Cooperstown Confidential: The last games of Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle played his final game in 1968. I don’t remember seeing that game, or any other game in 1968, for that matter. After all, I was all of three years old.

Although my memory does not stretch back 45 years, I still watched Mantle play that summer. At least that’s what my family has told me. For years now, my family has described to me how I used to walk up to our old black and white TV, stand as close to it as I could, and then start to jump up and down frenetically whenever Mantle came to the plate. When Mantle swung the bat, I would let out a scream. Being three years old at the time, I can’t actually remember any of this. But my family has assured me—much to my embarrassment—that it did happen. All of it.

By 1968, Mantle’s abilities had been reduced to a fragment of their former levels. Yet, he still had some value as an offensive player. Retaining his keen batting eye, he still managed to coax 106 walks, which allowed him to reach base 38 per cent of the time. He also hit 18 home runs, which was a decent figure within the environment of the “Year of the Pitcher.”

Based strictly on hitting alone, Mantle ranked as no worse than third among American League first basemen. Only Detroit’s Norm Cash and Baltimore’s Boog Powell clearly ranked ahead of Mantle. If you’re wondering about Harmon Killebrew, he had struggled through an injury-plagued summer, taking him out of the equation. As for the rest, Mantle was clearly better than Boston’s George Scott, California’s Don Mincher, Tom McCraw of the White Sox, Cleveland’s Tony Horton, Oakland’s Danny Cater, and the Senators’ Mike Epstein.

As good as Mantle’s numbers looked within the context of a pitcher-friendly 1968, they also masked severe problems within his game. Sure, Mantle reached base often, but he could hardly run, restricted to an embarrassing limp that made him one of the league’s slower runners. Surrounded by a weak cast of characters (other than capable hitters like Roy White and Joe Pepitone), Mantle simply had no one to drive him in.

Defensively, Mantle offered little to nothing. No longer able to play the outfield, he could only play first base. He had little range and lacked the reflexes to handle hard-hit grounders. He played first base only because there was nowhere else to play.

Of course, I had no concept of any of this in 1968. I had no idea that Mantle was playing the final games of his Hall of Fame career. Then again, no one knew with certainty that Mantle was going to retire. There were whispers that 1968 would represent Mantle’s final go-round, but nothing official coming from either Mantle or the Yankees. He would not publicly announce his retirement until the first day of March in 1969, after the Yankees had already reported to spring training. In complete contrast to the ongoing retirement of the great Mariano Rivera, there was no retirement ceremony while Mantle was still playing in 1968, no gifts being given to the departing hero, and no farewell tour.

Even if Mantle had announced his retirement in 1968, a farewell tour would not have taken place. That’s because farewell tours did not exist at that time. As I recall, the whole practice of a farewell tour did not begin until Kareem Abdul-Jabbar announced his retirement from the NBA back in the late 1980s. The Lakers’ season in 1989 became a long string of farewells and gift giveaways, all for the benefit of Abdul-Jabbar.

Sports were simpler in Mantle’s day. Ceremonies, gift-giving, and other special events took place with less frequency. While the possibility of Mantle retiring was brought up in 1968, it did not dominate headlines the way it would have done in today’s baseball environment. In fact, Mantle’s largest headline moment came in a late September game with the Tigers, several days before his actual finale. It was a Thursday afternoon game on September 19, sparsely attended at Tiger Stadium, that otherwise would have garnered little attention. It was a meaningless late-season game that had come just after the Tigers had officially clinched the American League pennant race.

With the Tigers guaranteed of a place in the World Series and the Yankee pennant hopes long since ended, the game meant very little. Denny McLain, having just won his 30th game of the season, opposed Mel Stottlemyre in a battle of staff aces. On this day, McLain had something special in mind for Mantle, who was tied with Jimmie Foxx for third on the all-time home run list. Hearing the rumors that Mantle might retire at season’s end, McLain wanted to ensure that “The Mick” would hit the milestone home run.

As Mantle stepped to the plate, McLain called his catcher, the veteran backup Jim Price, to come to the mound. “I want Mantle to hit one,“ McLain told Price, according to an excerpt from Tim Wendel’s book, Summer of ‘68. At first, Price did not understand what McLain meant. But within a few moments, he came to realize that McLain intended to give Mantle an easy pitch to hit, in order to maximize his chances of hitting a home run.

McLain threw a succession of what could be best described as batting practice fastballs. But Mantle either took them or fouled them off. Price and McLain then had another meeting on the mound, with McLain telling his battery mate to inform Mantle “to be ready.” Price relayed the message to Mantle.

McLain threw another low-velocity fastball toward Mantle, who swung hard, sending the ball deep toward right field at Tiger Stadium. The ball landed in the right field stands, and Mantle limped his way around the bases, officially moving past Jimmie Foxx on the all-time home run list. After the game, Mantle retrieved the ball, signed it, and then gave it to McLain as a gift. According to Jane Leavy’s The Last Boy, the inscription read, “Denny, thanks for one of the great moments in my entire career, Mickey.”

Based on the conferences between McLain and Price, and the body language of both McLain and Mantle, it was obvious to most in attendance that the at-bat lacked legitimacy. After the game, McLain admitted to nothing, but his coy and ambiguous answers indicated that something strange had taken place. Commissioner Spike Eckert later reprimanded McLain, sending him a letter scolding him for his actions. But Eckert did not punish him otherwise, perhaps because he had no proof that the controversial right-hander had tanked his performance.

It was hardly a proud moment for the game, and likely would have drawn a harsher reaction from today’s more skeptical media, but McLain has remained unrepentant. He has since admitted that he grooved the series of pitches to Mantle but has offered no apologies. As a lifelong fan of Mantle who had grown up idolizing The Mick in the 1950s, McLain felt that he had done the right thing in assisting him achieve a baseball milestone.

Six days later, Mantle played what would be his final game at Yankee Stadium, but with little fanfare. Facing Indians ace Luis Tiant, who was putting the finishing touches on a brilliant 21-win, 1.60 ERA season, Mantle came to the plate four times. In his first at-bat, he singled to center field, but was left stranded.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

His next two time times up, Mantle struck out looking and struck out swinging. In his last plate appearance, he drew a ninth-inning walk, but was again left stranded, this time to end the game, completing a 3-0, one-hit shutout for Tiant. Even though Mantle’s hit was the only one mustered against Tiant that day, it was an anti-climactic way to finish a legendary career at Yankee Stadium.

Then came the finale of Mantle’s career, taking place on the road. It occurred on the second to last day of the season, a Saturday afternoon, with Fenway Park providing the backdrop and the rival Red Sox supplying the opposition. Yankees manager Ralph Houk wrote Mantle’s name into the starting lineup, putting him at first base, where he had spent most of the 1968 season. In the top of the first, Mantle stepped in against Red Sox right-hander Jim Lonborg. Breaking his bat on an inside fastball, he lofted a weak pop-up toward shallow left field, where it was caught easily by shortstop Rico Petrocelli.

Mantle then ran out to his position at first base to start the bottom half of the first. Mantle proceeded to throw the ball around the infield, taking part in the usual around-the-horn tossing that marks the delays between innings. But Mantle was simply playing a role; he had no intention of playing any further. Mantle and Houk had worked out a special departure.

After public address announcer Sherm Feller introduced the first Red Sox batter, he paused slightly, and then announced a defensive substitution for the Yankees. In a pre-arranged decision, Houk instructed journeyman outfielder/first baseman Andy Kosco to run out to first base to take over for Mantle.

Becoming the answer to a trivia question, Kosco shook hands with Mantle, thanking The Mick for the opportunity to play with him. Mantle then limped toward the dugout, the fans at Fenway Park slowly gathering into a standing ovation. Mantle ran off the field for the final time.

Mantle did not even attend the Yankees’ final game at Fenway; the early departure allowed him to board an earlier flight and head home to Dallas on Saturday.

For the most part, Mantle had made up his mind to retire. But he made no formal announcement, in large part because the Yankees and the Players’ Association asked him not to do so. The Yankees wanted to create the illusion that Mantle would play in 1969, so that they could sell more season ticket packages. The player union hoped to use Mantle’s name in order to gain leverage in their next round of negotiations with the owners. That’s why Mantle waited until the early days of spring training to make his announcement to the media and the fans.

I also suspect Mantle wanted little part of an elaborate ceremony that would have accompanied his final days as an active player. A public gathering like that would have made Mantle uncomfortable, perhaps even awkward. If such a ceremony was inevitable, it could wait for later, in 1969, when he was fully retired and wearing a matching suit instead of pinstripes.

To this day, I’m torn about the way that Mantle left the game. First off, I selfishly wish that Mantle had played a little bit longer, if only to allow me to have remembered seeing him play. He could still draw walks and hit home runs, and those attributes might have allowed him to play for another two or three years. I sure would have enjoyed watching a little bit more of Mantle.

More to the point, I have mixed feelings about the lack of pomp and circumstance surrounding Mantle’s departure from the game. On the one hand, there is a quiet dignity to leaving the game without ceremonies and speeches. Spontaneity usually wins out over staging and scripting. After awhile, the accolades become repetitive and tiresome.

Yet, there is part of me that wants to see a player like Mantle receive a formal farewell in the manner that Rivera has in 2013. Perhaps Mantle’s final season of 1968 would be better remembered if it were accompanied by a full ceremony, a tribute, a press conference, and even a farewell tour. Those moments would have been nice to capture on film or videotape.

Alas, those moments don’t exist. Forty five years ago, the world of baseball was a far different place.

References & Resources
Summer of ’68, by Tim Wendel;
The Last Boy, by Jane Leavy


Bruce Markusen has authored seven baseball books, including biographies of Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Ted Williams, and A Baseball Dynasty: Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s, which was awarded SABR's Seymour Medal.
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Jim
10 years ago

You just gave us another vote for the designated hitter.

There is a reason why players play catch between innings, not to just delay the game.

Jim G.
10 years ago

Great read Bruce.
It’s interesting that a lot is made about integrity and McClain grooving pitches for Mantle, but little is though of the Yankees delaying Mantle’s retirement to sell more season tickets.
I don’t know how many people were buying season tickets strictly because Mantle was on the team. His retirement did usher in a forgettable era for the Yankees, though. Maybe the team thought that Mantle’s retirement represented the “other shoe dropping” and would indeed affect ticket sales. Still, the action doesn’t drip with integrity, either.

Marc Schneider
10 years ago

Fortunately, Mantle did hit another legitimate home run later so that his move past Foxx is not tainted.  I doubt that McLain was the first pitcher to do that and probably not the last.  In the pantheon of bad things that players could do, grooving a pitch to a future Hall of Famer in a meaningless game probably ranks pretty low.  I agree with Jim G. that what the Yankees did-in effect, defrauding their ticket holders-is worse.

Jim,

I don’t believe the author intended to suggest that the players toss the ball around to delay the game, just that the ball tossing marks the delay that exists.

One wonders if Mantle would have continued playing if the Yankees had been a better team and if his performance would have been better.  He was still a respectable hitter, but, without the DH, his lack of ability at first base would have been a real handicap on a contending team.  But, with the lowering of the mound in 1969, one could envision Mantle potentially hitting close to 30 home runs-assuming he could make it around the bases.

John C
10 years ago

McLain had nothing to apologize for, then or now. It’s not the only time in baseball history that someone “laid down” to help an opponent. If Denny McLain hadn’t gone on to be, shall we say, notorious, no one would keep bringing up that he let Mickey Mantle hit a home run at the end of his career. Heck, if it was near the end of the game and I had a huge lead, like McLain did, I’d have thrown him a gopher ball on purpose too.

bucdaddy
10 years ago

“Mick, here comes the deuce. And when you speak of me, speak of me well.”

IIRC, Mantle spent most of his career playing in excruciating pain and burdened by the belief he was destined to die young. I’m sure your 4-year-old self would have had trouble understanding the concept of “selfishness” to expect a man to play two or three more years under those circumstances for your gratification. But then, 4-yerar-olds are the height of selfishness. So: Forgiven!

What I can’t forgive is this: I was 11 when Mickey retired, and I wrote a poem about him (an 11-year-old’s bad poem, I’m sure) and sent it to him.

In return, I got an auto-signed postcard advertising “Mickey Mantle’s Country Cookin’ Restaurants.”

I’d poured what there was of my Little League soul into it, and I got an advertisement. Even my 11-year-old self understood he’d gotten ****ed.

Carl
10 years ago

Mantle led the Yankees in homers in 1968.

Pepitone came up after the Mantle homer and yelled at McLain to give him a BP fastball like he had given Mickey.  McLain (rightfully so in my opinion) drilled him w a fastball.

Jim
10 years ago

bucdaddy, you still have that post card?  Send it to me!

Todd Helton the other night in his last Coors Field game hit a homerun on the second pitch, most un-Helton like that early in the count.  I told myself at the time, I believe Peavy wanted to send Helton off with cheers. 

My point is, it is not the first time nor will it ever be the last time something like this happens.  And so what, it if doesn’t affect the playoff race.  Just one run to make someone happy.  Although I doubt Maholm will ever groove one for Carlos Gomez.

bucdaddy
10 years ago

… while Mick was looking under hotel room doors!

Cliff Blau
10 years ago

Bruce,
Sounds like you were a cool three-year-old.

Gyre
10 years ago

In 69, the DH was tried for the first time during spring training.  One wonders about the coincidence, I suppose the Mick was fed up with the state of the team.

bucdaddy
10 years ago

Jim,

Now that you mention it … I wish. But my 11-year-old self probably recognized it for what it was and threw it away in a fit of pique.

David Evans
10 years ago

Always enjoy your writings. Great stuff and keep it coming.

Kenneth Matinale
10 years ago

Someone wrote of the McLain game and watching on TV.  I was home and listened to it on the radio here in New because it was NOT on TV.  Can anyone verify whose recollection is correct?

Phil Rizzuto was announcing and there must have been something in the air because he was saying wouldn’t be great if McLain let Mantle hit one.  Then during the plate appearance Phil described it accurately since it must have been obvious.  Phil indicated that Mantle acknowledged McLain’s intent with a gesture of thanks as he rounded the bases.  At least that’s what I recall.

Jim
10 years ago

Could have been on tv in Detroit, but not New (New York?).  Back then, they didn’t broadcast world-wide like today.  Just a thought.

Roast Mosquito
10 years ago

My recollection of watching Mantle’s retirement on TV was that he was driven around the warning track in the bullpen car adorned with giant MM 7 license plates. (Here it is on rhymes-with-blue-cube.) The only other automobile I had ever seen with someone’s initials on the license plate was in the driveway of a neighbor lady whose house was strictly off-limits on Halloween. Don’t tell anybody, but she always gave out the best candy.

A check of the Tigers 1968 yearbook shows that the only home games they televised were on Saturdays. The 1969 yearbook shows they continued that policy even as World Champs. Hard to imagine they would have changed the pattern to show a Wednesday afternoon game when the pennant had already been clinched and McLain had already won number 30, although I should not presume to underestimate the number of Detroit residents who might have been eager to watch Mickey Mantle pass Jimmie Foxx on the home run list.

I checked the video tape, not of the home run, but of Mickey talking about the home run. With his distinctive Oklahoma twang, he pronounces Price as if it were spelled F-R-E-E-H-A-N. Many hitters say that even if you know what’s coming, it doesn’t make it any easier to hit. Mickey’s last plate appearance against a battery of McLain and Freehan came on August 24, and the home run that moved him ahead of Foxx came 26 days later.

Was the official scorer reprimanded for crediting Pepitone with a single to left for his rightful drilling?

It’s safe to say that no literary agents were ever injured in a stampede to publish Mickey Mantle’s memory improvement tips. Accounts of this historical event are augmented by the eyewitness testimony of two convicted felons and a broadcaster who introduced W.W. into the baseball lexicon. Thank you for participating in Denny McLain’s perpetual I-am-a-nice-guy-I-am-not-a-racketeer-If-you-don’t-believe-me-you-can-ask-me-If-I-ever-stop-talking-about-myself campaign.

87 Cards
10 years ago

On September 13, Bruce published a good interview with former Phillie Larry Colton on his great new book on the 1960s Southern League.

The first time I heard of Larry Colton was as a 14- year old in 1981 when I read the following article from him in Sports Illustrated wherein he details his decision to gift Tom Paciorek in Colton’s final pro appearance for Tacoma of the PCL:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1124501/1/index.htm

Ron
10 years ago

That game was on tv and I remember Denny grooving the pitch.
As a kid growing up in the mid ‘50’s and early ‘60’s, living in Detroit and then moving to boston, Kaline was my guy…picture perfect and smooth as silk favorite player, and to this day the Mick is my second favorite. His swing looked as if to me he was swinging a sledgehammer sideways. Mick was so strong and hit the ball a mile.
I will never forget meeting him back in ‘85 at a card show signing autographs. Mickey was shaking hands, talking with fans, and had his picture taken with lots of ‘older kids’ like me.
It’s been said that the American League players looked up to Mickey.

Crazy Horse
10 years ago

As if the pitcher didn’t groove on for Cal Ripken on his record-breaking game, or for his last All-Star game appearance.  It happens.

John Northey
10 years ago

Well, here is his final Yankee Stadium home run…in 1973 – it was at an old timers game – 1:30 into the (poor quality) video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9fNcMLaW_A

At 1:30 of this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdl6ABq6E3w – there is a photo of the moment after he hit the home run.

Jay Weisburd
10 years ago

At age 60, I am old enough to not only remember but to have been at the Stadium for Mickey Mantle day. He was an idol. It was the 1st of only 2 times I cried over someone’s retirement-Mo’s being the 2nd 45 years later…I remember seeing that McLain pitch and as much as I wanted him to pass Double-X, it hurt seeing him in so much pain but oh was his swing sweet…Watching him unload on knuckleballer Barney Schultz in what would be his last WS Homerun…trying hard to keep up despite his legs with MLB’s greatest NONSTEROIDAL home run hitter in a single season, Roger Maris…Mick might have played a few more years as a DH, but his legs might not have allowed him to run the bases much longer…But man, he was a dream for this kid.

Jay Weisburd
10 years ago

By the way, I don’t remember it being live on TV…I saw it on local news broadcasts,  being a New Yorker.

AuH2ORepublican
10 years ago

Great article, but I have one quib: Kareem’s farewell tour was not the first of its kind in the NBA, given that two years earlier Dr. J had quite the farewell tour, with ceremonies before the final game at just about every city (not to mention at the All-Star Game).

Bruce Markusen
10 years ago

Thanks for all the great comments, guys. 21 comments for a man who last played 45 years ago. Well done.

B.P.
9 years ago

Good article.

I was at Mantle’s last game. Wrote about it on my site. Saw his 500th career homer in person as well.

When the DH came into existence in 1973 Mickey said, “It’s not for me, that’s why I quit, I couldn’t hit anymore. If I could hit, I’d still be up there. Every time I’d take a stride at the plate, my knee would almost go out on me and there is no way you can hit with that sort of thing happening or preying on your mind.”

There was no one like Mickey and never will be again.

Ron B
9 years ago

He earned the previous 534. McLain’s gesture was one of respect and admiration. And he had already done his job, whichnwas to win the game.

John
9 years ago

I have always respected the Yankees and their players. The “Mick” was blessed with outstanding skills and was the successor to many of the great Yankee sluggers. I have been a life long Indians fan and had my heart broken by the Yankee dynasty. It is noteworthy that he was replaced at first by Andy “Pudge” Kosco in my opinion the greatest all-around athlete in Struthers,Ohio,High School history. Pudge was always a credit to his community, school and family. God bless