In the first of a series of articles we look at the life behind the sports card. First up Mickey Mantle

Many baseball buffs would say that Mickey Mantle was perhaps the most talented player their precious game has ever known. Hailed by fellow baseball great Joe DiMaggio as “the greatest prospect I can remember”, New Yorkers today are still proud to say that Mantle played his entire 18-year professional career in the major leagues as a Yankee.

 

Mickey Charles Mantle was born on October 20th, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma. Mickey’s father was a minor league player who named his son after major league hall of fame catcher, Mickey Cochrane. Much of the passion Mickey developed for baseball early in life can be attributed to the influence of Mickey’s father and grandfather, who made certain to raise him with a love for the game of baseball and even taught him how to play!

 

When Mickey was just 4 years old, his family moved to Commerce, Oklahoma, which was hit hard by the Great Depression. But this didn’t stop young Mickey “The Commerce Comet” Mantle from making his mark early on the world of sports. Not only were Mickey’s friends and family amazed at his obvious talent for baseball, but this rising young star also excelled at high school basketball and football as well. Though there was talk about Mickey becoming a football player, his first love was and would always be baseball.

 

Mickey was drafted into the minors at the age of 18 and was so talented that “The Mick” swung his way clear past the Yankee farm team into the major leagues and onto the New York Yankees. Though it took a bit of back and forth to the minors to motivate Mantle to find his game, he was eventually recalled back to the Yankees to become one of the greatest legends baseball has ever known. Over his 18-year career, Mickey Mantle not only set and broke numerous baseball records, but he also earned himself 16 All-Star selections, 7 World Series Championship titles, 3 American League Most Valuable Player awards, a Triple Crown and a Hutch Award. As a switch hitter, Mantle is also attributed for hitting some of the longest home runs in Major League history. In fact, in 1953 Mickey hit a home run clear out of Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. that was measured by tape at an astounding 565 feet and he also hit a home run out of Tiger Stadium in Detroit that was calculated at 643 feet.

 

In honor of Mickey’s contribution to the game of baseball, on June 8th 1969 Yankee Stadium held Mickey Mantle Day. In addition to the retirement of his Yankee uniform number 7, hanging in the center field near the monuments of such baseball greats as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig was a special commemorative plaque for Mickey Mantle. Mickey Mantle was elected in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 in his very first year of eligibility.

 

Mickey Mantle is quoted as saying: “During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at-bats a season. That means I played 7 years without ever hitting the ball.” He may have struck-out for 7 years as a baseball player, but number 7’s baseball cards certainly don’t strike out. Mickey Mantle’s sports cards are still extremely popular and valuable among today’s card collectors.