Who was better, who would you take, Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays?

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by tedzan

As a Yankees fan, obviously I favor Mickey. In retrospect, all three were great in their inimitable way.

However, for sheer drama, Mantle leads the pack. Events like seeing the Mick hitting a 565-foot HR that cleared the CF wall at old Griffith Stadium
is incomparable.

Or, seeing Mickey hit a Grand-Slam in the 1953 World Series to beat the Dodgers is something the other two guys never did.

Or, when Mickey ran down Gil Hodges' drive to the Monuments in deep left-center field of Yankee Stadium in the 5th game of the 1956 World Series
to preserve Don Larsen's Perfect game.

Furthermore, I could run-up this thread to 200 posts re-telling the excitement generated by Mickey Mantle (which I saw in person or on TV). I'll just add this event......

Probably, the most tremendous HR hit by Mickey occurred 50 years ago (next month) at Yankee Stadium. In the 11th inning vs the Kansas City A's, Mick blasted a HR
that hit the RF facade 102 feet above the field. The point of impact was 363 feet from Home Plate. Some witnesses claimed the trajectory of the ball was still rising
upon impact. Others said it had reached it's apex. In any event, had this drive cleared the Stadium's roof, it was projected that it would have traveled 600+ feet.

I have the May 23rd 1963 New York News front page depiction of this event....but, it is somewhere in my archives and I have not yet found it. Perhaps some one on
this forum has the picture of this blast (or a link to it).



Their personalities at signing events............


............................ FRIENDLY .................................................. SOUR-PUSS .............................................. A REAL GENTLEMAN






TED Z
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LOOKING FOR these T206 guys to complete my AMERICAN BEAUTY 460 sub-set

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