Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 342

performed well in the series, recording an on-base percentage above .400 and a slugging percentage above .600. In Game 6, he homered in a 3–2 win. In Game 7, he knocked in the winning runs in the 4–2 victory, with a home run in the sixth inning and an RBI single in the seventh.

Mantle's emergence as a star center fielder coincided with the Korean War. Due to his previous rejection, he was not amongst the baseball players who joined the Armed Forces, leading baseball fans and sportswriters to question his 4-F deferment. This led to newspapers even calling him a "draft dodger" and

Mantle receiving threatening letters. In April 1951, Mantle was re-examined by the draft board and was once again rejected as being physically unfit for military service. A second highly publicized physical, brought on by his All-Star selection, was held in October 1952 and ended in a final rejection, this time

due to the knee injury sustained in the 1951 World Series.

Mantle had a strong 1953 season, making the All-Star Game and helping the Yankees to another World Series, which they won against the Brooklyn Dodgers. However, he missed several weeks due to his previously injured knee which had been left untreated after the initial stay in hospital in 1951. After the season

ended, a full two years after the injury he had picked up at the 1951 series, Mantle had surgery performed on his left knee in