Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 355

running catch during Don Larsen's perfect game was the best play of his career. He later referred to it as "probably the best catch I ever made."

Mantle's career was plagued with injuries. Beginning in high school, he suffered both acute and chronic injuries to bones and cartilage in his legs. By the end of his career simply swinging a bat caused him to fall to one knee in pain. Baseball scholars often ponder "what if" had Mantle not been injured but able to enjoy a healthy career.

In particular, the torn cartilage Mantle sustained to his right knee during the 1951 World Series was a very serious injury. Witnesses say it looked "like he had been shot." Dr. Stephen Haas, medical director for the National Football League Players

Association, said that Mantle tore his ACL during that incident and played the rest of his career without having it properly treated, since an ACL could not be repaired with the surgical techniques available in that era. Surgery performed in 1953 removed torn cartilage to prevent further erosion to the joint but also left his knee unstable. In order to minimize the effect of that, Yankee trainers would later wrap up his knees tightly with athletic tape. After the injury, teammates noted a change

in Mantle's gait and a loss of speed as a result. Despite his bad knee, Mantle was still known as the "fastest man to first