Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 339

shortstop and hit .313. He hit his first professional home run on June 30, 1949 at Shulthis Stadium in Independence, Kansas. The ball went over the center field fence, which was 460 feet from home plate. In 1950, Mantle was promoted to the Class-C Joplin Miners of the Western Association, where he won the Western Association batting title with a .383 average. He also hit 26 home runs and recorded 136 RBIs. However, Mantle struggled defensively at shortstop.

In July 1950, after the start of the Korean War, Mantle was drafted for military service. However, the draft board rejected

him as physically unqualified for military service due the osteomyelitic condition of his left leg and gave him a 4-F deferment, the first of three times he was rejected for military service.

Mantle was invited to the Yankees instructional camp before the 1951 season and proceeded to make a big impression during spring training. One famous incident was when he hit two home runs at Bovard Field against the USC Trojans baseball team, when the Yankees were on a thirteen game spring training tour of the west coast. Both home runs, one from each side of the plate, reportedly traveled a distance of at least 500 feet. Impressed

by the 19 year old's power, Yankees manager Casey Stengel decided to promote Mantle to the majors as a right fielder