When asked to list some of baseball’s greatest players, many people would list Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb, but no list would be complete without Mickey Mantle. The Oklahoma native was born to a father who was already a huge baseball fan and actually named his son after Mickey Cochrane, a Hall of Fame catcher in the sport.

Mickey Mantle was an athlete through high school and college, and because of his college football career he developed osteomyelitis, a potentially fatal condition that had only recently been researched enough to find that penicillin could stop its progress. The disease was a crippling disease that could have cost him his leg, if not for proper, quick treatment. Because of this condition he couldn’t serve in the military and some baseball fans looked down on him for not serving in the Korean War instead of playing baseball professionally, as he did.

He was spotted by a Yankees scout when he was just in high school. The scout came back on the day Mantle graduated high school and signed him to the minor league team. He played for the Yankees in 1951 in his first World Series game, then replaced Jo DiMaggio in 1952 after his retirement. Mickey Mantle held the record for the most runs scored and the most runs batted in during the World Series, as well as the most World Series home runs.

Mickey Mantle also was known for hitting the longest home runs, with some estimated at having traveled between 550 and 650 feet. Though Ruth, DiMaggio and two other ball players had been paid more during their careers, in 1961 Mantle became the highest paid active player, with a contract for $75,000.

Mickey Mantle often battled injury during his career, with knee problems and frequent pain. He hit his last home run in 1968 and retired in 1969. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974, and the Yankees retired #7 in his honor. Mantle admitted alcoholism late in life and underwent treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic in 1994. In 1995 after the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal building he worked to raise money for the victims and their families. Soon after, he received a liver transplant to replace the one ravaged by alcoholism and hepatitis. This caused controversy because of how quickly and easily he received an organ when others had been on a waiting list for months and years.

He also created the Mickey Mantle foundation to raise awareness about the need for organ donation and to help families struggling while waiting for an organ for a loved one. Despite the transplant, he died about two months later because the liver cancer had spread before the transplant.
Mickey Mantle memorabilia can be found in shops dedicated to sports memorabilia or in online auctions, where a huge variety is available. There is usually a lot of competition for these items, so be sure to research what’s most valuable at the time before placing your maximum bid.

Originally posted 2008-12-13 05:00:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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