Frankie Mantle?

1933
By Goudey [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Frankie Frisch, the old Fordham (University) Flash, may have been the model for Elvin Charles "Mutt" Mantle (1912-1952) in teaching his son Mickey to hit both his natural righty and also lefty, to switch hit.  If that's the case then one wonders why Mutt named Mickey after Mickey Cochrane.  Both Frisch and Cochrane are in the Hall of Fame.  Both threw righty.  Cochrane, a catcher, chose to bat lefty.  Frisch, a second baseman, chose to switch hit.

Frisch played for his home town New York Giants (1919-1926) then was traded with Jimmy Ring to the St. Louis Cardinals (1927-1937) for second baseman Rogers Hornsby who had also managed the Cardinals to the 1926 World Series championship over the Yankees.  Hornsby's batting averages (BA) 1920-1926: .370, .397, .401, .384, .424, .403, .317.  Gee, one off season and he gets traded.  Hornsby was also 2.5 years older than Frisch and not as good a fielder.

Mutt Mantle must have known:
- Hornsby was a great righty hitter
- Frisch was a great switch hitter but not as good as Hornsby
- Cochrane was a great lefty hitter but not as good as Hornsby.

Why did Mutt Mantle choose to have his son switch hit like Frisch?  Did he really foresee an era of platooning and that being a switch hitter would give Mickey his best chance to play full time?  Obviously being as good as Hornsby would ensure that Mickey would play full time but who could be as good as Hornsby?  As it turned out: Mickey Mantle but how could Mutt have expected that?

In addition to Cochrane impressing Mutt enough to name his son after him, Frisch must have influenced Mutt even more.  Frisch was the best switch hitter before Mickey Mantle.  Mutt modeled his son's baseball career, not on Cochrane, but on Frisch.  Mickey Mantle became a middle infielder (shortstop) and switch hitter like Frisch, not a catcher and opportunist lefty batter like Cochrane.

Cochrane played in the World Series in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1936.

Frisch played in the World Series in 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1934.

Cochrane and Frisch played against each other in these World Series: 1930, 1931, 1934; Frisch won in 1931 and 1934.

Mickey Charles Mantle was born October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma.  St. Louis, Missouri was the closest major league city and Mutt Mantle, born in 1912, must have followed those World Series between Cochrane and Frisch in the newspapers and possibly on the radio.  If Mutt knew enough about Cochrane to name his son after him he must have also known enough about Frisch to have his son switch hit starting just a few years later.

http://www.mickeymantle.com/bio.htm:

Every day when Mutt would come from from the mines, they would practice baseball next to an old tin barn.  Mutt would pitch tennis balls (right handed) to Mickey while he batted lefty.  Mickey's grandfather, Charlie, would then pitch left handed to Mickey while he batted righty. 

By the age of five, Mickey was already showing promising signs as a baseball player and impressing the neighbors.
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That means that Mickey Mantle was switch hitting in 1936, Joe DiMaggio's rookie season.  See previous post: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 Mickey Mantle: father knew best but for the wrong reason.

Mutt could have named his son Frankie.  Maybe Cochrane impressed him more than Frisch.  Maybe Mutt Mantle just liked the alliteration of Mickey Mantle.