Kansas City, Missouri 1961.
Number 7 of the New York Yankees strides confidently to the batters box on a Sunday afternoon in June. There’s a buzz that comes from the 34,000 fans as the announcer says, ‘and now, hitting for The Yankees and playing center field…Mickey Mantle.’ The buzz doubles in intensity as if it was a home game for #7 and his mates wearing gray road uniforms. The crowd has seen The Mick perform magic in nearly every game and this would be no exception. The court went to 2 – 0 as the pitcher tried to entice Mantle with two outside sliders. 2 -0 is a hitters count and, in hindsight, they should have just walked him. Nearly everyone was guessing fastball and the only hope was that it would be off the center of the plate.
Wrong.
The two seamed fastball started on the outer half and then drifted towards the middle. Mantle’s eyes stayed relaxed but his heart rate amped up considerably. The legs…as large as an NFL tight end, began to fire. The forearms…as big as a lumberjack, began whipping the Louisville Slugger through the hitting zone. The impact with the white Rawlings baseball was concussive. One could rightfully feel sorry for the ball. Both the left and center fielders were off at the crack of the bat and shared a glimmer of hope as the shortstop leaped to try to snare this missile. Mantle rounded first base soon after the ball cleared the infielder. The outfielders continued sprinting towards the 375 ft. sign on the left-center field fence. The ball had continued to rise like an Arnold Palmer drive that used to astonish Arnie’s Army.
When the ball sailed over the fence, there was a strange silence for a second. Outfielders looked at each other, pitcher looked to shortstop, and fans stood bewildered at what just had transpired. Almost as one, people said to themselves…’that could not have happened.’ And, it’s likely that it hasn’t happened in the over sixty years since. I mean c’mon…the shortstop believed he had a chance of catching this bullet. Soon the fans were delirious as Mantle stepped on third and headed for home. Surely, the shortstop, pitcher, and outfielders have told this story thousands of times since that day. I was eleven years old and have recounted it hundreds of times.
Mickey Mantle retired before his 34th. birthday due to injuries and had a challenging battle with alcohol for years. #7 passed away at age 63 in Dallas, Texas. His very poignant interviews in the year before he died portrayed a hero haunted forever by demons of low self worth and not being a good enough father to his four boys. The baseball world holds only one view of Mickey Mantle. He was a hero of the highest magnitude. He inspired millions of kids to believe that their next swing could be a home run that would prompt teammates and foes to say…’I don’t believe it, did you see that?’
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