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Originally Posted by gonefishin
Thanks for your posts John, and amazing that both you and your dad got to see some of the greatest players of all time in person.
Unfortunately, I grew up in a very rural area of Arkansas in the 50s and 60s. When your family makes a living picking cotton or working on a farm there isn't much of an opportunity to go to an actual game. Of course, we cheered for the Cardinals during that period and the only time we got to see a game was on television.
I would like to add that we also cheered for the Yankees and Mantle was always the card kids were looking to obtain. However, trading a Musial for a Mantle was almost sacraligous. I still have my Mantles that I traded for or cut off the back of cereal boxes as a kid.
How would like to see game 7 of the 1964 series between the Yankees and Cardinals! Bob Gibson at his finest and Mantle blasting a 3 run homer! Gibson finished the series with a 1.56 ERA and won the MVP. However, no matter how great you were during that period of time, Mantle could light you up!
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We take so much for granted nowadays, especially in terms of having access to the literal world at our fingertips.
I've spoken about this with the older generations of my family. Going to day/night double headers, admission and concessions being cheap, you truly got your money's worth back then. Nowadays taking a family to a game is borderline impossible, considering the amount of money it costs. Hell, the movies are getting too expensive!
In many ways, 1964 was Mantle's final hurrah, as he was never the same after that season. Father time, and injuries caught up to him too quickly, plus the booze didn't help. The same could be said about The Babe, with his 1932 season, really being the last true "Ruthian" year.