Memories of Mickey Mantle

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• The Mick had been in a big slump and was not in the starting lineup that afternoon at Yankee stadium back in the '60s. Around the seventh or eighth inning I started hearing a strange noise; first it was a faint rumbling sound then it gradually grew louder and louder. When it started reaching a deafening roar, I finally realized what it was. The entire stadium was going berserk; their hero, their god, Mickey Mantle had come out of the dugout to the on deck circle. Never in my life have I ever seen a sports crowd give an ovation like that. And he hadn't done anything; he just appeared out of the dugout. The fact that he eventually fouled out didn't matter, either. The love was there.

  
  
•  The hardest hit ball I ever saw was a Mantle home run against the Orioles in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. Batting right handed, he pulverized the ball deep into the left center field stands. In spite of being an ardent Orioles fan, even I had to applaud the awesomeness of the feat.

  
  
•  Maybe the most courageous thing Mantle ever did was appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, his face tragically misshapen by alcoholism, with the headline: " 'I Was Killing Myself' - My Life As An Alcoholic, by Mickey Mantle". If you haven't read it, it is a MUST read.http://www.amazon.com/Sports-Illustrated.../dp/B0042I7GHQ

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  Sports Illustrated - April 18, 1994 (Volume 80, Number 15)

  Here is a copy of: Sports Illustrated; Volume 80,...

  AMAZON.COM
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