This statue of baseball legend Mickey Mantle is located on the west side of the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, near the third baseline. There are numerous sculptures of baseball figures outside the stadium.
Mickey Mantle was born in 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma. When Mickey was born, his father Mutt wanted his son to grow up to be a professional baseball player, so he was named after Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane.
The family moved to Commerce, Oklahoma when Mickey was a young boy. Every day when his father got home from work, the two of them would practice baseball. Mickey was a catcher, and played in a Pee Wee league when he was 10. At 15 he was playing in a Semi-Pro league which had players up to 21 years old. Mickey attended Commerce High School and excelled in numerous sports.
Yankee scout Tom Greenwade discovered Mickey in 1948 when the boy was playing for the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids team. Tom returned on the day of Mickey's high school graduation and signed him to the Yankees for $440/month and a $1,500 signing bonus.
In 1949 Mickey played for Class C minor league team the Joplin Miners.
In 1951 he played his first game in the major leagues, on April 17, with Joe DiMaggio.
During the 1951 World Series vs NY Giants, Mickey suffered a bad knee injury while trying to catch a fly ball from Willie Mays. The injury affected the rest of his playing career, and his teammates were impressed with his ability to play so well despite the pain.
The term "tape measure home run" was coined after a 565 ft. blast by Mickey at Griffith Stadium - the longest measured home run in the history of baseball.
Mickey's greatest year was in 1956 when he won the Triple Crown, Male Athlete of the Year award, the American League MVP, and Player of the Year award! That year his stats were .353 batting average, 52 homeruns, and 130 RBIs.
He was considered a hero in the 1956 World Series game in which Don Larsen pitched his historic perfect game.
Mickey's career sometimes didn't go well, and there were times that he called his dad and said he wanted to quit. His father was very encouraging and said playing baseball would be easier than working the mines, so Mickey continued and persevered to be a hugely successful baseball player!
Mickey Mantle played in a total of 12 World Series games during his 18 years with the Yankees, leading them to 7 World Championships.
He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. He is buried at the Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery (Mausoleum) in Dallas, TX.
Biographical information was taken directly from the following website:
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