» September 16, 1940:
Rookie Johnny Lucadello of the St. Louis Browns
hits HRs from each side of the plate versus the New
York Yankees in a 16-4 Browns win. Only Wally
Schang, in 1916, had accomplished the same in the
AL. Mickey Mantle in 1955 will be the next AL player
to do it. These are the only HRs Lucadello will hit
all year.
» August 16, 1947: Ralph Kiner hits three successive home runs for the host Pittsburgh Pirates, in a 127 win over the Cardinals in a game in which the two clubs bang out major-league record (since topped) 10 homers. Two other Bucs, Hank Greenberg and Billy Cox, and one Cardinal (Whitey Kurowski) each contribute two home runs to set a major-league record for most players with 2+ homers in a game. Kiner matches the ML mark of seven home runs in four games, six in three games, five in two games, and four in consecutive at bats. By the end of the month, Big Ralph will still trail Mize 39 to 43 in a head-to-head home run competition that will only be matched by Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961. Starters Roger Wolff and the Cards Ken Burkhart exit in the first inning.
» March 26, 1951: In an exhibition game at USC, Mickey Mantle propels a homer estimated at 654 to 660 feet. The shot clears Bovard Field and then goes the width of a practice football field before landing. Mantle has two homers, a bases loaded triple, and drives in seven runs as the Yankees flunk the collegians, 151.
» April 17, 1951: Rain cancels yesterday's presidential opener in Washington, washing out the debut of rookie Tom Morgan. Morgan would have been the first Yankee rookie ever to start an opener. Clad in an army uniform, Whitey Ford tosses out the first pitch today at Yankee Stadium, and Vic Raschi scatters six singles to shut out the Red Sox, 50. Bill Wight gives up all the Yankee runs, including a two-run homer to Jackie Jensen in the 3rd inning. Mickey Mantle, making his debut before 44,860, has one hit and scores a run. Also debuting is public address announcer Bob Sheppard.
» May 1, 1951: The Yankees' new phenom, Mickey Mantle, connects for his first ML home run, off Randy Gumpert of the White Sox. Minnie Minoso becomes the first black to play for the White Sox. He plays 3B and, facing Vic Raschi in his first ML at bat, rips a home run to CF. The Yankees win 83, with Mantle collecting three RBIs.
» May 4, 1951:
In St. Louis, the Yanks pummel the Browns 81 behind Eddie Lopat. Mickey Mantle, again batting leadoff and playing RF, connects for his 2nd home run, off Duane Pillette, a 450-shot in the 6th inning.
» May 13, 1951: At Philadelphia's Shibe Park, Mickey Mantle hits his first righty homer, off Alex Kellner, in the majors, then makes the last out by popping up his bunt attempt with the tying run on 3rd. The A's win 54, then win the nitecap as well. Mantle has no homers in the 2nd game loss, but misses 2nd base on a hit.
» May 16, 1951: At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle drives in four runs and scores three as New York routs the Indians, 113. Mantle connects for the first of his 206 homers at the Stadium, the blast coming off Dick Rozek.
» May 24, 1951:
Mickey Mantle is 0-for-5 but reaches base twice after striking out on a wild pitch. The 2nd time, in the 6th inning, he reaches 2B before Detroit C Joe Ginsberg can retrieve the ball, and Joe DiMaggio follows with a homer to deep left field. New York wins, 111, behind Joe Ostrowski.
» May 26, 1951:
At Yankee Stadium, the Yanks top the A's, 85, with Mickey Mantle belting a bases-loaded triple off Dick Fowler that bounces off the bleacher railing in CF.
» May 30, 1951: In a doubleheader loss with Boston, Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle strikes out three times in the opener, and twice more to start the 2nd game: Casey Stengel lifts the slugger in the middle of the game for Cliff Mapes. In the opener, Ted Williams scores from 2B on a sacrifice bunt, and then ties the game with a home run. Vern Stephens 15th inning homer off Spec Shea wins it for Boston, 1110. Williams then ties the nitecap with a double and Stephens' single drives him home with the game winner as Boston triumphs, 94. Ray Scarborough and Bill Wight are today's winners. The loss drops the Yanks into 2nd place, where they'll stay for a month.
» July 16, 1951: While in Detroit, the Yanks option rookie Mickey Mantle to Kansas City (AA). Mantle, plagued with strikeouts3 on the 13thand in a slump, will go 0-for-22 in his start with the Blues, before ending with a tear at .361. The Yankees will recall him August 20th. Art Schallock takes Mickey's place on the Yankee roster and gives up 7 hits in 2.3 innings in today's 86 win.
» August 24, 1951:
Against Cleveland's Early Wynn, Gene Woodling cracks his 3rd homer off the Tribe ace this year, as the Yanks win, 20. Woodling went deep on Wynn on June 24th, July 24th and today. Mickey Mantle makes his first appearance since his recall from the minors.
» August 25, 1951: Before 66,110 at Cleveland, Mickey Mantle belts an opposite field 2-run homer off Mike Garcia to help the Yankees win, 73. New York (77-46) moves to a game in back of the Tribe.
» August 29, 1951: The Yankees pick on the lowly Browns for a 152 win at Sportsman's Park. Mickey Mantle has four RBIs including a three run homer in the 9th off Satchel Paige. Ned Garver (15-9) is the loser.
» September 8, 1951:
At an Oldtimer's Day at Yankee Stadium, former manager Joe McCarthy is honored. With the game scoreless in the 7th inning, Mickey Mantle belts a Bob Porterfield pitch into the last row of the RF bleachers, some 460 feet away to break the scoreless tie. Ed Lopat shuts out the Senators for 40 Yankee win.
» September 9, 1951:
The Yanks hit five homers4 off the Nats' Dick Starrto win, 75. Mickey Mantle's leadoff homer on the first pitch, which starts the scoring, slams against the bottom of the flag holder on the top of the right field stands. Vic Raschi then wins the nitecap, 20, in a game called after the 6th inning because of "darkness." Though Yankee Stadium has lights, unlike the National League, these cannot be used on Sunday. The Yankees (88-49) remain virtually tied with the Indians (88-51).
» September 13, 1951:
Yankees leadoff hitter Mickey Mantle drives a Virgil Truck's pitch deep into the RF upper deck to start the Yankee scoring. Witnesses say that if Mantle had hit it more to CF, the ball would've traveled 600 feet. Mantle then K's three times, as Trucks drives over New York for a 92 Detroit win. Trucks adds a pair of RBIs.
» September 19, 1951:
The Yankees are victorious when Mickey Mantle hits a 3-run homer off Chicago's Lou Kretlow to win, 53. A small crowd of 12,127 watch the game at the Stadium. The two teams have been tied now for 11 days. The Yanks now have nine games left, eight against Boston.
» September 28, 1951: Allie Reynolds pitches his 2nd no-hitter of the season, defeating the Red Sox in Yankee Stadium 80. It is his 7th shutout of the year. With two outs in the 9th, Ted Williams hits a foul pop that catcher Yogi Berra drops. Williams then hits another foul fly that Berra grabs for the last out. The Chief is the first American League hurler with two no-hitters in a season; Vander Meer's pair in 1938 is the only other time a pitcher has thrown two in a season. In the 2nd game, the Yankees clinch their 3rd straight pennant under Casey Stengel as Vic Raschi wins 113 for his 21st victory. Mickey Mantle drives home three runs with a pair of doubles and Joe DiMaggio belts the final homer of his careera three run shot. The Yankees are three 1/2 games ahead of slumping Cleveland with two to play.
» October 5, 1951: The Yanks and Eddie Lopat even up the World Series by winning 31 over Larry Jansen. Lopat scatters five hits, three by Monte Irvin. Irvin has now hit safely seven straight times in two games. Mickey Mantle is injured in the 5th inning when he steps on an exposed water sprinkler while chasing a Willie Mays fly ball. Mantle is taken off the field on a stretcher and the injury to his knee will plague him throughout his career. He will undergo the first of six knee operations.
» May 5, 1952:
Mickey Mantle's father dies of Hodgkin's Disease and Mantle will miss six games attending funeral and seeing to family matters in Oklahoma. Mickey's grandfather died eight years earlier of the same disease.
» May 20, 1952:
Playing center field and batting third, Mickey Mantle displays his switch-hitting skills by collecting two singles from each side of the plate. His first two hits are against righty Ken Holcombe, while the last two come off lefty Chuck Stobbs. Johnny Sain scatters six White Sox hits to win, 31.
» May 30, 1952: At New York, Mickey Mantle's homer in the 3rd is all the scoring the Yanks can muster against Bobby Shantz, as the "Mighty Molecule" strikes out 11. Mantle doubles off Shantz in the 14th, but the A's hold on for a 21 victory. Dave Philley knocks home the winner. In game 2, Bob Hooper loses a shutout with two out in the 9th, but wins, 42.
» April 17, 1953:
Mickey Mantle hits the longest HR in Griffith
Stadium history, a 565-feet shot off of Chuck Stobbs
of the Washington Senators. The Yanks win 7-3.
» May 9, 1953: At Boston, the first place Yanks beat the Red Sox, 64. Mickey Mantle hits one homer off Bill Werle and is robbed of another when Jimmy Piersall makes a sensational catch at the Sox bullpen in right-center field.
» May 25, 1953: The Yankees and Red Sox play the longest 9-inning game to date, lasting three hours and 52 minutes. Boston lefty Mickey McDermott take two hours, 45 minutes to pitch six of the innings, as Boston outlasts New York, 1410. Mickey Mantle hits an opposite field homer off McDermott.
» October 2, 1953:
The WS moves to Ebbets Field as Carl Erskine establishes
a new Series strikeout record by fanning 14 Yanks,
including Mickey Mantle and Joe Collins 4 times each.
Roy Campanella breaks a 2-2 tie with a game-winning
solo HR in the 8th for a 3-2 Brooklyn win
» October 4, 1953:
In Game 5, Mickey Mantle hits a grand slam off Russ
Meyer, and the Yanks hold on to win 11-7.
» February 2, 1954: Mickey Mantle has his second operation since the end of last season, this one to remove a cyst behind the right knee.
» April 19, 1954: On Patriot's Day in Boston, The Yankees sweep both games from the Red Sox. New York wins the morning game, 21, on Jim MacDonald's one hitter. Harry Agganis has Boston's only hit, a second inning bloop single. In the afternoon game, the Yankees top Mel Parnell, 50 behind Jim McDonald, as Mickey Mantle belts his first homer of the year.
» April 21, 1954: At Yankee Stadium, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle belt back-to-back homers in the 3rd, off Leo Kiely, and Gil McDougald adds a solo blast to key the Yankees to a 51 win over the Red Sox.
» May 7, 1954: At New York, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra crash back-to-back homers in the 7th to pin a 20 loss on the A's Morrie Martin.
» May 21, 1954: Boston rookie Frank Sullivan makes his first start and beats the Yankees at the Stadium, 63. Sullivan strikes out Mickey Mantle three times before Mickey clocks one over the auxiliary scoreboard into the right-CF bleachers.
» May 22, 1954: At Yankee Stadium, Allie Reynolds tosses a 7-hit shutout over the Red Sox to win 70. Mickey Mantle is the offense, going 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Mick will knock in 10 runs in the 3-game series against the Red Sox.
» May 23, 1954: At New York, Mickey Mantle's three run homer in the 3rd ties the game, but Mickey strikes out for the final out of the game, and Boston wins, 109.
» May 30, 1954: At Boston, Mickey Mantle belts his 2nd homer in two days to tie the game at 11 in the 6th. But that's all the scoring off Willard Nixon as the Red Sox win, 31.
» June 30, 1954:
Tom Morgan of the Yankees hits three Red Sox in the third inning of a 6-1 loss. Mickey Mantle's HR against Willard Nixon is the only Yankee tally.
» July 22, 1954:
Stengel switches players in an effort to get more power in the Yankee lineup. Phil Rizzuto plays 2B and Mickey Mantle plays SS. Mantle wins the game 3-2 against Chicago with a 10th-inning HR.
» July 24, 1954:
After Casey Stengel pulls Phil Rizzuto in the eighth for a pinch hitter, he brings in Mickey Mantle again at SS. Mantle plays SS with Willie Miranda at 2B against lefthanded hitters. Against righties, Miranda and Mantle switch positions. Cleveland wins 5-4 to go 212 games up on New York.
» September 26, 1954:
Art Ditmar of the Athletics defeats the Yanks
8-6 in the last game the franchise will play
in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City. Yankee
C Yogi Berra plays his only game at 3B in his career.
Mickey Mantle plays SS again in Casey Stengel's "power
line-up."
» May 3, 1955: Mickey Mantle's homer in the 6th off Mike Garcia gives New York a 43 lead, but Cleveland wins it 54 at home. Garcia last year allowed just six homers in 258 innings, the best mark of the 1950s.
» May 6, 1955: At Fenway, Mickey Mantle lines a first inning solo shot into the Yankee bullpen, and Bob Turley shuts out Boston the rest of the way for a 60 New York win. Frank Sullivan is the losing pitcher.
» May 7, 1955: Backed by Elston Howard's first ML homer, and Mickey Mantle's tie breaker to dead CF in the 8th, the visiting Yanks overpower the Red Sox, 96. The Yanks spot Boston a 50 lead before roaring back with three in the 9th.
» May 11, 1955:
At Yankee Stadium, Early Wynn survives solo homers by Andy Carey and Mickey Mantle to give Cleveland a 43 victory.
» May 13, 1955: It's Friday the 13th and bad luck for the Tigers as Mickey Mantle homers from both sides of the plate for the first time. In all, Mantle has three home runs, the first two lefty against starter Steve Gromek, and the third off Bob Miller, all to the deep reaches of the right centerfield bleachers. Mick adds a single, good for five RBIs as New York beats Detroit 52. Whitey Ford goes seven innings for the win. Mantle joins Tony Lazzeri (1927), Ben Chapman (1932), and Bill Dickey (1939) as the only Yanks to hits three homers in a game at Yankee Stadium.
» May 15, 1955: New York's Irv Noren hits an inside-the-park grand slam in an 84 victory over the A's. New York wins the nitecap to sweep the A's. Mickey Mantle is 4-for-9 for the afternoon and is hitting .311.
» May 18, 1955:
At the Stadium, Mickey Mantle's 8th inning grand slam off Mike Fornieles powers the Yankees past the White Sox, 116. In the play before Mantle's blast, a grounder was ruled a dead ball after Hank Bauer interfered with Nellie Fox at 2nd, leaving the sacks jammed. The Sox lose Minnie Minoso for two weeks with a hairline fracture of the skull after he is hit by a pitch from Bob Grim.
» July 9, 1955:
Mickey Mantle goes 5-for-5, and Bob Turley tosses a 2-hitter in a 4-0 win over Washington.
» July 12, 1955:
In the All-Star Game in Milwaukee, the AL takes a 5-run lead on a 3-run HR by Mickey Mantle off Robin
Roberts, only to see the NL tie it. Braves P Gene Conley strikes out the side in the 12th, and Stan Musial of the Cards homers off Frank Sullivan of the Red Sox to win it.
» August 7, 1955:
After a 12-17 record in July, the Yankees are in a 4-team race. Tiger Frank Lary beats New York 4-2
in game one, and New York then earns a critical 3-2 10th-inning win on a Mickey Mantle homer off Babe
Birrer. The Yanks finish the day in a virtual tie with Chicago, a 1/2 game ahead of Cleveland, and 112 games ahead of Boston.
» August 15, 1955:
Mickey Mantle homers from both sides of the plate in the same game for the second time in his career, tying the major-league mark. The Yanks beat the Orioles 12-6 in game two and sweep the doubleheader to move back into first.
» September 2, 1955:
Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle celebrate Billy
Martin's return from the army; Ford throws 6 innings
of no-hit ball against Washington before Carlos Paula
spoils it in the 7th with Washington's only hit. The
Yanks win 4-2 as Mantle hits his 36th HR, a 3-run
shot. Mantle is 10 HRs ahead of rivals Al Kaline and
Ted Williams. New York stays a half game behind the
White Sox, who beat the 3rd-place Indians. Billy Martin
will hit .300 in September, and New York will go on
a 17-6 tear to win the pennant by 3 games.
» September 4, 1955:
Mickey Mantle's first-inning 3-run HR allows
Bob Turley to coast to an 8-3 win over Washington.
This is Mantle's last HR of the year.
» September 16, 1955:
Slugger Mickey Mantle pulls a hamstring muscle running
out a bunt. He will make just 2 pinch-hit appearances
in September, and he will go to bat in the WS just
10 times.
» March 11, 1956: At Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg, there are no maybes about it as Mickey Mantle hits a Grapefruit League pitch from Larry Jackson over the left field wall into the bay. The Yanks top the Cards 43. Musial contends, "no home run has ever cleared my head by as much as long as I can remember." He'll hit another at Al Lang Field on March 20th off Bob Mave to that also lands in the water. Mantle will clock a 500-foot shot in Miami on the 24th against the Dodgers.
» May 1, 1956: Mickey Mantle takes Steve Gromek deep in the first inning at the Stadium, and New York rolls to a 92 win over Detroit. Hank Bauer also homers as Whitey Ford hurls his 3rd CG win.
» May 2, 1956:
Yankee killer Frank Lary tames New York 81 at the Stadium. Mickey Mantle's 9th inning home run is New York's only score, as they drop into 2nd place behind the White Sox.
» May 3, 1956: Before 4,308 at the Stadium, Mickey Mantle homers for the 3rd day in a row, but Kansas City holds on to win, 87. A Mick homer in the 5th is followed by homers by Hank Bauer and Yogi Berra.
» May 5, 1956: The Yankees clout four homers -- Yogi Berra's, Hank Bauer's inside-the-park, and two moonshots by Mickey Mantle -- to top the A's, 52. Mantle's 2nd homer hits the RF facade just inside the foul pole, and almost clears the roof.
» May 8, 1956: Mickey Mantle clouts an Early Wynn pitch in the 6th to tie the Indians at 22, and New York edges the Tribe 43.
» May 10, 1956: At Yankee Stadium, Bob Lemon gives Cleveland a 72 win over the Yankees. Mickey Mantle has a solo homer in the 6th for New York. For Mantle, it is his 20th homer of May, a new record. The slugger adds a double and two singles and is hitting .425 with 50 RBIs.
» May 14, 1956: Bob Lemon tops the Yankees for the 2nd time in four days to give the Indians a 32 win at Cleveland. New York's only score comes in 4th when Gil McDougald and Mickey Mantle hit back-to-back homers.
» May 16, 1956:
On a blustery day in Cleveland, the Yankees top the Indians, 41. Mickey Mantle hits a homer, off Bud Daley, while his pal Billy Martin is benched for the first time. Bobby Richardson takes his place at 2B.
» May 18, 1956: Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the 3rd time in his career, eclipsing the mark of Jim Russell. The shots come off Billy Pierce and Dixie Howell, the 2nd tying the game. Mantle and Yogi Berra, the American League's top home run hitters, combine for 20 bases as the visiting New Yorkers nip Chicago 87 in 10 innings.
» May 21, 1956:
At Kansas City, Mickey Mantle clouts a drive over the 2nd and more distance fence in RF to help the Yankees win, 85. The drive, off Moe Burtschy, matches homers to that spot by Larry Doby and Suitcase Simpson.
» May 24, 1956: Mickey Mantle goes 5-for-5 with an intentional walk in an 114 win against the Tigers. Mantle is hitting .421. He combines with Joe Collins for back-to-back homers, off Duke Maas.
» May 29, 1956:
At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle's walk in the 7th is the first base runner against Willard Nixon, and Mantle's 2-out 9th inning homer deprives the Boston righty of a shutout. Boston wins 73 at the Stadium.
» May 30, 1956:
Mickey Mantle hits one of the most memorable home runs in his career, in the 2nd game of a doubleheader with the Washington Senators. He tags a pitch from Camilo Pascual that comes within 18 inches of leaving Yankee Stadium, something never accomplished by any major leaguer. The ball was still climbing when it caromed off the upper-stand facade, about 396 feet from home plate. Estimates are that the ball could have traveled more than 600 feet. It is Mantle's 20th home run of the season; no one else has ever hit 20 home runs before June. Mantle also homers in the opener, off Pedro Ramos, with two on as New York sweeps, 43 and 125.
» June 20, 1956: At Detroit's Briggs Stadium, Mickey Mantle poles two Billy Hoeft pitches into the right CF bleachers, something no other player had done since the bleachers were built in the late 1930s. New York wins 4-1.
» July 1, 1956:
Mickey Mantle switch-hits HRs in the same game for the fourth time in his career. The Yankees win 8-6 over Washington.
» July 10, 1956:
In the All-Star Game, Ken Boyer of the Cardinals makes 3 sparkling plays at 3B and gets 3 hits as the NL
defeats the AL 7-3. Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle,
Ted Williams, and Stan Musial all homer. Mays's pinch-hit 2-run HR off of Whitey Ford is his 7th straight hit
against the Yankee lefty.
» August 7, 1956:
The Boston Red Sox fine Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at Boston fans, as the Red Sox edge the Yanks in 11 innings on Williams's bases-loaded walk. It is Williams's third spitting incident in three weeks. The spitting started after the crowd of 36,350, a record for night games at Fenway Park, started booing the Splendid Splinter for muffing Mickey Mantle's windblown fly in the 11th. Before the game, RF Jackie Jensen had to be restrained by teammates from going into the stands after a heckler. The previous year Jensen had challenged a fan to come out of the stands.
» August 23, 1956:
Led by Nellie Fox's seven straight hits, the White Sox sweep the Yankees. Mickey Mantle has a bunt single, triple and HR in the 6-4 nightcap loss but trails Fox in season hits, 158 to 155. But the Mick still leads in the Triple Crown race.
» September 18, 1956:
Mickey Mantle hits his 50th HR, only the 8th to do
so, in the 11th off of Chicago's Billy Pierce, as
New York wins 3-2 to clinch another pennant.
» September 21, 1956:
1B Bill Skowron has 5 hits, but the Yankees strand
a record 20 base runners in losing to the Red Sox
in Boston, 13-9. Mickey Mantle sends a 480-foot
HR into the CF bleachers that lands a foot from the
top. His 3 hits raise his average to .352, 4 points
behind Ted Williams.
» September 29, 1956:
Mickey Mantle has only one hit against Boston
pitching, but it is his 52nd HR. In the 2 late-season
series against Boston, Mantle has 7 hits in 14 at
bats, while Ted Williams has just 3 hits in 20 at
bats. Mantle wins the Triple Crown with a .353 batting
average, 52 HRs, and 130 RBI. The Yanks and the Red
Sox use a record 44 players in the game. The 26 used
by New York set a new ML mark.
» October 8, 1956:
Series history is made by Don Larsen of the Yankees,
who pitches a perfect game to defeat the Dodgers 2-0
in Game 5. He requires only 97 pitches. Sal Maglie
matches him until Mickey Mantle homers in the 4th.
» May 8, 1957:
The Indians clout three homers to back Early Wynn's 104 win over the Yankees. Mickey Mantle has a homer and three RBIs for New York.
» May 12, 1957: At Baltimore, 3B Andy Carey hits two homers for New York, while Mickey Mantle's tie breaking clout in the 8th gives them a 43 win over the O's.
» May 16, 1957: The Yankees top Kansas City 30 behind Bob Turley's four-hit shutout. Mickey Mantle has a homer off Alex Kellner, the 11th time in his last 12 at bats he's reached base safely. That night a group of Yankees celebrate Billy Martin's 29th birthday in a raucous fashion. An ensuing fight at Manhattan's Copacabana Club leads to $5,500 in fines and the eventual trade of Billy to Kansas City. Hank Bauer allegedly starts the fight by hitting a patron, although Bauer denies it. The Yanks fine Whitey Ford, Bauer, Yogi Berra, Mantle and Martin $1,000 each and Johnny Kucks $500.
» May 19, 1957: At Yankee Stadium, New York knocks out Bob Lemon and tops Cleveland 63. Mickey Mantle hits a homer in the 6th inning rally, his 6th off the future Hall of Famer.
» May 21, 1957:
For his part in the Copacabana incident, Yankee OF Hank Bauer is arraigned. He is eventually cleared and threatens to sue the alleged victim, Edward Jones, who suffered a concussion and a broken jaw. In today's game, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, and Whitey Ford are benched, while Bauer bats 8th. Mickey Mantle has a single, two walks, and a homer to back Bob Turley's 4-hit 30 shutout over the A's. Turley helps his cause by starting a triple play. The Yanks now trail the White Sox by a half game.
» May 23, 1957: At Ebbets Field, the Yanks top the Dodgers, 107, in the Mayor's Trophy game. Al Cicotte allows two hits in six innings, and smacks two himself. Mickey Mantle is 4-for-5.
» May 26, 1957:
The Senators build a 60 lead over the Yankees and hold on to win 97. Mickey Mantle hits his 2nd homer in two days at the Stadium.
» May 29, 1957:
At Washington, Camilo Pascual gives up two solo homers, to Mickey Mantle and Hank Bauer, but the Senators win 62. Pascual will groove 43 gopher balls this year.
» June 12, 1957: Mickey Mantle again hits HRs from both sides of the plate, and drives in four runs, but the Yankees lose to Chicago 7-6.
» June 23, 1957: Prime Minister Kishi of Japan, wearing a Yankees cap, is one of 63,787 fans at Yankee Stadium to see New York split with Chicago, winning the first 9-2 and dropping the second game 4-3. Mickey Mantle goes 6-for-9 as the Yankees maintain their 12 game lead over Chicago. Mantle is leading the AL in hitting, HRs and is one behind the Senators' Roy Sievers in RBIs.
» July 23, 1957:
Mickey Mantle hits for the cycle, and adds a SB, against Chicago's Bob Keegan. The Yankees win 10-6.
» July 26, 1957:
Jim Bunning of the Tigers 2-hits New York 3-2, but one of the hits is Mickey Mantle's ninth left-handed HR, the 200th HR of his career.
» August 13, 1957:
Mickey Mantle goes 3-for-3 and drives in three runs as the Yankees edge the Red Sox 3-2. Mantle improves his average to .384 while Ted Williams, with 1-for-2, is at .388. A week later Mantle will injure himself when he angrily swings a golf club at a branch and gouges his shinbone. This will effectively take him out of the running for a second-straight triple crown.
» November 22, 1957: Mickey Mantle edges Ted Williams 233 to 209 votes to win the American League MVP. Williams, at 39 years of age, led the league in hitting with a .388 average, hit 38 home runs, and compiled a slugging average of .731. Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey brands the voting "incompetent and unqualified," noting that two Chicago writers listed Williams in the 9th and 10th places on their ballots.
» May 9, 1958: After six straight home rainouts, the Yanks play their first home night game of the year, against Washington. Mickey Mantle breaks a 22 tie in the 3rd with an inside-the-park solo homer off Pedro Ramos. New York rolls to a 95 win.
» May 20, 1958: In Chicago, New York coast to a 51 win over the last-place Sox behind the pitching of Johnny Kucks. Mickey Mantle's line drive between Al Smith and Jim Rivera goes for his 2nd inside-the-park homer of the year. The Yankees have now won seven in a row. Mantle will hit three inside-the-park this year, and a Yankee-record six during his career.
» June 2, 1958:
Yankee P Whitey Ford fans six in a row to tie an American League record as he shuts out the White Sox 30. Sox pitcher Jim Wilson allows just six hits but three -- 2 by Hank Bauer and one by Mickey Mantle -- are out of the Stadium. On a botched hit-and-run attempt, Luis Aparicio is thrown out at 2B ending his streak of 26 consecutive steals.
» June 3, 1958: Led by Mickey Mantle's 3-run homer in the first, the Yanks jump on Dick Donovan, who does not retire a batter. New York rolls to an easy 130 win over the White Sox.
» June 5, 1958:
In the opener of two, the Yanks rout Sox starter Early Wynn for a 125 win at the Stadium. In the 3rd, Mickey Mantle legs out his 3rd inside-the-park homer in a month. The Sox take the nitecap, edging New York, 32.
» June 6, 1958:
In New York, Mickey Mantle homers in the first against Indians P Dick Tomanek, then ties the game at 44 with a 3-run tomahawk off the Tribe starter. New York wins 65.
» June 13, 1958: At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle connects of Detroit lefty Billy Hoeft and the Yankees win, 42.
» June 20, 1958: At Detroit, Jim Bunning fans 14 Yankees to win 71, Detroit's 6th win in a row over the Bombers. Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard each fan three times.
» June 24, 1958: The Yankees erupt for five runs in the 4th inning off Early Wynn to beat the Sox 62 at Comiskey Park. Mickey Mantle's clout into the CF bleachers leads off the inning, followed by a single, walk and Jerry Lumpe's first ML home run, and a home run by Siebern. Duren K's six of the last nine batters to preserve Bob Turley's win.
» June 29, 1958:
Former Yankee Ralph Terry gets 12 runs from his KC teammates to top New York, 126. Mickey Mantle gets his first hit in his last 17 at bats against the A's, a 3rd inning homer.
» July 28, 1958:
For the sixth time in his career, Mickey Mantle hits HRs from both sides of the plate. New York beats the Athletics 14-7.
» September 2, 1958: At Yankee Stadium, New York snaps a scoreless tie with Boston when Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle crash back-to-back 6th inning homers off Dave Sisler. Mantle has hit three this year of Sisler. New York wins, 61. Mantle, with 38 homers, leads the American League. Mantle and Berra will hit back-to-back homers 12 times together, and homer in the same game 50 times before they are through.
» September 3, 1958: The Yankees spot Boston a 53 lead before Mickey Mantle homers in the 8th and Yogi Berra cracks a 3-run homer in the 9th to win it 85. Mantle and Berra each have 85 RBIs for the year.
» September 17, 1958: Despite a wind blowing in at Briggs Stadium, Mickey Mantle poles a Jim Bunning pitch down the right field line over the roof onto Trumbull Avenue, some 500 feet away. The 2-run homer is all the Bunning allows as the Tigers win 52.
» September 24, 1958: The Red Sox close out their home schedule with a 75 loss to the Yankees. Mickey Mantle cracks his 42nd homer of the year to put him three ahead of Rocky Colavito, who will finish at 42 home runs.
» April 23, 1959: The Senators tally only three hits off Bob Turley, but beat the Yankee righty, 32, snapping his 12-game winning streak over Washington. Russ Kemmerer is the winner, despite allowing a home run to Mickey Mantle.
» April 29, 1959: At Comiskey Park, the Yankees get homers from Mickey Mantle, Bauer, and Skowron to beat the Sox, 52.
» May 10, 1959:
The Yanks sweep two from the Senators at the Stadium, winning 63 and 32 in 10 innings. Mickey Mantle's homer in the 3rd inning of the opener starts the Yanks scoring as they beat Chuck Stobbs. Mantle singles and scores the winning run in the 10th of the nitecap. Yogi Berra has a home run in the nitecap and sets a new major-league record for consecutive errorless games by a catcher with 148.
» May 12, 1959: At Yankee Stadium, Yogi Berra's errorless streak of 148 games comes to an end when he makes an error on his 34th birthday today. Berra also homers, as do Elston Howard and Mickey Mantle, but New York loses 76 to the first-place Indians.
» May 22, 1959: Baltimore's Hoyt Wilhelm one-hits the Yankees 50, with Jerry Lumpe's single in the 8th the spoiler. Switch hitter Mickey Mantle hits righty against Wilhelm and does no better than he has been lefty. On May 28, Wilhelm will beat the Yankees again, 5-0.
» May 31, 1959:
At Washington, the Yankees beat the Senators, 30, on Bob Turley's two-hitter. Moose Skowron accounts for the scoring with a three-run homer. Mickey Mantle almost homers, but his 438-foot drive is caught by CF Bob Allison.
» June 3, 1959: At Detroit, Mickey Mantle homers off Ray Narleski in the 9th to give the Yankees a 65 win. New York chases nemesis Frank Lary with five runs in the 3rd.
» June 9, 1959:
At the Stadium, the Yanks edge Kansas City, 98 in 13 innings. Mickey Mantle homers in the 4th, off Murry Dickson, but it is Hector Lopez's single that wins it in the 13th.
» June 17, 1959: At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle lashes a Ray Moore 30 pitch some 470 feet into the RF bleachers to lead New York to a 73 win over the White Sox.
» June 22, 1959:
At Kansas City, Mickey Mantle drives in six runs with a triple and two homers to lead New York to a 136 win. Skowron adds his 4th homer in four days to move New York to three games out of first place.
» June 23, 1959: The Yankees ride 2-run homers from Mickey Mantle, Bauer and McDougald to a 102 win over KC.
» July 16, 1959: After beating the Indians, yesterday, the Yanks sweep a doubleheader today to knock the Tribe out of first. New York wins the opener when Berra ties the game in the 9th with a homer, and Mickey Mantle wins it, 75, in the 10th with a 2-run shot off Gary Bell. Bobby Shantz wins the nitecap, 40. New York is five 1/2 games out of first.
» July 19, 1959: Before 57,000 at the Stadium, the Yankees sweep a pair from the visiting White Sox, winning the nitecap 64 on Mickey Mantle's homer off Turk Lown. In game 1, Yankee veteran Enos Slaughter belts a pair of homers: at age 43, he is the oldest player this century to accomplish the feat. Carlton Fisk, a few months older, will top Slaughter in 1991.
» July 25, 1959: Against Detroit, Yankee first baseman Moose Skowron reaching for a wide throw collides with Tiger runner Coot Veale. Skowron's arm is broken in two places and he is out for the rest of the season. Marv Throneberry will fill in at 1B. The Yanks win, 98, when Berra hits a home run in the 9th with Mickey Mantle on. Prior to the Yogi home run, Richardson and Brickell hit their first ML homers for NY. Berra's home run erases five Yankee errors, three by 3B Lopez.
» August 5, 1959:
Mickey Mantle breaks up a scoreless pitching duel between Detroit's Don Mossi and Bobby Shantz by belting an 8th inning homer with one on. New York wins at home, 30.
» September 10, 1959:
Mickey Mantle goes 5-for-6, including a HR, in a 12-1
romp over Kansas City's Ray Herbert.
» April 22, 1960: In the home opener at Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle socks a 4th inning homer off Hoyt Wilhelm, and New York beats Baltimore, 50.
» May 1, 1960:
Orioles vet Skinny Brown hurls Baltimore to a 41, win over the Yankees. Brown allows just one hit, a first inning homer by Mickey Mantle. Rookie Ron Hansen matches Mantle to up his RBI total to an American League high 32.
» May 20, 1960: At Comiskey Park, Ted Kluszewski drives in four runs to lead the White Sox to a 53 win, the 9th in a row at home for Chicago. Mickey Mantle hits a 2-run homer in the 9th inning 2-run shot off Early Wynn, the winner. Chicago leads Cleveland in the American League by one 1/2 games.
» May 28, 1960: Casey Stengel is hospitalized with a virus and high fever and will miss 13 games. New York goes 7-6 under interim manager Ralph Houk. Today the Yanks top the Senators, 51, behind Jim Coates' 5th straight win. The game is scoreless until Mickey Mantle cracks a 5th inning opposite field homer off Jim Kaat, who then walks three, hits two batters, and a serves up a Gil McDougald 2-run triple good for three runs. Later Mantle homers again, and Roger Maris, leading the American League, also homers, the first time the two have hit round trippers together in a game.
» May 30, 1960: At the Stadium, the Yanks earn a split with the Senators when, in game 2, Yogi Berra belts a two-run homer in the 8th inning. When Mickey Mantle makes a catch for the final out, he is surrounded by a group of fans, one of whom punches him in the face as he races for the dugout. Because of the incident, the Yankees announce that ushers using ropes -- a tactic used at one point with Joe DiMaggio -- will escort Mantle off the field.
» June 1, 1960: Mickey Mantle hits a one-out home run in the first inning, a 400-foot blow on an 02 pitch, for the only Yankee hit against Baltimore's Hal Brown. The Baby Birds win 41 and sweep the three game series with the Yankees to move into first place (27-15). New York leaves Baltimore in 4th place (19-19).
» June 5, 1960: The Yankees sweep two from the Red Sox, taking the opener on homers by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Roger's blow is a three run shot to give New York a 54 victory. Art Ditmar is the CG winner in the nitecap, winning 83.
» June 8, 1960: Bob Turley tosses a 3-hit shutout against the White Sox, and Mickey Mantle adds his 9th and 10th homers of the season. His 2nd homer, in the 8th, is followed by Roger Maris's 16th of the year, matching his season total last year with KC. It is the first time the M Boys have hit back-to-back homers.
» June 10, 1960: In New York, Mickey Mantle cracks his 3rd homer in three days to ruin a good relief effort by Cleveland's Dick Stigman. The 8th inning solo shot gives New York a 43 win.
» June 17, 1960:
In Chicago, Bill Veeck's new $300,000 exploding scoreboard is silent as no Sox players hit homers. However, when Clete Boyer bangs one in the 2nd inning, all the Yankees light sparklers and greet the third baseman on the dugout steps. Berra leads the sparklers in the bullpen. Mickey Mantle's 8th inning homer prompts another round of sparklers as the Yanks win, 42.
» June 18, 1960: New York continues the fireworks in Chicago with long home runs by Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Skowron to win 125 and sweep the 4-game series in Chicago. The Mantle home run is over the CF fence and is followed by Maris's clout to the upper deck in right.
» June 21, 1960: Whitey Ford outduels Yankee Killer Frank Lary to give New York a 60 win in Detroit. Mickey Mantle is 3-for-5 with two homers off Lary.
» June 30, 1960:
New York beats up on their cousins from Kansas City by banging out five homers to win 105. Skowron leads with two home runs, with one each from Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Kubek.
» July 3, 1960: Before 50,556 fans in New York, the Yankees sweep two from the Tigers, winning 76 and 62. In the opener, Ryne Duran fans Charlie Maxwell with the bases loaded and two outs in the 9th. Detroit is ahead 21 in the night cap when Norm Cash argues at length about a call at first base, and finally gets tossed. When play resumes, Pete Burnside serves up a 3-run homer to Mickey Mantle, batting righty. The Yankees are 235 since June five and lead the American League by three games.
» July 4, 1960: Mickey Mantle's 3-run first-inning home run off Hal Woodeshick is the 300th of his career. Mantle becomes the 18th player to join the 300 club, but the Yankees drop a 98 decision to Washington.
» July 15, 1960:
At Briggs Stadium, Mickey Mantle cracks a three-run homer of Don Mossi, but Detroit rallies to win 84.
» July 20, 1960: At Municipal Stadium, with Cleveland in the lead 82, Mickey Mantle golfs a Gary Bell pitch over the auxiliary scoreboard into the distant upper deck in RF, matching Luke Easter as the only players to reach that spot. Cleveland holds on for an 86 win.
» July 28, 1960: With relief help from Bobby Shantz, Whitey Ford, who leaves with an upset stomach, picks up a 40 win over the Indians. Kubek, Mickey Mantle, and Boyer homer for the pinstripers. The Yanks sweep, winning the nitecap, 92, and take over 1st place by three percentage points.
» August 14, 1960:
The Yankees lose a doubleheader to Washington and fall to 3rd place in the American League, a half game behind the Orioles and White Sox. P Camilo Pascual's grand slam is the difference in a 54 first-game win. In the 2nd, Mickey Mantle, believing there are two outs, jogs to 1B on a grounder to 3B. The Senators turn a DP, with New York's Roger Maris suffering bruised ribs trying to break it up at 2B. Maris will miss 18 games as a result. Mantle is heavily booed, and Casey Stengel replaces him with Bob Cerv. The clubs set a major-league record by using 17 pinch hitters9 by the Yankeesin the doubleheader (more than 18 innings), while playing a major-league record 24 errorless innings.
» August 15, 1960: Behind Art Ditmar's 5-hitter and Mickey Mantle's two home runs, off Jerry Walker and Hoyt Wilhelm, New York cops a 43 win and first place in the American League. The 2nd home run comes after C Clint Courtney drops a Mantle foul pop-up. Baltimore's loss is only its 2nd in the last 15 games. Baltimore and Chicago now trail by a half-game.
» August 28, 1960:
In New York, the Yankees snap a 33 tie when Mickey Mantle hits a 2-run homer in the 5th and Berra follows with a solo shot. The Yanks top the Tigers, 85.
» September 6, 1960:
In his final game at Yankee Stadium, Ted Williams thumps his 518th career homer to lead Boston to a 71 win. Billy Muffett's shut out is ruined when he serves up a homer to Mickey Mantle with two outs in the 9th.
» September 10, 1960: In Detroit, Mickey Mantle unloads a cannon shot for three runs in the 6th inning, the ball clearing the RF roof and landing in the Brooks Lumber Yard across Trumbull Avenue. New York pins a 51 loss on Paul Foytack that moves them a half game in first place ahead of Baltimore, losers today. In June, 1985, Mantle's blow was retroactively measured at 643 feet, and will be listed in The Guinness Book of World Records at that distance.
» September 16, 1960:
17th With Ty Cobb among the 49,055 fans in attendance at Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle cracks a 2-run homer, his 35th, off the O's Chuck Estrada to give New York a 20 lead in the first. Berra adds a home run. In the last of the 8th, Bobby Richardson's hit off Estrada's glove drives in two runs for a 53 New York win.
» September 24, 1960: Mickey Mantle's 11th inning homer off Ted Wilks gives New York a 65 win over the Red Sox at Fenway. Mantle had driven in the games first run with a drag bunt in the first.
» September 28, 1960:
The Yanks win their 12th of 15 straight, taking a 63 victory over the Senators. Mickey Mantle swats homers 39 and 40, off Chuck Stobbs, to insure his home run title over Roger Maris. Since August 15th, Mick has hit 13 to Roger's 4.
» October 3, 1960: The Yankees head into the World Series with a 15-game winning streak, the 8th longest streak in the American League this century, after Dale Long's 2-run 9th-inning home run gives them an 87 win over the Red Sox. New York's 193 home runs are an AL record, three better than the 1956 Yanks. RBI leader Roger Maris drives in three runs, but falls one home run short of Mickey Mantle's league-high 40.
» October 6, 1960: Mickey Mantle's two home runs highlight New York's 163 victory at Forbes Field, evening the World Series. A 7-run 6th inning overwhelms Pittsburgh.
» November 2, 1960: Roger Maris nips Mickey Mantle for the American League's Most Valuable Player award, 225-222, the 2nd-closest vote ever, after the DiMaggio-Williams race in 1947.
» April 17, 1961:
At Yankee Stadium, 1,947 fans braves the freezing rain to watch Whitey Ford shut out Kansas City, 30. Mickey Mantle drives in all three Yankee runs, connecting a solo shot off Jerry Walker in the first inning.
» April 26, 1961: Roger Maris hits his first home run of 1961 off Paul Foytack of Detroit, and Mickey Mantle adds home runs from both sides of the plate (for the 8th time), as New York wins 1310 at Tiger Stadium. Mantle's 2nd homer, a 2-run shot off Hank Aguirre, snaps a 1010 tie in the 10th.
» May 2, 1961: In their first appearance in Minnesota, the Yankees top the transplanted Washington team, 64. Mickey Mantle's grand slam in the 10th inning off Camilo Pascual, is the big blow. Luis Arroyo picks up the save after the Twins score 2. Mick's extra inning grand slam is the 6th by a Yankee, joining Wally Pipp (1923), Babe Ruth (1925), Bob Meusel (1929), and Joe DiMaggio and Tommy Henrich (1948).
» May 4, 1961:
Mickey Mantle homers and extends his hitting streak to 16 games, as the Yankees top the Twins, 52. New York sweeps all three games in Minnesota.
» May 29, 1961: At Fenway, Ike Delock outduels Whitey Ford to beat the Yankees, 21. New York's scoring is Mickey Mantle's first homer in two weeks.
» May 30, 1961:
Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, and Moose Skowron each belt two home runs, tying the major-league record for most players (one club) with multiple home runs in a 9-inning game. Berra adds a homer as New York wins at Fenway Park 123.
» May 31, 1961: Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris again homer as New York edges Boston, 76. Mantle's is #14, two ahead of Roger. In the 8th inning, Carroll Hardy pinch hits for rookie Carl Yastrzemski: last year he pinch hit for Ted Williams, making him the only player to go in for both future Hall of Famers.
» June 5, 1961: In the first of two games at the Stadium, Mickey Mantle hits an 8th inning homer to help New York top the Twins 62. Mantle, Roger Maris, and Rocky Colavito each have hit 15.
» June 7, 1961:
The Twins lose to the Yankees, 51, for their 13th straight loss. They'll reach 14 losses in a row in 1982. Ralph Terry allows the Twins a run in the 1st on two hits, then pitches hitless ball for the next eight innings. Berry and Mickey Mantle homer off Pascual in the 3rd; it is a record setting 31 homers in the last 16 consecutive games.
» June 9, 1961:
In a rain-interrupted game in New York, Mickey Mantle's 3-run homer in the 3rd is the difference in a 86 win over Kansas City. Roger Maris also homers, the third time this year the two have gone deep in the same game.
» June 10, 1961:
At New York, ex-Yank Hank Bauer hits a inside-the-park homer over Mickey Mantle's head to the CF monuments, but Mantle's homer in the bottom of the 8th off rookie Bill Kunkel cements New York's 53 win over Kansas City.
» June 11, 1961: The Yankees sweep two the Angels, winning the opener, 21 behind Ralph Terry's 5-hitter. Yogi Berra clouts a pair of solo homers. In the nitecap, Mickey Mantle's 1st inning homer, #19, gives him the American League lead, but Roger Maris adds a pair of home runs, his 19th and 20th, as New York wins 51. The Yanks have won 10 of 11 games.
» June 15, 1961: Undefeated Ralph Terry's 11-inning 32 win at Cleveland moves the Yankees into first place. Mickey Mantle's homer ties the score at 11 and Johnny Blanchard's pinch single in the 11th wins it.
» June 17, 1961: With two out and two on in the 9th, Mickey Mantle homers off Paul Foytack into the RF upper deck. Elston Howard follows with a home run, but Detroit hangs on to win 1210 over the 3rd-place Yanks.
» June 26, 1961: At LA's Wrigley Field, Angel reliever Art Fowler, who has allowed just one hit in his last 12 innings, serves up a 9th inning home run to Bill Skowron as New York wins 86. Mickey Mantle adds an earlier homer, off Ken McBride, and Ford wins his 13th.
» June 28, 1961:
Ryne Duran goes eight innings and strikes out 12 former teammates to give the Angels a 53 win over New York. Mickey Mantle drives in all three Yankee runs, two on a home run.
» June 30, 1961: Whitey Ford (142) tops the Senators 51 to give the 2nd place Yankees their 22nd win of the month. Roger Maris drives in three runs and Mickey Mantle lines shot over CF Willie Tasby's that rebounds for an inside-the-park home run.
» July 1, 1961: The Senators stake rookie Carl Mathias to a 30 lead over New York, but a Mickey Mantle solo shot, a few feet left of the 456-foot sign in left at Yankee Stadium, puts New York on the board. The Nats up the score to 51, but Mantle then bangs a 3-run homer to make it 54 and knock out Mathias [who in his 11 ML games will give up three homers to Mantle]. In the 9th, Roger Maris poles a 2-run homer, his 28th, to give New York a 76 victory.
» July 2, 1961: The Yankees hit five homers -- #28 by Mickey Mantle and #'s 29 and 30 by Roger Maris -- to easily beat the Senators 134.
» July 8, 1961: At Yankee Stadium, Whitey Ford tops the Red Sox 85. Mickey Mantle hits a home run in the 4th, off Tracy Stallard, for his 10th roundtripper this year in support of Ford.
» July 13, 1961:
Chicago's Early Wynn gets an early departure as he retires just two Yankees in the first inning. Then Mickey Mantle (30th) and Roger Maris (34th) belt back-to-back homers to send the vet to the showers. For Mantle, it is the 13th homer in his career off Wynn, his favorite target. New York wins, 62
» July 16, 1961:
New York edges 3rd place Baltimore, beating Steve Barber 21. Mickey Mantle drives home both runs.
» July 17, 1961:
The Yankees top the O's, 50, behind Whitey Ford's 13th straight win. Mickey Mantle (#33) and Skowron hit long home runs at Baltimore. The nitecap goes into the 5th when, with two outs and the Yanks up 41, a thunderstorm strikes. The umps wait 65 minutes before calling the game, thus washing out homers by Roger Maris and Mantle.
» July 18, 1961:
Mickey Mantle poles two homers, off rookie Joe McLain, to pace New York to a 53 win over the Senators. In pre-game ceremonies, Mantle teamed with New York Congressman Eddie Dooley to win the homer-hitting contest against other Congressional-player duos.
» July 19, 1961: The Yanks and Senators split, with Washington winning the nitecap 122. Dick Donovan is the winner. Mickey Mantle belts a 500 foot homer in the 4th over the RF wall.
» July 21, 1961:
Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris slam back-to-back home runs in the first inning for New York, but it takes a 2-out, 9th-inning pinch-hit grand slam by Johnny Blanchard to finally subdue the Red Sox, 118, at Fenway. The pinch slam is the American League's 6th of the season, a new record.
» July 24, 1961:
At Yankee Stadium, 50,000 fans, on hand for the Yankees exhibition game with the Giants, save their biggest cheer for Willie Mays. Willie delivers a 2-run single in the 41 victory. The only score for the Yanks is a Mickey Mantle homer.
» July 25, 1961: Roger Maris hits four home runs, tying the American League record for a twin bill (at least one in each game), as New York beats Chicago 51 and 120. Mickey Mantle also homers off Frank Baumann in the first game. He ends the day with 38 home runs to 40 for Maris.
» July 26, 1961: John Blanchard ties a major-league record by hitting his 3rd and 4th home runs in four at bats over three games. He drives in four of the Yankee runs in a 52 victory over the White Sox at the Stadium. New York manages just six hits but four are homers, including one by Mickey Mantle following Blanchard's first-inning clout. Blanchard will end the year with 21 homers in 243 at bats, the first player in history to hit 20 or more in fewer than 250 at bats.
» August 2, 1961: New York beats Kansas City 125 with Mickey Mantle walloping a first inning homer off Art Ditmar. Mantle and Roger Maris are both at 40 homers.
» August 6, 1961:
Mickey Mantle leads the Yankees to a doubleheader sweep of the Twins, going 5-for-9 with three home runs and a double. His four RBIs gives him an even 100 for the year and his homer total is now 43. In the opener, Mantle's had two home runs off his favorite pitcher Pedro Ramos, but it is Johnny Blanchard's homer in the 10th that ties the game at 66. In the 15th, Yogi Berra hits a bases loaded grounder and just beat the throw at first to give the Yanks the win. The Yankees win the nitecap by a run as well, when Clete Boyer drives in Mantle in the 9th inning to break a 22 tie. New York now leads Detroit by two 1/2 games.
» August 11, 1961:
Mickey Mantle (44) and Roger Maris (42) belt homers off reliever Pete Burnside to lead New York to a 125 pasting of the Senators.
» August 13, 1961: In the first of two with the Senators, Roger Maris belts his 44th homer to tie Mickey Mantle. An inning later, Mantle, hits a Bennie Daniels offering for his 45th, but that's all Daniels allows, winning 122. Maris adds his 45th homer in the 1st inning in game two as the Yanks win, 94.
» August 16, 1961:
Roger Maris ties an American League record with his 7th home run in his 6th straight game, as New York beats Chicago 54 in the 9th inning. His two blasts off Billy Pierce give him 48, three more than Mickey Mantle.
» August 20, 1961:
At Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, both Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris homer in the twinbill sweep. Mantle's first inning three run homer, and Maris ' 9th in the 3rd inning to make it easy for Ralph Terry. In the nitecap, Bill Skowron hits his 21st in the 2nd inning and the Yanks win 52. In the 6th, after Bell allows a single and then hits Gardner and Maris, Mantle collects his 101st walk to force home a run.
» August 30, 1961: Mickey Mantle connects for #47, off the Twins Jim Kaat, as the Yanks win, 40. He'll hit #48 tomorrow, off Jack Kralick, in the Twins, 43 win.
» September 2, 1961: Against Detroit's Frank Lary, Roger Maris doubles and takes 3B on a misplay. Mickey Mantle, hurting from a pulled muscle in his forearm, lays down a perfect drag bunt to score Roger. Maris then blasts homers his next two trips to the plate, and Elston Howard adds a three-run homer, for a 72 win.
» September 3, 1961: After taking the first two games against Detroit, New York is down 54 in the 9th when Mickey Mantle ties the game with his 2nd homer of the day. Elston Howard wins it with a 3-run drive into the LF stands and Detroit leaves town four 1/2 games in back of New York. Mantle is now at 50 home runs, with Roger Maris at 53, the first teammates in history to hit 50.
» September 4, 1961: Mickey Mantle misses the Labor Day doubleheader with a painful and swollen forearm, but the Yanks don't need him as they sweep a pair from the Senators, 53 and 32. The sweep moves the Yanks six games up on the slumping Tigers, who lose 63 to the Orioles and trail 41 in a game suspended. Mantle's replacement John Blanchard breaks a 33 tie in the opener with an 8th inning homer.
» September 5, 1961:
The Yanks top Washington, 61, sending the Senators to their 20th defeat in their last 21 games. Mickey Mantle's homers for his 51st. The Yanks win, coupled with a Detroit doubleheader loss, puts New York ahead by seven 1/2 games.
» September 6, 1961: Roger Maris connects for #54, off Tom Cheney of the Senators, as the Yankees win, 80, behind Whitey Ford's 5-hitter. Ford is now 233. John Blanchard hits a pair of homers, each time following a walk to Mickey Mantle, and Moose Skowron and Bob Hale also homer.
» September 8, 1961: The Yanks rout the Indians 91 as Mickey Mantle hits #52, off Gary Bell. The Yanks win for their 9th straight while Detroit loses their 8th in a row to drop 10 game in back. The Tigers purchase vet Vic Wertz from the Red Sox to shore up the offense.
» September 10, 1961: The Yankees sweep the Indians, 76 and 93 , their 12th win in a row at home and the Indians 20th loss in a row at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle gets number 53 in the nitecap, while Roger Maris, homerless, stays at 56. The official scorecard credits Mantle with two runs scored: it will be discovered in 1995 that one of the runs should go to Bill Skowron. In the 2nd game, Clete Boyer sends a Jim Perry pitch into the LF corner that hits the lower deck of the grand stand and bounces back into play. While home plate ump Joe Linsalata calls it a home run, the other two umps agree with Tribe CF Jimmy Piersall who contends the ball is in play. Boyer's home run trot is interrupted at 3B with a tag out. Piersall's contribution in Game One is fighting with a fan who climbed onto the field.
» September 23, 1961: An ailing Mickey Mantle's career-high 54th home run, his last of the regular season, helps New York beat Boston 83. Whitey Ford leaves the game in the 5th inning, but wins his 25th.
» November 15, 1961: Roger Maris is voted American League MVP with 202 votes to 198 for Mickey Mantle and 157 for Jim Gentile.
» December 13, 1961: Mickey Mantle signs a 1962 contract for $82,000. Only Joe DiMaggio has been paid more by the Yankees.
» January 26, 1962: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle sign contracts with Columbia Pictures to star in Safe at Home!, a movie that is to be shot during spring training.
» April 10, 1962:
At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Bill Skowron, the three Yankees who combined for 143 homers last season, hit Opening Day homers to lead New York to a come-from-behind 76 win over Baltimore. Moose's is a 2-run shot to dead center that he legs out for an inside-the -park homer, while Mantle hits his in the 8th inning to tie the game, Maris hits a 3-run shot in the 5th. Johnny Temple, in his first game for the O's, has three hits, including a home run. Starters Billy Hoeft and Whitey Ford are gone after six innings, and the win goes to Ralph Terry, while Skinny Brown takes the loss.
» April 19, 1962: Mickey Mantle's homer in the 4th, off Chuck Estrada, starts the Yanks to a 31 win over the Orioles.
» May 6, 1962: Mickey Mantle hits home runs right- and lefthanded for the 9th time, in the 2nd game of a doubleheader, as the Yankees win 80 over the Senators at the Stadium. His first homer follows a Roger Maris round-tripper. The shutout is Jim Bouton's first win the majors. In the opener, a 42 Nats win, Mantle accounts for both Yankee runs with a lefthanded homer.
» May 12, 1962:
Mickey Mantle goes 3-for-3 with three runs score and a homer to pace New York to a 96 victory at Cleveland.
» May 18, 1962: Mickey Mantle suffers a pulled groin muscle, tears muscles in his right thigh, and injures his left knee trying for an infield hit that becomes the final out of New York's 43 loss to Minnesota. He will miss one month.
» June 16, 1962: A limping Mickey Mantle returns after a one-month absence to crack a 3-run pinch-hit home run in the 8th to give New York a 97 lead against Cleveland. The Tribe comes back to win it 109 in the 9th on Jerry Kindall's 2-run home run. Cleveland now leads the 3rd-place Yankees by a game and will sweep the 4-game series.
» June 23, 1962:
Mickey Mantle returns to the Yankee lineup and homers against Paul Foytack. But it is not enough as Detroit wins, 54.
» June 28, 1962: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle break a 00 tie in the 4th with back-to-back home runs to lead the Yanks to a 42 win over the Twins.
» July 2, 1962:
At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle deposits a 6th inning homer halfway up the third tier in right to lead New York to a 84 win over the A's. Mick walks his other three times up.
» July 3, 1962: The Yankees need all five home runs -- 2 each by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, plus one by Bobby Richardson -- to edge the A's 87. Mantle's 2nd homer, in the 8th, is the tie breaker.
» July 6, 1962:
The Yankees edge the Twins 75 in Bloomington, as Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris each hit a pair of home runs. The M&M boys hit back to back homers in the 1st inning, off Camilo Pascual (124), the 3rd time in four games they've hit back-to-back shots. New York is a half-game in back of Cleveland.
» July 20, 1962: Mickey Mantle homers in the first inning off Washington starter Steve Hamilton to propel New York to a 32 victory. Mantle goes 3-for-4 and his on-base percentage is now .516.
» July 28, 1962: On Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium, White Sox knuckleballer Eddie Fisher loses a 30 shut out when he surrenders 7th inning homers to Mickey Mantle and Blanchard and loses, 43.
» July 31, 1962: At D.C. Stadium, Mickey Mantle is on the bench with a wrenched knee, but Skowron supplies the power with a grand slam. New York wins, 95.
» August 18, 1962: Kansas City tops the Yanks for the 2nd day in a row, 54. Again, Mickey Mantle homers in the losing cause.
» August 19, 1962: Gino Cimoli, Wayne Causey, and Billy Bryan of the Athletics hit consecutive home runs in the 7th inning, but Elston Howard has two home runs and eight RBIs; Bill Skowron, a home run and four RBIs; Mickey Mantle, a grand slam and seven RBIs, and Skowron four RBIs as the Yankees rout the A's, 217. Mantle adds two stolen bases before Jack Reed takes over CF and has two at bats.
» August 20, 1962:
Roger Maris hits his 49th and Mickey Mantle his 46th as the Yankees sweep a pair from the Indians, 60 and 52. Both come in Game One as Terry pitches a 4-hitter. Skowron homers in the nitecap and Mantle notches an RBI with his 101st walk, following a single and two HPBs load the bases.
» August 28, 1962:
At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle connects for a 2-run shot in the 4th off Mudcat Grant to give the Yanks a 21 win over the Indians.
» September 10, 1962: Against Hank Aguirre, Mickey Mantle clouts a 4th inning homer run, the 400th of his career, to tie the game 11. The Yanks score two in the 9th off Aguirre to beat Detroit 31. The victory, combined with a Minnesota loss, gives the Yanks a three 1/2 game lead over the Twins. The surprising Angels are in 3rd place, four games back.
» September 18, 1962: At Washington new ball park D.C. Stadium, Mickey Mantle clouts the first home run there, and adds another, both off Washington starter Tom Cheney, to pace New York to a 71 win. Mick has five RBIs. Ralph Terry picks up his 22nd win, the most by a Yankee right hander since 1928. The Yankee win, combined with a Twins loss, leaves New York (9063) in 1st place by four games.
» September 30, 1962:
At Yankee Stadium, Chicago's Ray Herbert tops New York, 84. Mickey Mantle, batting leadoff to give him needed at bats, is 2-for-3 and qualifies for 2nd place in hitting (.321) with 502 plate appearances. He also hits a home run, giving him eight straight seasons of 30+ homers.
» November 20, 1962:
Mickey Mantle is named the American League Most Valuable Player for the 3rd time.
» April 10, 1963: The Yankees follow a 82 opening day victory yesterday with a 53 victory today at Kansas City. The 45-degree weather takes its toll, as Yankee starter Bill Stafford leaves in the 7th inning with a twinge in his right arm, and will never be quite the same. Mickey Mantle homers but pulls a muscle in his last at bat, that he will re-injure on the 13th, sidelining him for two weeks.
» April 11, 1963:
Baltimore's Milt Pappas spoils New York's home opener, beating them, 41. The only Yankee score is a Mickey Mantle homer.
» May 4, 1963:
The Yankees edge the Twins, 32, beating Jim Kaat on three solo homers. Elston Howard hits two, and Mickey Mantle adds one.
» May 11, 1963:
The Yankees trounce the Orioles, 111, beating Milt Pappas. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris each homer, the first time this year they've done it together.
» May 15, 1963: Down 40 to the Twins, Mickey Mantle hits a two run homer off Pedro Ramos to put the Yankees on the board. Mantle later scores the winning run as New York wins, 43.
» May 21, 1963:
At Kansas City, Mickey Mantle homers in the first inning off Orlando Pena, then adds another in the 5th. Roger Maris follows with another homer and New York wins, 74.
» May 22, 1963:
At Yankee Stadium, New York blows a 70 lead and allows Kansas City to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Mickey Mantle, leading off the 11th, is fooled by Bill Fischer on a slow curve, then cannons a 22 pitch that almost clears the RF roof. "The hardest ball I ever hit," Mantle later comments, a ball that, by some accounts, was still rising when it struck a foot below the top. It is conservatively estimated by Dr. James McDonald, a physicist who studies long-ball trajectories, that the ball would have traveled 620 feet if it had not struck the facade. "That was the only homer I ever hit that the bat actually bent in my hands," Mantle tells Dale Long, from whom he borrowed the bat.
» June 4, 1963: Oriole ace Steve Barber tops New York, 31. Mickey Mantle accounts for the only New York score with an opposite field homer into the RF bleachers.
» June 5, 1963: Mickey Mantle fractures a bone in his left foot and suffers ligament and cartilage damage to the left knee running into the chain link fence at Baltimore chasing down a Brooks Robinson drive. The Mick will be out for 61 games. Whitey Ford beats Milt Pappas 43, as the Yankees return to first place.
» August 4, 1963: After missing 61 games, Mickey Mantle returns to the Yankee lineup as a pinch hitter for Steve Hamilton. The Orioles are leading 109 in the 7th inning, when the stiff-legged Mantle golfs a line drive to tie the game at 10. The emotional Yankees win it, 1110, after the O's take the opener, 72.
» September 1, 1963: Yankees CF Tom Tresh joins teammate Mickey Mantle among four American League and five National League players to hit home runs left- and righthanded in one game. The Yanks beat Baltimore 54. A tired Mantle, who had partied the night before, adds a pinch homer in the 8th, jumping on the first pitch from Mike McCormick.
» September 11, 1963:
Whitey Ford tops the host A's, 82, as Mickey Mantle's homer in the first provides all the scoring Whitey needs. Mantle is 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
» September 21, 1963:
Kansas City beats New York, 53, despite homers by Berra and Mickey Mantle. For Yogi, it is his 358th and last home run.
» May 6, 1964: The Yanks hit four home runs -- two by Hector Lopez and one apiece by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris -- to back Jim Bouton's 92 opening win over the Senators. Washington comes back from a 40 deficit to win the nitecap, 54, despite a three-run Mantle homer off starter Claude Osteen.
» May 8, 1964: In Cleveland, there are tornado warnings, but New York supplies damage when Mickey Mantle cracks a 3-run homer off Tommy John in the 4th inning to lead New York to a 103 win.
» May 9, 1964: At Cleveland, Pedro Ramos gives up four home runs to New York -- Tony Kubek, Mickey Mantle, Joe Pepitone, and Hector Lopez -- as the Yankees win 62.
» May 16, 1964: At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle hits his 13th homer of the year, off Joe Grzenda, and New York pounds the A's, 106.
» May 17, 1964: Mickey Mantle's 2-run homer in the 1st starts the scoring and New York outscores the A's, 119.
» May 23, 1964: At New York, the Angels score four in the first, and the Yankees counter with five in the bottom of the inning off Bo Belinsky. That's all the scoring for the pinstripers as the Angels win 95. This is the 2nd game this season that the injury-plagued Yanks have started their regular outfield of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Tom Tresh. Mantle will pull a muscle on the 26th, keeping him out of the lineup for two weeks.
» May 24, 1964:
Mickey Mantle hits his second homer, off Fred Newman, in two days to start the scoring for New York. The Yanks top the Angels, 85.
» June 11, 1964: After a 2-week absence, Mickey Mantle is back in the lineup and clouts two home runs at Fenway off Bill Monbouquette. The Yankees win easily 84.
» June 13, 1964:
Mickey Mantle is 3-for-3, including a homer, to lead New York to a 63 win over the first place White Sox. Mantle is hitting .331 and leading the Yanks in homers with 11.
» June 17, 1964: The Red Sox lead New York, 31, in the 8th when Mickey Mantle reaches Dick Radatz for a homer into the RF bleachers. New York scores again in the 9th to tie, but the Bosox win in 12 innings, 43. Radatz is the winner, his 4th straight over New York.
» June 21, 1964:
The Yankees move into first place by eight percentage points over Baltimore, as they outpitch the White Sox to win 20 and 21. Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard home runs win it 20 for Jim Bouton in the opener against White Sox pitcher Juan Pizarro, and an error wins the nightcap 21 in the 17th. The Yankees sweep 4, giving up just one run in 41 innings, and take nine games from Chicago in 11 days.
» June 27, 1964:
New York edges Detroit, 54, beating Denny McLain. Mickey Mantle's homer in the 4th inning makes it 41.
» July 4, 1964:
In New York, Minnesota is leading 54, when Mickey Mantle parks a 3-run shot off Al Worthington in the 8th to win it, 75.
» July 28, 1964: The Angels Jim Fregosi hits for the cycle to assure a 31 win over the Yankees. New York's only score is a Mickey Mantle homer over the CF fence at Chavez Ravine, one of only two hits off Dean Chance. It's the first homer given up by Chance in 69 innings.
» August 4, 1964:
A's starter John O'Donoghue gives up his 3rd homer to Mickey Mantle this year, but that's all he allows, as Kansas City tops visiting New York, 51.
» August 12, 1964: Mickey Mantle homers from each side of the plate in the same game for the 10th and final time, a ML record, and New York beats Chicago 73 at Yankee Stadium. Mel Stottlemyre, in his major league debut, is the winner, scattering seven hits.
» August 22, 1964: The Yankees lose the first game to Boston, 53, extending their losing streak to six games. Boston scores three runs in the 8th inning to win it. In the nitecap, New York wins, 80, as Mickey Mantle and John Blanchard both homer, and Roger Maris drives in three runs. Mel Stottlemyre wins his 3rd game in a row since being recalled from Richmond. The Yanks end the day five 1/2 games behind the Orioles, with the White Sox in 2nd place, one 1/2 games back.
» August 23, 1964:
New York tops host Boston, 43, as Mickey Mantle starts the scoring with a 2-run homer in the 3rd inning off Earl Wilson. New York will win 26 of their next 33 games.
» August 29, 1964: On Elston Howard Night, the Yankees take two from Boston 102 and 61. Joe Pepitone's three home runs, including a grand slam, and Roger Maris's six singles lead the offense. Mickey Mantle hits home run number 447 in the opener and ties Babe Ruth's career strikeout record (1,330) in the nightcap.
» September 4, 1964: The Yankees overcome two homers by Ken Harrelson to beat the host A's, 97, in 10 innings. Mickey Mantle and Elston Howard hit back-to-back homers in the 4th inning for New York. With the Orioles losing today, Baltimore (81-54) and Chicago (82-55) are virtually tied for first, with New York (77-56) three games back.
» September 5, 1964: Blue Moon Odom makes his ML debut, and Mickey Mantle greets him with a 3-run opposite field homer in the first inning. New York hangs on to win, again by a 97 score.
» September 17, 1964: The Yankees whip the Angels 62 to lock on to first place for good with a 2-percentage-point lead over the idle White Sox and Orioles. Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle each have three hits. Mantle's include his 2,000th career hit and his 450th home run, his 31st of the year. The Yankees have won two in a row and will run their win streak to 11 games.
» September 19, 1964:
The Yanks move a half game ahead of the rained-out O's by defeating the A's, 83. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris homer and Ralph Terry pitches effectively in relief of Al Downing.
» September 22, 1964: The Yankees sweep Cleveland, winning 53 and 81. In the doubleheader, the Yanks get home runs from Mickey Mantle, Pepitone, Roger Maris, and Phil Linz.
» September 30, 1964:
In his first ML at bat, pinch hitter Bill Roman debuts with a homer, the only one of his brief ML career. Even so, the Tigers lose to New York 76 as a Mickey Mantle leadoff home run in the 2nd off Mickey Lolich ignites a 5-run rally. New York takes the nightcap 118 for a sweep.
» October 10, 1964: After Jim Bouton and Curt Simmons battle to a 11 tie through eight innings, Mickey Mantle homers on Barney Schultz's first pitch in the 9th, and the Yankees win 21.
» October 14, 1964: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle hit home runs on back-to-back pitches from Curt Simmons, and Joe Pepitone belts Gordie Richardson for a grand slam. New York wins 83 at St. Louis and evens the World Series.
» October 15, 1964: St. Louis takes an early lead in the deciding World Series game 7. Lou Brock's 5th-inning home run triggers a 2nd 3-run frame and a 60 lead for Bob Gibson. Mickey Mantle, Clete Boyer, and Phil Linz homer for New York, but it's not enough. The Cards win 75 and are the World Champions. Both Boyers, Ken Boyer for the Cards and Clete Boyer for the Yankees, homer in their last World Series appearance, a first in ML history.
» November 18, 1964: Baltimore 3B Brooks Robinson is voted American League MVP, outpolling Mickey Mantle 269 to 171.
» April 9, 1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson joins 47,878 fans for the opening of Harris County Domed Stadium (the Astrodome). The Astros win an exhibition with the Yankees 21 in 12 innings on a Nellie Fox single. Mickey Mantle hits the first home run in the new park.
» April 17, 1965:
In Kansas City, the Yanks top the A's, 52, with all of New York's scoring coming via home runs. With NY ahead, 21, in the 8th, Roger Maris walks and Mickey Mantle follows with his 1st homer of the year.
» April 21, 1965: At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle puts New York ahead with a two-run homer in the first off Camilo Pascual, but the Twins come back to win 72.
» April 25, 1965: At Yankee Stadium, Mel Stottlemyre and California's Rudy May lock up in a pitching duel until Mickey Mantle scores the only run of the game with a 4th inning solo shot into the left field bleachers.
» May 10, 1965: At Fenway Park, the 9th place Yankees lose again, 32, when Carl Yastrzemski outhits a hobbling Mickey Mantle. Yaz hits a pair of homers and sacrifice fly, while Mantle is 3-for-4 with a homer. After Mantle doubles with two outs in the 9th, starter Jim Lonborg is lifted and Dick Radatz gets the final out. It is Lonborg's first major league win. Before the game the Yankees trade INF Pedro Gonzalez to Cleveland in exchange for 1B Ray Barker. Barker will help fill in for the injured Maris.
» May 11, 1965: Mel Stottlemyre stops the Red Sox, 53, and Mickey Mantle reaches base four times, once on his 6th homer of the year.
» May 15, 1965:
At Memorial Stadium, Mickey Mantle slices an opposite field homer in the 8th inning off Dick Hall to give New York a 32 win over the Orioles.
» May 30, 1965: Mickey Mantle's 4th inning homer off Gary Peters opens the scoring for New York, and they win, 32 over host Chicago.
» June 5, 1965: At Yankee Stadium, Mel Stottlemyre goes 10 innings to win 43 over the White Sox. Stottlemyre also clouts a 4th inning homer, off Gary Peters, for the first Yankee score in 24 innings. Mickey Mantle adds a homer in the 6th off Peters, and Elston Howard, recovering from elbow surgery a month ago, wins the game with a single in the 10th.
» June 18, 1965: The Yankees rout the first-place Twins 102 on four homers. Mickey Mantle cracks a grand slam in the first inning, and his replacement Ross Moschitto adds his first and only ML home run. New York is still 10 back in 7th place.
» June 22, 1965: Ray Barker's ML-record-tying 2nd consecutive pinch-hit home run is wasted in a first-game, 62 Yankees loss to the A's. Mickey Mantle adds a home run in the opener, but in the 42 nightcap win he tries to score from 2nd on a wild pitch and snaps a upper-thigh hamstring. He will be out for three weeks. The June 21st Sports Illustrated cover features Mantle with the prescient title "New York Yankees: End of an Era?"
» July 15, 1965: Mickey Mantle's 5th inning homer, off Phil Ortega, ties the game 11, and host New York goes on to top the Senators, 21.
» August 6, 1965: After hitting 7-for-11 against the White Sox, Mickey Mantle loops a homer off Mickey Lolich but Detroit tops the visiting Yankees, 54. New York will win tomorrow and Mick will add another homer.
» September 2, 1965:
Mickey Mantle hits a 1st inning homer with two on as New York scores five runs on their way to an 81 win over the Angels. Whitey Ford is the winner.
» September 4, 1965: At Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox sweep two from the Yankees, winning 10 and 72. Mickey Mantle's homer in the 2nd game, off Dennis Bennett, is the only bright spot for New York.
» September 18, 1965: On Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium, 50,180 fans see Mantle play his 2,000th game. Joe DiMaggio and Bobby Kennedy are on hand as Mantle is given a barbecue grill in the shape of a prairie schooner and a six-foot Kosher salami weighing 100 pounds. In Mantle's first at bat, Detroit's Joe Sparma comes off the mound to shake his hand. Mick then flies out. Detroit wins, 43, with reliever Denny McLain getting the win.
» May 9, 1966: At Minneapolis, the Yankees (620) edge the Twins, 32. Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, and Joe Pepitone, with the game-winner in the 9th inning, hit homers for New York.
» May 25, 1966: At Yankee Stadium, the Yanks maul the Angels 116. Mickey Mantle has two homers, one off Dean Chance and the other coming off reliever Lew Burdette.
» July 1, 1966: At Washington, Mickey Mantle homers in the first inning off Phil Ortega, as New York edges the Senators. 86. Mick scores another run when Joe Pepitone cracks a 2-run homer.
» July 2, 1966: Frank Howard, Don Lock, and Ken McMullen hit consecutive home runs with two outs in the 6th inning, and Mike McCormick pitches a complete game, as Washington defeats a winless Whitey Ford and the Yankees, 104. Mike McCormick is the winner for Washington, giving up five hits including a Mickey Mantle homer, his 14th, in the 9th.
» July 3, 1966:
Mickey Mantle hits a first inning homer, and for the 2nd time this week has hit three home runs in consecutive times at bat. New York blows a 50 lead in the 8th as the Senators storm back. Bobby Richardson homers in the 11th to give New York a 65 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Paul Casanova goes is on first when a sac bunt moves him to 2B. He overruns the bag and decides to head to 3B where he knocks the ball away from Tom Tresh. He then continues to home where he is thrown out by a mile.
» July 7, 1966: At Yankee Stadium, New York scores two runs to tie Boston 22 in the bottom of the 9th. Then with two on and two out, Mickey Mantle breaks a 1-for-17 slump with a three run shot into the RF stands.
» July 8, 1966: In New York, the Senators win the opener, 76, then blow a 4-run lead in the nitecap to lose, 75. Mickey Mantle is 5-for-8 in DH, including a homer in each game. The 2nd homer, off Jim Hannan, is a 461 foot sky shot over the monuments into the CF bleachers. Mick follows with a sure double in the 5th but tears a hamstring muscle rounding first and will be sidelined for two weeks.
» July 23, 1966:
At Yankee Stadium, the Yanks celebrate Old-timers' Day but lose to the Angels, 76, despite a grand slam from Mickey Mantle. The slam, off Marcelino Lopez, is Mickey's 9th. He ties Babe Ruth -- not in home runs, but in games played as a Yankee.
» July 24, 1966: The Yankees beat the Angels, 91, in game one, and Mickey Mantle hits his 2nd homer in two days. The roundtripper, his 493rd, ties him with Lou Gehrig for 6th place on the all-time list.
» July 29, 1966: The Yankees edge the White Sox, 21, on Mickey Mantle's 14th homer in 24 games. Mick moves ahead of Lou Gehrig into 6th place on the homer list with the blast.
» August 14, 1966:
The Yanks sweep two from the Indians, winning the nitecap, 64. The Indians help in the 2nd game by making six errors in one inning, one short of the record. Mickey Mantle helps with a homer, off lefty Jack Kralick, but he'll sit the next 12 days after reinjuring his knee.
» August 26, 1966:
Detroit's Earl Wilson, winner of six straight, hits an 8th inning homer to give himself a 53 lead over New York. But the Yankees, batting against reliever Hank Aguirre in the 9th, tally one run on a Clete Boyer single, and win it, 65, when Mickey Mantle clouts a pinch homer over a leaping Al Kaline in RF. The win still leaves New York (5772) in last place.
» September 18, 1966:
The Twins beat the Yankees 53 in 10 innings on Bob Allison's pinch three-run homer, sending the Yankees to the cellar in the AL. In his last plate appearance of the year, Mickey Mantle whiffs and becomes the first player to strike out 1,500 times in his career.
» September 22, 1966: The Orioles beat the host Kansas City A's 61 to clinch their first American League pennant. Both Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson have two RBI. Frank Robinson will end the year as the Triple Crown winner, the first to achieve the feat since Mickey Mantle in 1956. He clinches with a batting average of .316, 49 home runs, and 122 RBI.
» April 29, 1967: Yankee pitcher Fred Talbot allows two Angel hits in topping California 52 at the Stadium. Mickey Mantle, playing first base, hits a 2-run homer and drives in three runs for New York.
» April 30, 1967:
In a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle breaks a 11 tie in the 10th with a three-run homer off California reliever Minnie Rojas to give New York a 41 win. California takes the 2nd game 42 despite Mantle cracking a pinch double in the 9th inning. His hit gives him 2,215, one more than Joe DiMaggio.
» May 14, 1967: Mickey Mantle becomes the 6th member of the 500-HR club in New York's 65 win against Baltimore. Mantle connects batting left-handed off Stu Miller.
» May 17, 1967:
Behind 82 to the Indians, the Yankees score five runs in the 7th inning. The big blows are back-to-back homers by Tom Tresh and Mickey Mantle into the RF bleachers. New York falls short, losing, 87.
» May 17, 1967:
Detroit's Mickey Lolich stops the Yankees on five hits to win, 42. Mickey Mantle has a homer and drives in both New York runs.
» May 20, 1967:
At Tiger Stadium, Denny McLain beat the Yankees, 31. New York's only score is a tremendous homer by Mickey Mantle into the deep seats in right center.
» May 21, 1967: Earl Wilson gives Detroit its 3rd straight win over the Yankees, 94. Mickey Mantle hits his 5th homer in six games but it's not enough for Whitey Ford, who appears in his last ML game.
» May 24, 1967:
The Yankees top Baltimore, 20. Mickey Mantle's 3rd inning drive to the wall is caught by Frank Robinson but the ball pops out and over the fence for a home run.
» May 28, 1967: New York beats Cleveland, 50, and Mickey Mantle hits his 2nd homer in two days, and his 11th of the season.
» June 5, 1967: Playing his first game for the Senators, Mike Epstein hits a 200 foot drive down the LF line for an inside the park homer, off New York rookie Thad Tillotson. Mickey Mantle breaks a 22 tie in the 8th with a homer of Darold Knowles, and New York wins, 42.
» June 12, 1967:
Mickey Mantle breaks a scoreless tie with a long drive off Washington's Frank Bertaina in the 6th, and visiting New York wins, 20.
» June 24, 1967: Mickey Mantle breaks a 33 tie in the 9th with a home run off Detroit's Fred Gladding to give 9th place New York a 43 win.
» July 4, 1967:
In Minnesota, Mudcat Grant stops the Yankees to give the Twins a 83 victory. Mickey Mantle drives in all three New York runs with two homers.
» July 16, 1967: At Yankee Stadium, Baltimore outlasts the Yankees to win, 21, in 14 innings. New York manages just four hits, including a solo homer by Mickey Mantle, off Bill Dillman.
» July 25, 1967:
At Yankee Stadium, American League home run leader Harmon Killebrew gives the Twins a 10 lead with a 1st inning homer off Al Downing. Jim Kaat holds New York scoreless until two outs in the 9th inning when Mickey Mantle clocks a ball over the 457 mark to tie the score. The game is rained out with the score 11 and will be replayed on August 18. New York will win the replay, 10.
» August 20, 1967:
At Fenway, Red Sox Reggie Smith joins the ranks of Mickey Mantle, Pete Rose, and others by hitting home runs left- and righthanded in a game with California. Yaz adds two three-run homers, one in each game of the doubleheader. The Sox win the nitecap, 98 after trailing 80.
» September 2, 1967:
Washington's Bob Priddy loses his 10 lead to the Yankees when Mickey Mantle clouts a 2-run pinch homer in the 8th and New York wins, 21. Mel Stottlemyre is the winner, allowing six hits and no walks. For Mantle, it is his 14th game-winning hit of the year, eight of them home runs.
» May 30, 1968: New York and Washington split, with the Yankees winning the opener, 134, and the Senators the nitecap, 62. In the first game, Mickey Mantle goes 5-for-5 with two home runs, and five RBIs for New York. He sits out the 2nd game. Mantle's last 5-for-5 game was on May 24, 1956.
» June 29, 1968:
In the first game of a doubleheader at the Stadium, Mickey Mantle ties the score with a 2-run homer in the 6th, but rookie Reggie Jackson breaks the tie in the 8th with his 9th homer of the year. The A's win, 52.
» August 10, 1968: On Old Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium, the Twins stop the Yankees, 32. New York's only scores are two solo shots by Mickey Mantle off Jim Merritt. It is the Mick's 46th 2-homer game.
» August 15, 1968: At Oakland, the Yanks edge the A's, 43. Blue Moon Odom gives up a triple to Tom Tresh, a walk, then serves up a three-run homer to Mickey Mantle for the difference.
» August 21, 1968: Minnesota's Jim Merritt loses his shutout in the 9th when Mickey Mantle hits a pinch homer, but he wins 31. It is Mantle's 534th home run, tying him with Jimmie Foxx for 3rd on the all-time list.
» August 22, 1968: Jim Merritt loses his shut out in the 9th inning when Mickey Mantle parks a pinch homer at the Metrodome. The Twins win, 31. Mick's homer ties him with Jimmie Foxx for 3rd place on the all-time list.
» September 19, 1968: Denny McLain's 31st win is overshadowed by Mickey Mantle's 535th homer. McLain allegedly calls C Jim Price out and tells him to inform Mantle he's throwing the slugger nothing but fastballs. The home run gives Mantle undisputed hold of 3rd place on the all-time home run list. Mantle tips his cap to Denny as he rounds 3B. Pepitone, the next batter, signals where he would like the ball, and McLain dusts him. The Tigers win the game, 62, the 12th straight complete game for the Tigers staff.
» March 1, 1969: The Yankees' Mickey Mantle retires.
» June 8, 1969:
Mickey Mantle Day in New York. With 60,096 fans on hand, Mantle's number seven is retired and plaques he exchanges with Joe DiMaggio will hang on the CF wall at Yankee Stadium. DiMaggio's plaque comes as a surprise to the Yankee Clipper. The Yankees then sweep the White Sox 31 and 112.
» July 30, 1969:
Using five homers, the Braves thrash the Phils, 63, in game 1. Felipe Alou and Hank Aaron homer and Bob Tillman, hitting .187, hits three in a row. Aaron's blast is the 537th of his career and moves him past Mickey Mantle on the all-time list. The Phils win the nitecap, 43. Dick Allen homers in the 2nd inning and follows a Johnny Callison homer in the 8th with his 2nd shot of the game.
» August 29, 1970:
Mickey Mantle returns to the Yankees as first base coach.
» August 29, 1972:
Yankee Bobby Murcer hits for the cycle against Texas. He's the first Yankee to cycle since Mickey Mantle in 1957: The next will be Tony Fernandez in 1995.
» January 16, 1974: The BBWAA elects former Yankee teammates Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford to the Hall of Fame. Mantle becomes only the 7th player to make it in his first try.
» August 12, 1974: Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford head a group of six inductees at Cooperstown.
» August 15, 1977:
In a 21 win over Kansas City, Boston's Jim Rice hits a 3rd inning double and becomes the first Boston player since Ted Williams in 1939 to hit 20 homers, 20 doubles and 10 triples in a season. Between Williams and Rice, only Charlie Keller (1946), Joe DiMaggio (1948, '50) and Mickey Mantle (1955) had reached those levels.
» February 8, 1983: One day after taking a job as director of sports promotions for Claridge Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, Mickey Mantle is ordered to sever his ties with ML baseball by Commissioner Kuhn. Mantle joins fellow Hall of Famer Willie Mays as players banned from baseball by Kuhn for involvement with legalized gambling.
» March 18, 1985: Commissioner Ueberroth reinstates Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had been banned from association with organized baseball by Bowie Kuhn due to their employment by Atlantic City casinos.
» May 14, 1986: Reggie Jackson of the Angels homers off Boston's Roger Clemens to move past Mickey Mantle on the all-time list with 537, but Boston scores three runs in the top of the 9th to win 85.
» July 14, 1988:
Mike Schmidt hits his 537th career home run in Philadelphia's 75 loss to Houston, moving past Mickey Mantle into 7th place all-time.
» June 9, 1990: Dodger Eddie Murray homers from each side of the plate for the 10th time in his career (the 2nd time in 1990) to tie Mickey Mantle's ML record. The Dodgers beat the Padres 54 in 11 innings.
» March 22, 1991: At Sotheby's in New York, a 1909-10 tobacco card in mint condition of Honus Wagner sells for $451,000 (with the 10% auction house premium) to hockey star Wayne Gretzky and LA Kings owner Bruce McNall. A 1952 Topps card of Mickey Mantle goes for $49,500, tripling the pre-auction estimate, while a baseball, signed by 12 players at the 1939 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, sells for $20,900.
» July 25, 1991: A jersey once worn by Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle is sold for $71,500 at an auction in Manhattan. A Ty Cobb tobacco card brings in $62,700.
» June 6, 1992: Eddie Murray drives home two runs in the Mets 151 win over the Pirates. It gives him 1,510 career RBIs, the most ever by a switch-hitter, passing Mickey Mantle (1,509).
» April 21, 1994: Cleveland 1B Eddie Murray smacks home runs from both sides of the plate in the Indians' 10-6 win over the Twins. It is the 11th time that he has performed the feat, breaking the record previously held by Mickey Mantle.
» August 13, 1995:
Baseball legend Mickey Mantle dies at age 63 from liver cancer in Dallas.
» August 18, 1995:
Yankees announcer, and former SS, Phil Rizzuto retires as team broadcaster after 39 years at the mike, reportedly because WPIX-TV refused to allow him to miss a game to attend teammate Mickey Mantle's funeral. Rizzuto eventually will return for the 1996 season.
» May 21, 1996: At Fenway Park, Seattle pounds out 19 hits to beat Boston, 137. Ken Griffey, Jr. becomes the 7th-youngest player to collect 200th homers, when he connects in the M's 6-run 4th inning: Mel Ott, Eddie Mathews, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson and Hank Aaron were all younger. Jay Buhner hits a 2-run shot in the inning, the 5th game in a row he's connected, and Edgar Martinez adds four hits in the game.
» August 25, 1996:
The Yankees dedicate their 1st new monument in 47 years, to Mickey Mantle, in Monument Park in center field at Yankee Stadium. Miller Huggins, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig are also honored with monuments, while 15 men are honored on plaques.
» August 23, 1999:
The Yankees score six runs in the 1st inning on their way to a 21-3 victory over the Rangers. 3B Scott Brosius (6) and C Joe Girardi (7)the 8th and 9th batters in the NY lineupdrive in 13 of the Yankee runs. Jeter scores his 100th run of the year, the 1st Yank to string together four straight seasons of 100+ runs since Mickey Mantle did it in nine straight seasons (1953-61).
» May 8, 2000:
Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals hits his 12th home run of the season, against the San Francisco Giants. The homer tied "Big Mac" with Jimmie Foxx for ninth place on the all-time list with 534 career homers. McGwire needs just two taters to catch number eight on the list, Mickey Mantle, at 536.
» May 18, 2000: The Cardinals defeat the Phillies, 7-2, behind Mark McGwire's three home runs and seven RBIs. The homers move McGwire past Mickey Mantle into 8th place on the all-time list with 539.
» May 24, 2000:
The Cardinals gaff the Marlins, 5-1, as Mark McGwire hits his 20th home run of the year. He becomes the fastest player to ever reach 20 homers, doing so in his 35th game, six fewer than Mickey Mantle in 1956 and McGwire himself in 1998.