What might have been?
It has often been asked of Hall of Fame slugger Mickey Mantle, who belted a not-too-shabby 536 home runs during his career with the New York Yankees.
But it was also a career that saw him miss significant playing time because of injuries and an unwillingness to take care of himself, a fact he would frequently acknowledge long after his playing days were over.
If Mantle hadn’t been injured quite so often, how many home runs would he have hit? 600, 650, 700?
One of his worst injuries, as revisited by writer Jane Leavy for her memoir/biography on Mantle, titled: “The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the end of America’s childhood,” came against the Twins at the Stadium on May 18, 1962.
Mantle smashed a hard shot to Twins shortstop Zoilo Versalles and then tried to beat out the throw, his body finally abandoning him right before he reached first base. He tore the adductor muscle in his right hip and landed hard on a knee, straining ligaments behind the knee, according to Leavy’s book.
The New York Daily News was there.
“Giving that extra effort, which has, in recent years, become his trademark, Mickey Mantle last night crumpled 10 feet short of first base on the final play at the Stadium. And the rambunctious Twins from Minneapolis had a 4-3 victory.”
Harmon Killebrew homered, doubled and drove in two runs off the Chairman of the Board, while Twins pitcher Don Lee picked up the win, allowing just three runs on seven hits across eight-plus innings.
The Twins had a good team in 1962 and rebounded quickly after a losing campaign during their first year in Minnesota.
They won 91 games and finished second to the Yankees, five games behind the pennant winners when it was all over. The Killer had a monster season, smashing 48 dingers to go along with 126 RBI, both tops in the American League. Bob Allison also chipped in with 29 homers and 102 RBI.
On the mound, Jim Kaat pitched to a 3.14 ERA and won 18 games, while Camilo Pascual won 20 games and fanned 206 batters across 257-plus innings.
Extra innings…
–The Twins continue to make low-cost and therefore low-risk deals to improve the bullpen. They have signed veteran closers Liam Hendriks and Andrew Chafin to minor league agreements, but the really intriguing move was to trade for lefty reliever Anthony Banda, who was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
To get him, they sent the Dodgers international bonus pool money, according to MLB.com.
“Banda was an important part of the Dodgers’ bullpen over the past two years, recording a 3.14 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 114 2/3 innings spanning 119 appearances (three starts),” MLB.com reports. “He won World Series rings in both seasons, making a total of 17 playoff appearances in that time.”
Source: Newspapers.com