Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 356

base," once being recorded reaching first base in 3.1 seconds. However, he was forbidden by Yankee managers from base stealing over the worry that his "delicate" knees would break down faster.

Further, the shoulder injury Mantle suffered during the 1957 World Series, led to increasing difficulty in hitting from the left side over the next decade.

Mantle served as a part time color commentator for NBC on Game of the Week. In 1969, he was the color commentator for the All-Star Game. He also served as a pre-game analyst for the 1969 and 1970 World Series. Later, he worked as a part time coach in the Yankees farm system.

In 1973, at the Old-Timers Game at Yankee Stadium, Mantle, batting right handed, faced old his teammate Whitey Ford. He hit a long home run over the 402 foot sign by the bullpen, his last at Yankee Stadium.

Although he was among the best paid players of the pre-free-agency era, Mantle was a poor businessman and did not invest well and struggled financially for a while. Amongst his failed business ventures was his chain of Mickey Mantle's Country Cookin' restaurants in the early 1970s.

His financial situation improved after the sports memorabilia industry boomed in the 1980s. Mantle was a prized guest at