Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 351

Mantle announced his retirement at the age of 37 on March 1, 1969. He delivered a farewell speech on Mickey Mantle Day, June 8, 1969, at Yankee Stadium. Mantle's wife, mother, and mother-in-law were in attendance and received recognition at the ceremony held in his honor. When he retired, Mantle was third on the all-time home run list with 536, and he was the Yankees' all-time leader in games played with 2,401. On Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium, The Mick's #7 was retired and he was a given a bronze plaque to be hung on the center field wall near the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Miller Huggins. After its presentation by Joe DiMaggio, Mantle gave a similar plaque to DiMaggio, telling the crowd; "Joe DiMaggio's deserves to be higher." In response, Joltin Joe's plaque was hung one inch higher than Mantle's.

In his career, Mantle batted .298 with an on-base percentage

of .421 and an on base plus slugging percentage of .997. He accumulated 2,415 hits, including 536 home runs, 344 doubles, and 72 triples. While Mantle led the league in strikeouts five times, holding the all-time record at the time of his retirement, he was also adept at drawing walks. He led the majors in walks five times and finished with at least 100 walks in a season ten times. As an outfielder, he recorded a career fielding percentage of .982.