I grew up in Dallas, and Mickey's house literally backed up to the place I went to Sunday School. At least that was the house that he 'lived with his wife', although by the late 1980's he might have moved out. I never had the nerve to walk up and ring the doorbell, as I was about 13 at the time. Luckily, there was a local live sports radio interview show that was recorded at a Tony Roma's in my neighborhood. Their inaugural guest was Mickey Mantle, and I had just started collecting baseball cards at the time. I remember my Dad picking me up from school and taking me over to the restaurant a couple hours before the 7 pm start time. We were one of the last to get a table and we camped out for the show to start. Mickey showed up a little before the show started, sat down, and some of us got in line hoping he would sign. I had the below picture that I think I purchased at an amusement park earlier in the year. I brought a fine point felt tip pen, as I didn't know about sharpies at the time. Luckily, Mickey had his own black sharpie and signed one free autograph for everyone in line. I don't remember the line being very long, and most of the people just sat at their tables waiting for the show to start. He signed my picture and I moved along. My Dad didn't even get anything signed!
I do remember the interview and Mickey told all of the stories that made it into his books over the years. The thing I remember most is the way he told a story, as if it was the first time he had ever told it. It was really a great time. A few months later the same show had a rookie football player named Troy Aikman and some guy named Roger Staubach on the show. I was able to get both of them to sign a football for me. I think I was one of the only ones to ask for an autograph that night. Boy have times changed!!
I always wanted to complete the picture but Ted and Joe rarely made it to the Dallas area. I didn't have the nerve to send it in the mail and pay the mail-in fee to an out of state show, as I was afraid I wouldn't get it back and the autograph fees for those two guys were pretty steep for a 13-15 year old in those days!
Here is a link to an interview article I found about Mickey that mentions the interview show and was written in 1988. It is a nice read about Mickey.
http://www.dmagazine.com/publication.../the-last-hero
