Top 106 Baseball Players: #14 - Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle was the greatest switch-hitter in history, and was a major part of the Yankees dynasty that dominated the 1950's.

Mantle joined the Yankees as a rookie in 1951, which was Joe DiMaggio's final season. In that year's World Series, Mantle and DiMaggio both went after a fly ball, with Mantle swerving at the last minute to avoid a collision and tripping over a drain pipe, which caused him to tear his ACL, an injury for which surgery was impossible at the time. He played the rest of his career on that injured knee.

He showed improvement the next season after being shifted to center field to replace DiMaggio, and had a great World Series, batting .345 with 2 home runs as the Yankees beat the Dodgers in 7 games. He took home his third World Series title in his third season, a pretty good way to start a career.

He became a superstar in 1956, when he became the only switch-hitter in history to win the Triple Crown, batting .353 with 52 home runs and 130 RBI, each of which led both leagues, making him the most recent player to lead both leagues in all 3 categories. He won the MVP that season, then hit 3 home runs in the World Series as he became a champion for the 4th time.

He won another MVP the next season, hitting a career-high .365, though he lost out to Ted Williams in the batting race, but he also led the league with 146 walks. In 1960 he led the league in home runs for the 4th time, then had a great World Series again, batting .400 with 3 home runs and 11 RBI, but the Yankees fell to the Pirates in 7 games that year.

The 1961 season was a big one for Mantle and the Yankees, as he and teammate Roger Maris were locked in a race to beat Babe Ruth's single-season home run record, but a late-season hip injury cause Mantle to fall behind and finish with 54 as he watched his teammate break the record.

He won his third MVP in 1962, after leading the league in walks, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, even after missing nearly 40 games due to injuries. He had his last great season in 1964, when he finished as the MVP runner-up, then hit another 3 home runs in the World Series, though they lost to the Cardinals that season.

Mantle played in 12 World Series during his career, coming away with 7 championships, and holds several career World Series records, including home runs, walks, runs scored, RBI's, and total bases. When he retired, he was #3 in career home runs, though he has fallen to #18 over the past 50 years. He is still #8 all-time in walks, and one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.