BY: MASON LUKE 1 st Block Mrs. Todd

Mickey Charles Mantle was born on October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma. Mickey’s father, Mutt, wanted his son to grow up to be a professional baseball player so he was named after Hall of Fame catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics, Mickey Cochrane. Mickey attended Commerce High School and excelled in baseball, football and basketball. Mickey lived in Dallas, TX with his wife Merlyn and sons Mickey Jr, David, Danny and Billy. He died on August 13, 1995 due to liver cancer at the age of 64.

 Yankee scout, Tom Greenwade, discovered Mickey while he was playing for the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids in On that particular day, Mickey hit two tape measure home runs (one from each side of the plate) that cleared the fence and rolled into the river which was 400+ from home plate. Greenwade returned to Commerce on Mickey’s graduation day and signed him to a professional contact with the New York Yankees for $140/month plus a $1,150 signing bonus.  In 1950, Mickey advanced to a Class C minor league team, the Joplin Miners. Harry Craft moved up with Mickey to manage the team. Mickey earned $225 per month and won the Western Association batting title with an impressive.383 batting average.  Mickey was invited to the Yankees instructional camp in Phoenix, AZ in the spring of He impressed reporters, fans, team mates and opponents with his tremendous power, his blazing speed and his powerful throwing arm.  Mickey’s first game in the Major Leagues was on April 17, 1951 in which he went 1 for 4 at the plate and played right field while Joe DiMaggio played center field.  During the 1951 World Series vs. the New York Giants, Mickey badly injured his right knee while trying to catch a fly ball off the bat of Willie Mays. The injury would plague Mickey for the rest of his life and resulted in him needing to tightly wrap his leg from the hip to the ankle before every game. Mickey played in great pain for most of his career and endured numerous other injuries. Mickey impressed his team-mates and his opponents by his ability to play despite the pain and play at a level far above that of most other players. Despite his leg injury, Mickey was clocked at 3.1 seconds from home plate to first base which is a record that still stands today.

 On April 17, 1953, the term “tape measure home run” was coined due to a blast by Mickey at Griffith Stadium which raveled a record 565 feet. During his eighteen year career, Mickey hit many other tape measure homers and became famous for his mammoth blasts. His 565 ′ blast still stands today as the longest measured home run in the history of baseball.tape measure home run  Mickey’s greatest year was in 1956 when he won the Triple Crown, Male Athlete of the Year award, the American League MVP award by a unanimous vote and the Player of the Year award. That year he led the major leagues with a.353 batting average, 52 home runs and 130 RBIs.  Mickey was also a hero in the 1956 World Series game in which Don Larsen pitched his historic perfect game. Mickey homered in that game and also made a spectacular catch to help preserve Larsen’s great game.  Mickey also won the MVP in 1957 and 1962 as well as a Gold Glove in  He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 along with his team mate and best friend Whitey Ford.

Mickey Mantle refused to sign Holling’s baseball because he was dressed in his fairy costume. The book, The Wednesday Wars, is based on the life of a 7 th grader, Holling Hoodhood, that grew up during the height of the Vietnam War, Holling had been at a Shakespear play and left to go see Mickey Mantle to get a baseball autograph

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