The Mick

In reading this book I found it to be eye opening. I never who M

In reading this book I found it to be eye opening. I never who Mickey Mantle was. I knew he was one of the greatest Yankee's to play, and that he was my own father's child hood hero growing up. Learning about his childhood, and his journey into the major leagues as a New York Yankee was very interesting. I would have never guessed that he was from Oklahoma, and that his father died when he was still in his twenties. To me he had a rough childhood in that they moved a lot, and the biggest let down was being poor after their farm house was destroyed during a flood. He never let any of his adversities get in the way of his sports careers. Not only was he a star at baseball, but he also excelled in basketball and football. He was first looked at by a Yankee scout when he was 17 years old and a senior in high school. The scout wasn't even their to watch him, but yet who can resit talking to a switch hitting power machine, and a strong armed kid. He was a major league player as an outfielder by the time he was 19 years old. In today's world that would be ridiculous, but he was a once in a lifetime protegee. He said his favorite person to idolize was Ted Williams, and what a great one to have. The best pure swing and all around hitter of all time. In only a few meetings with each other, Ted Williams offered advice and critique to Mickey on how to get better. Most people would be mad about this, but when Ted Williams tells you how to fix something, you take it with a grain of salt. Mickey and the Yankees teams he was a part of won 7 world series titles and played in a few more. He had many great friends and teammates, but none better that Billy Martin the Yankee second basement at the time. He got play along side of some great ball players including Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Joe DiMaggio, and Phil Rizzuto. Some of the games best were right there in New York along with him. He even got to play against Jackie Robinson. How amazing is that !? To have one of the most influential and greats players of all time tip his cap to you, and tell you what a great job you did, would make me die on the spot. He was speechless, and rightfully so. Playing ball in those times was a lot different form today, but the one thing that has stayed the same is the way players play the fundamentals, and give it all they have. Someone should read this because it gives some great insight on the works of one heck of a ball player. Baseball fans would love this book, and it doesn't matter what team you like, Mickey Mantle was a great baseball player, and the facts show it. I honestly liked everything about this book. Not one part made me skip a page or two. I may be a Boston Redsox fan, but I sure can enjoy reading about a great player of the game. Even if he was Yankee.

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The Great Mickey Mantle

This was a great book. I enjoyed reading about his childhood all the way to his major league career. I liked how he made a baseball field out of nothing. Also it was funny reading about his teamates joking and playing around.

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Mick, we hardly knew ye.

A big fan of baseball and Mick, I seized at the chance to review the just-published autobiography of this once-in-a-lifetime all-around ballplayer. But it let me down. Maybe it was the Mick himself or Gluck, but the book contained no admission of active alcoholism or how it shortened the Mick's career. . .and, ultimately, his life -- despite two (count 'em!) liver transplants, even though alcoholics didn't qualify for the transplant eligibility list. When I attempted to reach Mantle by phone (he worked as a casino greeter in Atlantic City with Willie), he declined to take or return my repeated calls. So here we have an otherwise terrific book about a bona fide Horatio Alger kid who could play well, whether sick or hungover, but no admission of the destructive role booze played in the Mick's life and certainly no renunciation of Demon Rum. . .just some bad jokes about the Mick's preference for 'coffee milkshakes.'

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Darren 16 a baseball fan. At R.A.Long

This is one of the best, no it is the best, book about baseball that I have ever read. I don't care who you are, but if you like baseball you need to read this one. It tells about Micky Mantle's childhood, his struggles in life, how he learned to switch hit. He had power from both sides of the plate. It took him a long time and a lot of practice to get fielding down. A great book!

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