What’s the obsession with Mickey Mantle?

[egri]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

I was a dealer who set up at roughly 30-40 shows per year from 1979 to 1990ish. I saw Mantle and Dimaggio probably 30-40 times and Williams probably 15 times during that time span. Not only did i get hundreds if not thousands of autos signed by these men during that span, but i also interacted with all the customers.

While there were times that were exceptions Dimaggio, Williams, and Mays generally were surly, confrontational, and sometimes downright rude. As only ine example, I have had Dimaggio take baseballs he just signed and roll them on the table back to me instead of handing them to me. Stuff like this happened all the time to lots of people with all three of them.

I am glad you had positive experiences with them, but i can say with confidence that you are the exception.

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I never met Mantle or Mays, so I have no firsthand experience here, but it would seem to me that Mantle would get a pass more so than Mays, because regardless of who was worse, Mantle hasn’t been a jerk to anyone in 23 years. Mays was rude to somebody yesterday. Just my $0.02.

[JollyElm]

As a little kid, my idol was Willie Mays. He had been traded to the Mets and my dad would regale us with stories of how great he was as a NEW YORK Giant (my parents never got over the Giants and Dodgers leaving town). His 1972 card was the one every single kid wanted, even years later, and although he lost all of his steam, he was still considered godlike, as my friends and I would imitate his basket catch. Fast forward to the 80's and 90's and all I would ever hear is what a nasty a*shole he was in person, so I made a choice. I wanted my idol to remain as prominent in my mind as he was during my childhood, so the decision was made. As much as I wanted to see him in person, if he was appearing somewhere near me I simply wouldn't go and have my image of him shattered as he treated my autograph request with disdain. (With music, I had a similar, but not angry, attitude towards Pink Floyd. I love 'Wish You Were Here,' 'Animals,' 'Dark Side,' 'Meddle,' etc., so much that I chose never to see them in concert when the chance arose. Their music means so much to me that I simply didn't want to realize that it was 'simply' 4 English guys on a stage doing it. To me, it came from some sort of magical place. Your musical tastes may vary.) Of course, if you take my adoration for The Say Hey Kid and multiply it by millions of other people, then we can imagine what Mays has been faced with for more than half a century (I know, get a real problem). So as much as I hate to admit it, it's partially understandable why he became the way he is.

[ls7plus]

Mays had a saying: "You want me to meet you halfway, but there's a million or more of you and just one of me." In any event, it's virtually always unrealistic to expect a player of extremely high capabilities and stature (Bill James ranks Willie as the third best player of all time, and considering the peak quality production and the duration for which he stayed a very productive player, it would be difficult if not impossible to disagree--I certainly don't!) to present themselves as as good a person as they were as players. That would be a tremendously rare combo indeed. Kudo's to Mays--he remains highly undervalued IMHO.

Happy collecting and holidays,

Larry