How come Mickey Mantle seems to get inserted into almost every thread on Net54?

I guess I'll have to dust it off and read it...sub-titled 'The Last Hero A Life of Henry Aaron.

While I'm an avid Baseball book collector, I've only read about 10% of my library...but, I hope to get better.

Mays
 

Didnt read that book..but honestly never heard that AAron did not see eye to eye with Mays....never heard that in many many years of following them both

There are a number of pictures of Aaron and Mays together, and there don't appear to be any bad vibes. I mean, sometimes players could get on each other.

Here's an article from 2015, where Aaron publicly scoffed at the idea that ARod was better than Mays. To ARod's credit, he didn't take any offense at that.

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/123128522/

Hey thanks. I'm going to look for that book.

I never heard of that either...

hate
 

Now I do know that Lee Mazzilli hated Denny Terrio

I love the ‘63 Dalkowski if for no other reason than his minor league stats on the back: 1099 K’s, 1136 BB’s in 697 innings pitched. [emoji15]


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Perhaps, that’s an iconic card with a great story to go with it - but I’m not sure that story was well known in the early 1980’s. I think Mantle was destined to be “the guy” from that era either way.


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Because in these forums, like everywhere else in life - he’s Mickey Mantle.


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Jackie Robinson/Willie Mays
 

A lot of the discussion here reminds me of why I’ve always been careful not to get too close personally to my ballplayer heroes as people. Because invariably, you are going to be let down. If you’ve seen Ken Burns’ Baseball, the segment “Good at Life” talking about Pete Rose is what I’m talking about here. Yes, Mays is well known for his bad behavior with fans, but Mantle, Ted Williams, Frank Robinson, and countless others were no angels either. Why is their behavior overlooked / forgiven, while Willie’s is not?

It may not be “right”, but I have to draw a line with respect to my personal motivations for collecting with this kind of stuff. For me, that generally includes nostalgia, history, and grasping for the fleeting feeling of youth gone by above everything else. Few would disagree that as a player on the field, Willie Mays was easily one of the top 3-5 non-pitchers who ever lived. Along with Mantle and Aaron, he was one of the top figures in baseball that played into the nostalgia we associate with the sport today from the 1950’s and 60’s. I guess it becomes a question for some on where to draw the line. Do people think differently of Duke Snider or Willie McCovey now in the 21st century because of their tax problems that have come to light? Doubtful. So we should shun Mays because of his boorish behavior? I get it if that is your conclusion. It’s just not mine yet.

Dance fever
 

Wait - are you saying that Denny Terrio mistreated fans?:D

Mays
 

His dancing was cruel and hateful !!..He ruined Dance Fever .. absolutely killed the show !

Disco dead as a doornail
 

Yeah, but what ever happened to that chick who danced with him? She was enough to make Mays smile.:rolleyes:

Maybe Mays should embrace his reputation as being cranky.

One of the bicycle framebuilders who'd been doing it for years could be a bit abrasive, especially towards people who wanted to talk endlessly about stuff he'd done 20 years before while he was trying to get some work done. He ended up with a similar rep, even though at the right time, he could be just fine.

Eventually he made a joke of it, got buttons made up saying "(His name) was rude to me" and passed them out at tradeshows - Or would pretty much give one to anyone who asked.

Sadly, he cleared his waitlist and retired maybe a couple years ago. And died about a year and a half later.

Larry Doby felt he was a better player than Jackie Robinson, and he was probably right. Others of the time shared his opinion as well, but Jackie was ex-military and a college man, which made him a better candidate for Branch Rickey. Larry Doby suffered greatly, perhaps as much Jackie Robinson, but in comparison he is not regarded in the same light. Almost all the Cleveland players did not want Larry on the team, especially Eddie Robinson whose behavior toward Doby during that season caused him to be traded the following year.

I'm gonna have to side with Robinson again here. Both guys have very similar career offensive production, but Robinson was much better defensively than Doby, and Doby played mostly in his prime years in the majors (while Robinson was late 20s to late 30s then).

Cleveland curmudgeon that I am, I still ponder what the current discussion would sound like if Bill Veeck had been able to start the 1947 season with Larry Doby in centerfield for the Indians.