When I was growing up Mickey Mantle was my hero. In the last months of his life in he became a much bigger hero in my eyes.
Mickey Mantle was born in northeast Oklahoma in 1931. As he grew up, he was a gifted athlete playing not only baseball but also football and basketball. He became one of - if not the most recognized name in the history of baseball. He took over for Joe DiMaggio in center field for the New York Yankees when he was 20 years old. He was clocked at an incredible 2.9 seconds from home to first base on a drag bunt. He could round the bases in an amazing 13 seconds. Mantle also hit home runs where they had never been hit before.
He hit a home run one time that was measured to be 565 feet. It’s listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest home run ever measured. Guinness also mentions that Mickey hit a 643 foot home run that was the longest ever measured “mathematically after the fact.”
Without a doubt Mickey Mantle was the most popular player to ever play the game of baseball. I watched the Yankees every Saturday afternoon on the “Game of the Week” and along with all my buddies, idolized him. I still can name every player on those Yankee’s teams. They were amazing. In Mickey’s first 14 years with the Yankees he appeared in 12 World Series. He still holds the record for most home runs, runs, and RBI’s in World Series history.
Mickey retired from baseball in 1969 after an injury riddled career. There is no telling how many records he could have set if he could have stayed healthy.
He was also the most popular retired baseball player who ever lived.
In 1993 Mickey was admitted to the Betty Ford Center for alcohol rehabilitation. He received more mail than anyone in the history of that center.
His fans were still pulling for him.
After he left the Betty Ford Center, he began to spread the message of the ills of drug and alcohol abuse to anyone who would listen. Mickey also made peace with God.
Former Yankee second baseman and teammate Bobby Richardson eulogized Mickey at his funeral service in 1995. He ended the eulogy with these words:
“Mickey’s last press conference, he once again mentions his struggle with alcohol and a desire to be a dad to his boys. But, if Mick could hold a press conference from where he is today, I know that he would introduce you to his true hero. The one who died in his place to give him not just a longer physical life but everlasting life, his savior, Jesus Christ. And the greatest tribute that you could give Mickey today would be for you to receive his savior too.”
Mickey Mantle was my hero. He was the best baseball player I ever saw. He made some mistakes in life along the way and he paid for his mistakes. But make no mistake about it. He died as well as he played baseball. And he impacted a lot of folks the last couple of years of his life in a way he never impacted them before.
One of Mantle’s quotes always stuck with me. He said, “I guess you could say I’m what this country is all about.”
He was right. We all have the opportunity to be someone's hero. And we all have people watching.
And it's never too late to start over.
And just think - all I did was stop at his place for supper tonight.
1 comment:
You might be interested to know that your oldest brother has an 8mm movie of Mickey playing either in Yankee Stadium or Fenway park (I cannot remember)that I took somewhere around 1958 or 1959. If you are real nice to me, I might leave it to you in my will but you will have to be really nice!
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