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Mickey Mantle "The Mick"

 

As the guy's are reporting to spring training, and the spring training games are about to begin and Opening Day around the corner, I thought it would be nice to reflect on one of the greatest baseball players of All-Time ! Enjoy!!

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He was one of the most compelling athletic heroes in American history. Long after he'd hung up his fabled pin striped uniform, grown men would stammer and stutter in his presence and faithful fans would pay outlandish prices for his memorabilla.

His achievements were many, but they cannot explain his enduring popularity. His legion of admirers felt a deep emotional attachment to this man who moved with such fluid grace and raw power They loved Mickey Mantle. His statistics are staggering - 536 home runs, 1,509 RBIs, 298 career batting average, 7 World Championships, and 3 MVP awards- and they are all the more impressive when we consider how the Hall of Famer courageously battled chronic, painful injuries during his 18 years with the New York Yankees.

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In addition, he won the Triple Crown in 1956, a .353 batting average, 52 HRs, and 130 RBIs, in 1961, he hammered 54 homers, just six shy of Babe Ruth's record.

But these numbers pale when compared to what happened in the harh summer of 1995 when his heart took over in that desperate final inning. Faced with an aggressive cancer, he displayed incredible courage, humility, even humor as he battled for his life, And when he chose to drag his frail body in front of a mass of microphones and address the public, there was not a trace of self pity in his words-only heartfelt pleas to avoid the mistakes he had made, "Don't be like me" he humbly declared, "I'm no role model!" But despite his flaws, Mantle remained a hero to his multitude of fans, and due to his honesty gained many new ones.

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At age 19 he left the lead mines of Oklahoma for the bright lights of New York City, Unfortunatly, those lights cast an eerie shadow over his life, After Mickey's first season, his father, Mutt Mantle, died of Hodgkins disease at 40, His grandfather and two of his uncles also succumbed to the same disease before their 40th birthdays. As a result, a growing fear of dying young hauted the budding superstar, He would talk long into the night with his close teammates, confiding to them, this nagging fear.

Convinced an early funeral was his inevitable fate. though often joking about it, he played hard and partied even harder, For him there was no tommorrow, Tragically, this attitude lead to a 40 year bout with alcohol that caused his body to grow old before its time and clouded his mind.

Many criticized his self- destrutive lifestyle, saying it sabotaged the greatest combination of power and speed the game had ever seen, In the autumn of his life, Mickey Mantle came to agree with those critics, admitting that his drug of choice, alcohol, kept him from reaching his full potential- as a player and as a person, He had learned the hard lesson that a man reaps what he sows.

Finally in 1994, at the urging of his family and friends, Mickey sought help for his addiction, After checking himself into the Betty Ford Center, he was able to win his long battle with the bottle, but he knew something was still missing in his life, He just wasn't sure what it was.

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In June of 95, doctors discovered that cancer had destroyed Mantle's liver, He was fortunate to receive a transplant, and for a while it seemed as if the greatest switch hitter of all time would live to fight another day, Then doctors found that cancer remained in his body and he began chemotherapy. Mickey knew he was facing death.

 

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"my signed ball"

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During the All-Star break in Dallas, he picked up the phone and called his old teammate fomer Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson- a committed Christian, Mickey asked him to pray for him over the phone. A few weeks later when doctors had discovered that the cancer had aggressively spread, Mickey's family asked Bobby if he would come visit him, His death was imminent. To honor Mickey's long standing request one he had made at the funeral of Roger Maris 9 years earlier, Bobby was asked to speak at the funeral. After entering the hospital room, Bobby went over to Mickey's bed and took his hand, Looking his eyes on him, Bobby said "Mickey,

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I love you, and I want you to spend eternity in heaven with me," Mantle smiled and said, "Bobby, I've been wanting to tell you that I have trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior," Faced with the crushing weight of his sin against a holy God and its dire consequence-eternal seperation from God, Mickey had asked for and received the forgiveness he so desperately needed, For Bobby, news of his conversion felt like cool rain after a summer drought, and brought tears to his eyes, For years, he had talked to Mickey about the Lord, but to no avail. Now, in the final inning of his life, the Mick had won his greatest victory, more glorious than any of his tape measure home runs. When asked later how he knew he would spend eternity with God in heaven, Mickey after some reflection. he quoted John 3;16 from the Bible; "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotton son, that who so ever believeth in me shall not perish, but have ever lasting life." At Mickey's funeral, Bobby Richardson told 2,000 mouners and a national TV audience that there are only two groups of people; those who say "yes" to Christ and those who say "no". He added that, since none of us knows when he or she will face his own final inning, saying "maybe" is really saying "no".

The Bible says, John,3;36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." I bet you didn't no that, or maybe you did, "pretty cool, huh"

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I had the opertunity of a life time, I got to meet Mickey Mantle, it was when my Artwork was really taking off, the magazines I was coming out in, Flew me to Atlanta, GA. for the once a year event! called The National, where every baseball card Co. and Magazine would be, thats when I got to meet him! He really liked my work, asked if I did it, and see if he can get a copy! As a thank you to me, we went out for drinks, what else! A very nice man, he was nippin at the show! "Oh" well, It's Mickey Mantle!!! http://www.myspace.com/rockthemick

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