Sunday, June 26, 2011

Mickey Mantle PH heroics following long absences: 1962 & 1963.

Friday, May 18, 1962 Yankee Stadium: Mantle hurt on final out against Minnesota.

Groundout: SS-1B; this was a classic Mickey injury: trailing 4-3 in the 9th Mickey batted right handed with Tom Tresh on second and two out; Mickey belted a one hop rocket to Minnesota SS Zoilo Versalles, which staggered Versalles; Mickey lunged with his final step to first base and pulled a muscle; he fell as if shot; he made the final out of the game and was carried off the field.

Saturday, June 16, 1962 Cleveland Stadium Cleveland: Mantle returned.

Top 8th, Yanks trailed 7-6, one out, 2 on: Gary Bell replaces Bob Allen pitching and batting 9th; Mickey Mantle pinch hits for Marshall Bridges (P) batting 9th; HR Mantle (8, off G Bell; 8th inn, 2 on, 1 out); Mantle's three run HR put Yanks ahead 9-7 but Cleveland won 10-9.
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Wednesday, June 5, 1963 Memorial Stadium Baltimore: Mantle hurt trying to prevent a home run.

Brooks Robinson (4, off W Ford; 6th inn, 0 on, 2 outs to CF); Harry Bright replaces Mickey Mantle (CF) playing 1B batting 4th Joe Pepitone moves from 1B to CF

Mantle leaped against the chain link fence and his spikes caught in the fence.  When he fell Mickey broke his foot and tore ligaments.  I saw the front page of the New York Daily News the next morning as I waited for the subway to high school: "Mantle breaks foot, out season".

Robinson's HR tied the game 3-3 but Yanks won 4-3.

Sunday, August 4, 1963 Yankee Stadium: Mantle returns against Baltimore.

There have been stories written about whether Mantle was prepared to play that day.  This post only addresses the facts, which include:

Start Time: 4:53 p.m. Local

Second game of a doubleheader. Game one started at 2:02. So by the time Mantle PH in the 7th inning of game two it had to be at least 7 PM as the 10 inning game lasted 3:44. No one ever mentions that.

Bottom 7th, Yanks trailed 10-9 with one out: Mickey Mantle pinch hits for Steve Hamilton (P) batting 9th; HR Mantle (12, off G Brunet; 7th inn, 0 on, 1 out to LF).  Mantle tied the game.

Initially I thought "oh no, he hit it to Death Valley, it will never go out". My recollection is that it cleared the 457 sign in left center.  Yanks won 11-10 in 10 innings.

The Mick's next seven games:

Saturday, August 10, 1963: Dodger Stadium LA
Top 9th Yanks trail Angels 1-0, leading off against Dean ChanceMickey Mantle pinch hits for Clete Boyer (3B) batting 8th; Walk; Jack Reed pinch runs for Mickey Mantle (PH) batting 8th; Reed scores.  Yanks win 2-1.  Ford wins 17th.

Sunday, August 11, 1963: Dodger Stadium LA
Top 8th Yanks trail Angels 1-0, two out, runner on second.  Mickey Mantle pinch hits for Clete Boyer (3B) batting 8th; Walk against Dan Osinski; Phil Linz pinch runs for Mickey Mantle (PH) batting 8th.  No runs.  Trailing 4-1 in 9th, Howard hits three run homer to tie.  Yanks win 6-4 in 10.

Wednesday, August 14, 1963: Fenway Park Boston
Top 8th Yanks trail Boston 3-0, one out, one on.  Mickey Mantle pinch hits for Jim Bouton (P) batting 9th; Strikeout Looking against Dave Morehead.  No runs.  Yanks score four in 9th but lose 5-4.

Friday, August 16, 1963: White Sox Park Chicago
Top 8th Yanks trail Chicago 2-0.  Leading off against Juan Pizzaro: Mickey Mantle pinch hits for Whitey Ford (P) batting 9th; Groundout: SS-1B.  No runs.  Yanks score four in 9th, win 4-2; Tresh, Lopez, Boyer homer.

Saturday, August 17, 1963: White Sox Park Chicago
Top 8th Yanks trail Chicago 2-0.  Against Gary Peters: Mickey Mantle pinch hits for Al Downing (P) batting 9th; Walk; Jack Reed pinch runs for Mickey Mantle (PH) batting 9th.  No runs.  Yanks lose 2-0.

Thursday, August 22, 1963: Yankee Stadium
Bottom 5th Yanks trail Cleveland 6-0, two out, two on.  Against Mudcat Grant Mickey Mantle pinch hits for Bill Kunkel (P) batting 9th; Lineout: CF. No runs.  Yanks lose 7-4.

Sunday, August 25, 1963: Yankee Stadium second game doubleheader
Bottom 12th Yanks trail Chicago 2-1, two out.  Against Gary Peters Mickey Mantle pinch hits for Steve Hamilton (P) batting 9th; Groundout: 2B-1B.  Final out of game.

Then ...

Sunday, September 1, 1963 Memorial Stadium Baltimore:  The Mick gets revenge against Baltimore again, this time at the scene of his terrible injury.

8th inning, Baltimore leads 4-1, one out, one on: Mickey Mantle pinch hits for Tom Metcalf (P) batting 9th; HR Mantle (13, off M McCormick; 8th inn, 1 on, 1 out to LF).  Mantle's two run HR made it Baltimore 4, Yankees 3.  Three batters later Tom Tresh hit a two run homer to put Yanks up 5-4, the final score.

Monday, September 2, 1963, Tiger Stadium Detroit: game one Mantle PH: DP.  Yanks win 5-4.  In game two Mantle returns to CF for the first time since his June 5 injury and goes 2 for 3 plus a walk; caught stealing.  Yanks lose 2-1.

Mantle PH in each of the next two Yankee games but then only once more in 1963 (Sept. 20), playing CF in the others.

Ah, the Mick!

6 comments:

Jeremiah Unterman said...

On Aug. 4, 1963, Mantle's PH home run went into the fourth row over the 404 ft. sign in left field (not the 457ft. sign in left-center). I was there. Incredibly dramatic. He hobbled around the bases. The crowd went wild (about 40,000).

Muskokacolours said...

I was at both games, June 5, 1963 at Memorial Stadium when he got injured, and at the Sept. 1 game when he returned and hit the pinch hit homerun. The June 5th game, Brooks Robinson hit a drive to straight away center and Mantle leapt at the fense, missing the ball by inches, and then had his spikes get tangled in the chain links on the way down. Two innings later the PA announced that Mantle had broken his foot and was going to miss 6-8 weeks of the season. Baltimore fans cheered. When he came back on Sept. 1, he pinch hit the homerun on the first pitch. The Baltimore fans gave him a five minute standing ovation to redeem themselves. One of the most dramatic moments i have ever experienced in baseball. Years later, both Jim Bouton ahd Joe Pepitone gave accounts of that game in their books ("Ball Four") and described Mantle as being so hungover he could harldly walk to the plate.

paul46 said...

All great stuff! Mantle was special...

Unknown said...

I was at the game at Yankee Stadium on August 4 when Mickey hit the home run off George Brunet. The fans started cheering and standing from the moment he came out of the dugout and went to the on deck circle. I was only nine years old, so I stood on my seat in order to see. When he hit it out over the left field fence, pandemonium broke loose. It took a long time to round the bases and the standing ovation must have lasted a full five minutes. It was the most dramatic thing I ever saw.

Bronx Bomber fan said...

For what it's worth, left field in Yankee Stadium was 402, not 404. The pinch hit homer I remember best was a three-run shot he hit in '62, after having been out nearly a month, to give them a 9-7 lead over Cleveland (though they lost the game). And the most dramatic part wasn't even the homer; it was when the guy on the on-deck circle headed back to the dugout, and you knew who was coming out and what was going to happen. That was just terrific.

Unknown said...

I was at this game too!! Only 11 years old. It was the low point of my season as a Yankee fan then.