81. "You don't have to talk to me about
pensions. I won't be around long enough to collect one."
Mickey Mantle to player rep Jerry Coleman when asked for
Mickey's thoughts about the pension plan82. "Don't do as I did. I'm living proof of
how not to live."
Mickey Mantle 83. "Meekie, I'm sorry I have to do
that."
Pitcher Pedro Ramos to Mickey after hitting him with a
retaliatory pitch - the next time Mickey batted against Ramos he hit a homer
off the facade at Yankee Stadium 84. "I'd rather have you run up my back than
to hit one over the roof!'"
Pedro Ramos to Mickey Mantle after Ramos knocked him
down and Mickey hit a ball off the facade his next at-bat 85. "Where do you want it?"
Don Drysdale to Mickey before a World Series game,
asking him where he wanted to be hit by Drysdale's pitch when he threw the
ball at him 86. "The hardest thing to do in sports, I
think, is to hit a home run."
Mickey Mantle 87. "Somebody once asked me if I ever went up
to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, 'Sure, every time.'"
Mickey Mantle 88. "When I hit a home run I usually didn't
care where it went. So long as it was a home run was all that mattered."
Mickey Mantle 89. "After I hit a home run I had a habit of
running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad
enough without me showing him up rounding the bases."
Mickey Mantle 90. "When you're talking about Mickey Mantle
- it's an altogether different level (of power). Separates the men from the
boys."
Billy Martin 91. "Power is a big thing in baseball. It
can't be cheapened. That is, a fellow has it or hasn't. It isn't a fluke or
great accomplishment, like a perfect game. When Mantle connects, it's a
tape-measure job. Nobody who ever lived has more power than Mantle."
Baseball expert Gabe Paul 92. "No man in the history of baseball had as
much power as Mickey Mantle. No man."
Billy Martin 93. "Forget what I said."
Hall of Fame catcher Bill Dickey after Mickey explodes a
bazooka shot off a seat in the left-field upper deck at Yankee Stadium that
bounces way back onto the playing field - only moments before Dickey had been
telling his teammates that Babe Ruth and Jimmy Foxx hit balls further than
Mickey 94. "I was amazed I could throw hard enough
that anyone could hit it that far."
Senators' pitcher Joe McLain after giving up a home run
to Mickey 95. "I'd like to see him throw that
again."
Eddie Lopat to Allie Reynolds on the Yankees bench
during a pre-season game at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh after pitcher Bill
MacDonald sneaked a slow curve ball past Mickey 96. "Mickey's was the longest ball ever
whacked into the valley behind Forbes Field."
Sportswriter Chester Smith of the Pittsburgh Press on
Mickey's homer when MacDonald threw Mickey the same pitch again 97. "Just put it over the plate. He's in no
condition to hit."
Orioles manager Hank Bauer to pitcher Mike McCormick on
September 1, 1963 when Mickey was unexpectedly called to pinch-hit after
staying out all night in Baltimore 98. "Swing at the first fastball."
Whitey Ford to Mickey when Mickey was unexpectedly
called to pinch-hit against pitcher
Mike McCormick on September 1, 1963 after staying out
all night in Baltimore 99. "And that one is gone. A home run for
Mickey Mantle! How do you like that?"
Broadcaster Mel Allen after Mickey homered on Mike
McCormick's first pitch on September 1, 1963 100. "Those people don't know how tough that
really was."
Mickey to his teammates in the dugout about the cheering
crowd after homering on Mike McCormick's first pitch on September 1, 1963 |
