Page 167 - Cousins - Celebrities, Saints & Sinners

Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, when he led the major leagues in batting average (.353),
home runs (52), and runs batted in (RBI) (130). He later wrote a book (My Favorite Summer
1956) about his best year in baseball. He was an All-Star for 16 seasons, playing in 16 of the 20
All-Star Games that were played during his career. He was an American League (AL) Most
Valuable Player (MVP) three times and a Gold Glove winner once. Mantle appeared in 12 World
Series including seven championships, and he holds World Series records for the most home
runs (18), RBIs (40), extra-base hits (26), runs (42), walks (43), and total bases (123).
Before Mantle sought treatment for alcoholism, he admitted that his hard living had hurt both
his playing and his family. His rationale was that the men in his family had all died young, so he
expected to die young as well. His father died of Hodgkin's disease at age 40 in 1952, and his
grandfather also died young of the same disease. "I'm not gonna be cheated", he would say. At
the time, Mantle did not know that most of the men in his family had inhaled lead and zinc dust
in the mines, which contribute to Hodgkin's and other cancers. He outlived all the men in his
family by several years.

On Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium, June 8, 1969, Mantle's Number 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. The plaque was officially presented to Mantle by Joe
DiMaggio. Mantle afterwards, gave a similar plaque to DiMaggio, telling the huge crowd in
Yankee Stadium, "Joe DiMaggio's deserves to be higher." In response, DiMaggio's plaque was
hung one inch higher than Mantle's. When Yankee Stadium was reopened in 1976 following its
renovation, the plaques and monuments were moved to a newly created Monument
Park behind the left-center field fence, which has since been replaced by a new Monument
Park at the current Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009.

Shortly before his death, Mantle videotaped a message to be played on Old-Timers' Day, which
he was too ill to attend. He said, "When I die, I wanted on my tombstone, 'A great teammate.'
But I didn't think it would be this soon." The words were indeed carved on the plaque marking
his resting place at the family mausoleum in Dallas. On August 25, 1996, about a year after his
death, Mantle's Monument Park plaque was replaced with a monument, bearing the words "A
great teammate" and keeping a phrase that had been included on the original plaque: "A
magnificent Yankee who left a legacy of unequaled courage."
Mantle and former teammate Whitey Ford were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame together
in 1974, Mantle's first year of eligibility, Ford's second.

Note: Baseball was my favorite sport as I was growing up and I remember Mickey Mantle as
being not being very outgoing or communicative. I particularly remember him hitting
impossibly long home runs that at times landed totally outside the baseball stadium. I also
remember the exciting home run race in 1961 when he and Roger Maris were chasing Babe
Ruth’s home run record of 60. Mantle was injured toward the end of the year and fell short
with 54 home runs, while Roger Maris went on to break the record with 61.

References:
1. Relative Finder, associated with FamilySearch, and the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS)
2. Wikipedia.org
3. Learn more – Mickey Mantle: Icon of a Generation
4. LDS Family Tree attached

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