John Ward. He was a great pitcher (threw second perfect game in mlb history), a great shortstop, and the man who organized the Players' League formation. Ward was one of the most influential people in 19th century baseball. If John was busy I would go with Albert Spaulding, Harry Wright or Henry Chadwick.
As for the people who said Mantle--I spent an evening with him in 1992, he was not that interesting.
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