mickey's second homer - a moon shot if ever there was one - left the park in right-centerfield and crossed a football field adjacent to the baseball diamond. It may the longest home run ever hit, traveling 656 feet! (The red arrows show the paths of both homers in the photo on the right.)

April 9, 1965 (45 Years): 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 (48 Years): 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 (57 Years): Mickey's first son, Mickey Jr., is born.

April 13, 1955 (55 Years): Mickey homers on Opening Day for the first time.

April 17, 1951 (59 Years): 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 (57 Years): 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 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 (54 Years): 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 right 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 (59 Years): Mickey plays his first major league game at Yankee Stadium.

March 19, 1960 (50 Years): Mickey's fourth son, Danny, is born.

May 1, 1951 (59 Years): Mickey hits his first major league home run at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The ball travels nearly 500 feet.

May 5, 1956 (54 Years): Mickey hits his first home run to strike the façade at Yankee Stadium to beat the Kansas City A's 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!" (One of Mickey's façade home runs hit on May 22, 1963 is diagramed in the photo on the right below. This home run struck the façade about fifteen feet to the right of the home run shown in the diagram below.)

May 9, 1958 (52 Years): Mickey hits the first of three inside-the-park home runs in less than a month. This one is against the Senators at Yankee Stadium.

May 13, 1955 (54 Years): 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 16, 1951 (59 Years): Mickey hits his first major league home run at Yankee Stadium.

May 20, 1958 (52 Years): 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 22, 1962 (51 Years): Mickey hits "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 30, 1956 (54 Years): Mickey crushes a homer off Pedro Ramos that nearly goes out of Yankee Stadium, hitting the right-field façade. It's his second homer of the month to hit the façade. (This home run hit the facade a little to the right of the home run shown the photo on the right above.)

June 5, 1958 (52 Years): Mickey hits the third of three inside-the-park home runs in less than a month. This one is against the White Sox at Yankee Stadium.

June, 1949 (61 Years): Mickey signs with the Class "D" Independence Miners of the Yankees organization on the day he graduates from high school.

June 6, 1955 (55 Years): Mickey hits the first home run ever to go over the centerfield screen at Briggs Stadium in Detroit.

June 8, 1969 (41 Years): "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 18, 1956 (54 Years): 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 rightfield 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 19, 1951 (59 Years): Mickey homers in both games of a doubleheader for the first time.

June 20, 1956 (44 Years): Mickey hammers two historic home runs left-handed against Billy Hoeft in Detroit. Both homers rocket into the upper deck in centerfield - the first into the right-centerfield seats, the second into the left-centerfield seats. It's never been done, and Mickey does it twice in one game.

June 21, 1955 (55 Years): Mickey clobbers the first home run ever into the centerfield "black seats" at Yankee Stadium.  It's measured to have traveled 486 feet. (Point where Mickey's homer landed indicated by red arrow in photo on right.)

July 6, 1953 (57 Years): Mickey slams his first pinch-hit home run, over 500 feet out of Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

July 9, 1955 (55 Years): Mickey has his first five-hit game with a double and five singles.

July 10, 1956 (54 Years): 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 right 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, 1951 (59 Years): After striking out four times in a doubleheader in Boston, Casey Stengel sends Mickey down to the triple-A Kansas City Blues.

July 23, 1957 (53 Years): 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 rightfield 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, 1952 (58 Years): 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, 1952 (58 Years): 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 4, 1968 (42 Years): "Mickey Mantle Banner Day" - the second day honoring Mickey - is held at Yankee Stadium.

August 5, 1954 (56 Years): 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, 1954 (56 Years): Mickey slams his first pinch-hit home run, over 500 feet out of Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

August 7, 1953 (57 Years): Mickey hits his first inside-the-park home run as the Yankees beat Chicago 6-1 at Yankee Stadium.

August 11, 1954 (56 Years): Mickey has his first two-homer game in a 7-0 win over the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

August 12, 1964 (46 Years): 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 (36 Years): 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 13, 1995 (15 Years): Mickey passes away in Dallas at age 64.

August 10, 2009 (1 Year): Mickey's wife, Merlyn Mantle, passes away in Dallas at age 77.

August 13, 1996 (14 Years): "Mickey Mantle Day" - the fourth day honoring Mickey - is held at Yankee Stadium one year after his death.

August 22, 1951 (59 Years): Casey Stengel keeps his word and brings Mickey back up to the Yankees from the minor leagues.

September 1, 1963 (47 Years): 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, 1960 (50 Years): 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 right 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, 1952 (58 Years): 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 (52 Years): 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 rightfield 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, 1965 (45 Years): "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 right Mickey greets Bobby Kennedy on Mickey Mantle Fan Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium in New York, September 18, 1958.)

September 23, 1961 (49 Years): 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 25^th 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, 1968 (42 Years): 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, 1956 (54 Years): 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. Mickey holds three bats with his winning numbers written on each one.)

September, 1949 (61 years): Mickey wins his first championship with the Yankees Organization as the Independence Miners capture the K-O-M (Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri) league title.

October 4, 1951 (59 Years): Mickey plays his first World Series game against the New York Giants and rookie Willie Mays at Yankee Stadium in New York.

October 4, 1953 (57 Years): 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 (59 Years): 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 right Mickey is examined by a doctor at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York after injuring his knee.)

October 5, 1953 (57 Years): 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, 1956 (54 Years): 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.

October 10, 1951 (59 Years): 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 (46 Years): 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 14, 1964 (46 Years): Mickey adds to his World Series home run record by smashing number 17 to beat the Cardinals 8-3 in Game 6 in St. Louis.

October 15, 1964 (46 Years): Mickey belts his 18^th and final World Series home run to set the all-time World Series home run record. It is Mickey's last World Series game.

October 16, 1962 (48 Years): 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 20, 1931 (79 Years): Mickey is born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, a small town near Commerce in northwestern Oklahoma.

December 5, 1957 (53 Years): Mickey's third son, Billy, - named after Billy Martin - is born.

December 23, 1951 (59 Years): Mickey marries his high school sweetheart, Merlyn Johnson. (Mickey and Merlyn are shown in the photo on the right.)

December 25, 1989 (21 Years): Mickey's best friend and teammate, Billy Martin, dies in a motor vehicle accident.

December 26, 1955 (55 Years): Mickey's second son, David, is born.

© Copyright 1998- 2010 - Lewis Early