Mickey Mantle

More than any other athlete, Mickey Mantle was the American hero whose life personified the great expectations and unfulfilled dreams of the twentieth century. Hailed by Casey Stengel as the next Ruth and successor to DiMaggio, Mantle would become the first true sports icon of the television age. In Mickey Mantle: America's Prodigal Son, former Sports Illustrated writer Tony Castro recounts a story of fathers and sons, rebels and heroes, and a youth's rite of passage. He interviewed over 250 of Mantle's friends, teammates, lovers, acquaintances, and drinking partners, producing an explosive biography of one of the world's most fascinating sports heroes and a telling look at the American society of his time.

Growing up in small-town, Depression-era Oklahoma, Mickey Mantle heard the same plea day in and day out from his parents: Get out of the house and play some baseball Sooner than anyone expected, Mantle was a New York Yankee in 1951. Five years later, the switch-hitting phenomenon was on his way to stardom, completing the season with a Triple Crown for the highest batting average and most home runs and RBIs. Hailed as the successor to the great Joe DiMaggio, Mantle felt the pressure of success, and faced difficulties stemming from physical infirmity and, later, alcohol abuse. In Mickey Mantle, discover how this baseball great came to grips with his addiction, becoming a role model for the clean and sober life, and is now remembered as an American baseball hero.

A look at the life and career of the famous baseball player.

This book takes you back to majestic Yankee Stadium and other classic ball parks of the fifties and sixties. Coming to the plate, amid rising anticipation in the hearts of thousands of fans, is the handsome "kid from Oklahoma".

The ONLY nonfiction picture book about New York Yankee Mickey Mantle, one of the greatest baseball players of all time. From award-winning author Jonah Winter and #1 New York Times bestselling artist C. F. Payne comes this extraordinary picture-book biography that traces Mickey Mantle’s unparalleled baseball career. He could run from home plate to first base in 2.9 seconds. He could hit a ball 540 feet—the longest home run in major league history. He was the greatest switch hitter ever to play the game. And he did it all despite broken bones, pulled muscles, strains, and sprains, from his shoulders to his feet. How did a poor country boy from Commerce, Oklahoma, become one of the greatest and most beloved baseball players of all time? This is the story.

Acclaimed sportswriter Allen Barra exposes the uncanny parallels--and lifelong friendship--between two of the greatest baseball players ever to take the field. Culturally, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were light-years apart. Yet they were nearly the same age and almost the same size, and they came to New York at the same time. They possessed virtually the same talents and played the same position. They were both products of generations of baseball-playing families, for whom the game was the only escape from a lifetime of brutal manual labor. Both were nearly crushed by the weight of the outsized expectations placed on them, first by their families and later by America. Both lived secret lives far different from those their fans knew. What their fans also didn't know was that the two men shared a close personal friendship--and that each was the only man who could truly understand the other's experience.

Recounts Mickey Mantle's life as a New York Yankee--both public and private.

Major League Baseball's Opening Day, 1951. Nineteen-year-old Mickey Mantle puts on the New York Yankees' famous white pinstriped uniform. His stomach roils. Sweat beads his brow. Today is his first major league game in front of a near-capacity crowd at Yankee Stadium, and there is one man Mickey doesn't want to disappoint above all others: his father. Mickey Mantle: Rookie in Pinstripes is the uplifting true story of how a painfully shy teenager from rural Commerce, Oklahoma, became one of the biggest stars in Major League Baseball. While he looked to Joe DiMaggio for inspiration and dreamed of someday playing with that great New York Yankee, Mickey's true hero was his dad. Raised during the Depression, Mickey learned how to catch, hit, and field the ball from his father, Elvin. In high school, Mickey suffered a football injury that revealed a serious bone disorder. He wondered if he would ever play baseball again. But with the support and love of his father, he overcame his affliction and signed with the New York Yankees in 1949. A moving story of Mickey's early years in baseball, from his difficult rookie season to his triumphant return in 1951, Mickey Mantle portrays the everlasting bond between father and son and the making of one of baseball's greatest legends.