The Mick - Off the Field

Mickey Mantle grew up around the Zinc mines of Oklahoma. As a five year old, his father decided that Mick would grow to be a switch hitter, and Mutt Mantle, Mickey's dad, and Charles Mantle, Mick's grandfather, would pitch to him from both sides of the mound. A baseball visionary, Mutt realized the value of a switch hitter in a major league lineup.

Mutt and two of his brothers all died at 40 of Hodgkins disease, and Mickey never doubted that he would follow them an early grave.

His imminent mortality was one of the reasons the Mick spent so much of his time drinking and chasing women. Surprised to be alive past forty, Mickey once said "If I had known I was going to live so long, I would have taken better care of myself."

As a player Mantle would frequently play with hangovers, a reminder of the previous night's partying. On the field, Mickey was pure majesty; off it, a walking disaster. He ignored his children when they were young, not developing a relationship with his four sons until they were old enough to be drinking partners with him.

In 1994 Mantle checked himself into the Betty Ford clinic, and quit drinking. At the same time, his surviving sons quit drinking as well. A year later, he had a liver transplant; two months later, Mickey was gone.