Mickey Mantle was one of the biggest stars in American sports history, ruling Major League Baseball in the 1950s and '60s. This was back when baseball was the number one sport in America. It was the equivalent of the modern day NFL, NBA, and college sports all wrapped in one package. And Mickey, along with Willie Mays, were the stars of that universe.
I had the great fortune to grow up in one of the golden decades for baseball, with players that were still protected by sports journalists and without the coverage that today's players have to endure. As a child my knowledge of my favorite players came from newspapers, weekly TV broadcasts, and baseball cards. What I didn't know about my favorite players, myth stood by to fill in the gaps. And so their stature grew in my childhood eyes until they exceeded mere mortal expectations.
New York Yankees manager, Casey Stengel, was amazed when he first observed the 19-year-old Mantle who had never even stepped to the plate in a major-league game. “He has more speed than any slugger I’ve ever seen, and more slug than any other speedster – and nobody has ever had more of both of ’em together. This kid ain’t logical. He’s too good. It’s very confusing,” the manager proclaimed.
And the myth began.
The Yankees clinched the American League pennant on September 28, 1951, and faced the crosstown New York Giants in the World Series. In the fifth inning of Game Two, Giants rookie Willie Mays hit a fly ball toward right-center field, halfway between Mantle and DiMaggio. Mantle sprinted toward the ball and so did DiMaggio, each looking up as they closed in for what appeared to be a certain head-on collision. Just before Mantle reached the ball, however, he heard DiMaggio call, “I got it.” Mantle stopped short from a full sprint, and in doing so, caught his spikes on the rubber cover of a drain pipe in the outfield and dropped to the ground.
Fans and players who saw him collapse from a distance said that it looked as if Mantle had been shot. Writhing in pain on the outfield grass, he was comforted by the usually cold and aloof DiMaggio: “Are you all right? Don’t move. They’re bringing a stretcher.” Trainers rushed to the scene and carried Mantle off the field amid the eerie silence of a stunned crowd.
On the way out of the stadium, Mutt Mantle was trying to help Mickey into a taxi that would take him to the hospital, but when Mickey leaned his full weight on his father, Mutt fell to the ground. Father and son were taken to the hospital together, and given side-by-side hospital beds in one room. Mickey had torn ligaments in his knee, and needed surgery. Mutt had Hodgkin’s disease. The two watched the rest of the World Series from their adjacent hospital beds. Mantle had surgery and though his knee was surgically repaired, his speed for the rest of his career was diminished. His dad, Mutt, however, was given a grim prognosis and was sent home to die. He was 39 years old.
It was another example of what Mickey called the “Mantle Curse.” Cancer had claimed his grandfather and two of his uncles well before their time, and now it was going to take away his father. For the rest of his playing days, Mantle told friends, he believed he would also die young. This belief haunted Mantle throughout his life, and was among the many pressures that led to much of his self-destructive behavior.
There are so many unique challenges that each one of us face on a daily basis. Pressures and challenges that only we can truly understand, and sometimes even then we are helpless to diagnose our true situations. Mickey Mantle was one of my childhood heros, worshipped from afar for his athletic exploits, his personal life an emiga, his unique challenges a mystery as well. It is now clear that Mantle suffered from his lifelong battle with osteomyelitis, which caused at the minimum great discomfort and on his worst days, extreme pain and limited movement. This disease, coupled with his knee injury in 1951, along with other injuries suffered throughout his career, combined to leave Mantle in pain and despair for most of his life. The legend was human after all.
For those of you who haven't experienced or watched a loved one struggle with chronic pain, let me be very clear, pain changes you. It changes you physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. There is not a single facet of your life that it does not invade, and it is a daily challenge without the hope of permanent relief. It is impossible to relate to anyone facing this situation because of the permanency of their challenge. There are few situations in life that are worse than being condemned to living your life in constant pain. When faced with this tragic situation, most people scramble to find relief, any relief, from any source possible. Alcohol and drugs are two of the paths that most people find themselves embracing while searching for relief. It is a decision that cannot be understand or judged by anyone who lives a life free from this debilitating situation.
Mickey Mantle faced this challenge, along with the unknowns of what he would do with his life after baseball. He continued to search for a permanent antidote to his pain, and there were none to be found. Who among was can say what we would do when faced with the same situation? Mantle's battles with alcohol abuse are well chronicled, and this along with other factors, meant that he was not there for his children and wife. His search for temporary relief sent him to the usual suspects, but in the end all were found wanting. It was during these times that his mind would wander back to conversations with his Yankees teammate, Bobby Richardson.
Throughout his baseball career, Mantle had many discussions with Bobby about the deeper things in life. Bobby was a Christian, and would gently point out to Mickey that Jesus Christ was the answer to a lot of the questions that Mickey was searching for in his own life. It was an unusual friendship, between the hard-drinking party man and the dedicated Christian but it allowed Richardson to plant the seeds of the Gospel many times over the years in Mantle’s life. “I believe God had a purpose for our relationship,” Bobby Richardson would say in later years.
After both players retired, they stayed in contact, with Mantle doing public appearances and batting clinics for Richardson’s college teams. Mantle owned a restaurant in New York, and Richardson would speak there on occasion. Once, his son Robby spoke there in the 1980s. Mantle commented to him, “You sound just like your dad — always talking about that decision I need to make.” During his career, he talked often about trusting Christ as Savior, referring to it as “The Decision.”
Mantle’s alcoholism worsened following his retirement, and he entered the Betty Ford Center for treatment in 1994. Sportscaster Bob Costas interviewed him that year, just two weeks after his son Billy passed away at 36 from drug abuse. Mantle told Costas that he had not been a good role model for his children and that there was something missing in his life. He reached out to Bobby, who reminded Mickey that there was only one person who could fill the void in his life. Not fame, money, women, gambling, or drinking could satisfy what Mantle was missing. He was trying to fill a permanent void with temporary solutions. IAnd the end result for Mickey, as it is for all of us, was an amplification of our need for a Savior.
One year later, in 1995, Mantle was diagnosed with liver cancer. After receiving a liver transplant, he was hopeful, but the cancer returned. His life began to deteriorate rapidly. While in the hospital at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, he endured a great deal of pain. Bobby Richardson was in Dallas for a speaking engagement at that time. During that week, Richardson received a phone call at 6:00 a.m. from Mantle, asking him to pray for him. Richardson prayed with him over the phone and shared with him Philippians 4:4-7. Later in the morning, he visited his friend at the hospital. They discussed their long friendship, that didn't end with their careers in baseball but continued throughout their lives.
Richardson said, “I believe what drew Mickey to me was that I had the relationship with Christ that he was searching for, even if he didn’t realize it. He often attended our baseball chapel services.”
A few weeks later, Mantle’s wife, Merlyn, called the Richardsons. Mickey’s life was fading quickly. They flew to Dallas. When Bobby and Betsy walked into the room, Mantle said, “I can’t wait to tell you this. I have accepted Christ as my Savior.” Bobby was elated, but wanted to be sure, so he went through the plan of salvation with Mantle again. Betsy later asked him, “Mickey, if you were to stand before a holy God today and He asked you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would you say?” Mantle replied, “We are talking about God, right?” Betsy acknowledged they were. He then quoted John 3:16.
Just like Mickey Mantle, we all must make 'The Decision". There is no other choice that we will ever make that has the repercussions of this decision. That decision is whether or not you choose to accept the free gift of salvation, made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and His resurrection from death three days later. Don't believe me? Here are just a few verses from Scripture that describe this wonderful gift:
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." - John 10:28-30
"The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever." - 1 John 2:17
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:18
"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." - 1 John 5:11
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16 (The verse Mantle quoted to the Richardsons on his deathbed)
"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." - 1 John 5:13
In closing, what I find interesting is that both Mantle and Richardson thought about quitting baseball when they were playing in the minor leagues. Neither did, and in the providence of God, they became friends — one living and sharing the life-changing message of the Gospel, and the other finally embracing that message in his own life.
