Mickey Mantle matured on Aug. 14, 1960. The New York Yankees were embroiled in a tense pennant race with the defending American League champion Chicago White Sox and the upstart young Baltimore Orioles.
The Washington Senators were in Yankee Stadium for a doubleheader. The Yankees were in first place, but when the games had been completed, they were a third-place team.
Washington won the first game when pitcher Camilo Pascual hit a grand slam off Yankees starter Bullet Bob Turley. The nightcap was one of the most significant in Yankees history, but not because the Yankees lost.
Left-hander Jack Kralick started for the Senators against the Yankees pitcher whose claim to fame was that his last name needed one more vowel. Eli Grba held Washington scoreless until the fifth inning, when Hal Naragon's force-out grounder scored Reno Bertoia from third with the game's first run.
The bottom of the sixth changed the rest of Mickey Mantle's career.
Leadoff hitter Clete Boyer singled to left off Kralick. Roger Maris singled to right off the tough lefty, moving Boyer to third with the potential tying run and bringing up Hector Lopez.
Hector, who had the pejorative nickname "What a Pair of Hands," hit a hard ground ball to shortstop Jose Valdivielso, who flipped to second baseman Billy Gardner to force Maris. When the ball was hit, it appeared that the Senators would turn an easy double play, but Roger slid hard into second, taking out Gardner to prevent the twin killing.
Maris paid a price for his hustle. He hurt his ribs sliding into Gardner's right knee and had to be taken out of the game.
Mickey Mantle was the batter with Lopez at first and one out. Kralick peered in to get the signal, checked Lopez and delivered. Mickey hit a hard ground ball to third. Bertoia fielded the ball cleanly and fired to second baseman Gardner for the force out, and Billy relayed to first to double up Mantle, who had stopped running hard halfway to first.
Manager Casey Stengel replaced Mantle.
"I took him out because he didn't run and I'm tired of seeing him not run. If he can't run, he should tell me."
Before the games, Mantle had said that he "was not hurting."
Mickey Mantle never again failed to run out a ground ball. The stark contrast between Roger Maris getting banged up when he hustled to break up a double play and Mickey not hustling to produce a double play was graphic.
Mickey realized that he had been wrong. He had as much natural ability as almost anyone who ever played the game, but he had disrespected that ability. He no longer would do so.
The next day, against the Orioles, Mickey demonstrated that he was, indeed, the Yankees' leader.
References
By LOUIS EFFRAT. (1960, August 15). BOMBERS SUFFER 5-4, 6-3 SETBACKS: Senators Win in 15th After Grand Slam by Pascual Decides First Game. New York Times (1923-Current file), p. 27. Retrieved December 21, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2007). (Document ID: 119110659).
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