Mickey Mantle: The Denny McLain Gift Home Run
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- Опубликовано: 18 ноя 2008
- Mickey Mantle tells the story behind his home run #535, when Denny McLain intentionally let him hit one at Tiger Stadium. Excerpted from the award-winning program, "Mickey Mantle: The American Dream Comes To Life®" - Available on DVD at 1-800-THE MICK / www.themick.com.
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Here's what Red Smith, writer had to say, "There was no assurance that Mantle would hit it. It is simply not possible to pitch a home run on purpose. Lob up a cantaloupe and tell the batter it is comming, it is still a playable 5 to 1 he will pop it up, beat it into the dirt or miss it altogether."
Harry Markson, Director of boxing for Madison Square Garden, "When a guy has bought 534 drinks in the same saloon, he's entitled to one on the house".
That tigers team had a lot of heart and character in '68, coming back from being
down 3-1 in the Series against Gibson and St Louis
Yes, Bill Freehan did not catch that day. Jim Price did. I know because I was there, sitting directly behind the plate and could hear McLain and Price talking about it. It was decided in the locker room that they would let Mantle hit his last homerun. My father had tickets and couldn't get off of work to go so he instructed my mom to pull my brother and I out of school, because Denny McLain was most likely going to win his 31st of the year, something we have net seen since. It is one of my fondest memories of the Detroit Tigers, when baseball was a gentleman's game, and not driven by pitch counts, free agents, and multi million dollar contracts.
+pamela laporte As close as you were to the field in Tiger Stadium you could hear a lot of the player/ump conversations. I remember Earl Weaver cussing out an ump and it was like we were in the same room!
Armando Gallegos You are correct.
Armando Gallegos The entire post McLain, Mcmahon, etc
1968 Tiger Reunion - On You Tube, McClain tells his version of the story and - yep , Price was catching that day...I got Jim Price's autograph that summer at Topp's on Telegraph near Schoolcraft.
Mickey was always one of the greatest story-tellers in the annals of baseball.
@juantimmy Freehan was the best AL catcher of his generation and should be in the Hall of Fame. He played every inning of that 15 inning All-Star game and was a real warrior.
Classy move by McLain!
@Scoclamor
I was at that game as an 11 year old. Mickey really smoked it into the upper deck in right field. We (the Detroit fans) gave him a standing ovation. My dad and I were sitting out near the left field foul pole. One of my best memories as a kid and of Tiger Stadium. Another was getting Joe Sparma's autograph, not many folks remember him, but he was a pretty decent pitcher on those 60's Tiger teams.
McLain, Kaline, Lolich Willie the Wonder Horton, Northrup, Stanley, Freehan, Cash,Wert and Oyler and of course The Gator, Gates Brown, Mayo Smith... and all . After the turmoil of the summer of 1967 the little boy in me will never forget what they did for all the people of that war-torn city in the magic summer of '68. Thanks, guys!
joe, how could you leave the heart of that team, Mad Dog Dick McCaulife. suspended for 5 gsmes that year and the Tigers lost all 5. Loved Mac.
So true! #3!!! With that stance and elbows at nose level! Forgot his suspension, but remember Kaline slamming the bat rack injuring his hand during the late stretch! This year, those pesky Indians keep winning. I live in Virginia now, and will never, ever root again for Mad Max Scherzer..... Verlander came from a little town about 20 miles from here.
My brother was at this game and was seated about 5 rows behind the Yankees dugout. It was Jim Price catching (no. 12), not Freehan (no. 11), that day. He remembers McLain saying something to Mantle that was "where do you want it?" Mantle gave him a sign and McLain grooved the pitch. He still laughs about Pepitone showing McLain where he wanted his pitch and Denny knocking him down. It's a great story.
I was living in Detroit at the time, and I read about Mantle's home run the next day in the Detroit Free Press. It was commonly accepted that the pitch was a "gift" so that Mantle could end his career with a home run. As I recall, Detroit was ahead, and the home run did not affect the result of the game. Also, as Mantle rounded the bases, he doffed his cap in McLain's direction, as if to say, "thanks, Denny."
I love it when Mickey tells these stories. Thanks to the poster and RUclips.
Yes he was.
Check Phil Rizzuto's actual radio call:
"He's thinking, I laid one in for you, hit it! And sometimes when you know what's comin it's tough to hit it. They're all grinnin - Mickey, McLain, and the catcher, Freehan, and OH BOY! THERE IT GOES! IT'S A FAIR BALL AND VERY DEEP! Aw, you gotta give that McLain some credit, I wanna tell ya. He's grinnin a mile wide. Boy I tell you, you think these ballplayers don't have heart, Frank, and then - THERE'S MICKEY NODDING TO HIM! THANKING HIM!"
I was at Tiger Stadium that night sitting along the third base line, I was 11 years old. I along with the rest of the crowd gave him a standing ovation, it's still a great memory.
For all here...I was present at that game. Bill Freehan was not catching...it was Jim Price. The Tigers had clinched the pennant a couple of nights prior and some of the regulars had the day off. Check the box score from that game. I remember being a little disappointed because two of my heroes, Willie Horton and Bill Freehan weren't in the line-up. But watching the Mick blast one...that was a thrill!!
Oh brother! I wish i lived in Mickeys Era. Mickey Mantle probably hit 1000 hr's if he stayed healthy and took care of his injures and the long nites at the bar.
Mickey Mantle is the all time king of baseball. My basement is a Mantle shrine, and I am a Phillies fan! R.I.P good man.
Dear Mantle Fans and those who commented about this story:
I said it before but apparently I need to say it again. Jim Price was the catcher that day, not Bill Freehan. During the interview Mickey was having trouble remembering the name of the catcher. I erroneously suggested Bill Freehan, as Freehan was the Tigers' long time catcher. I was wrong but Mickey used my suggestion of Bill Freehan for the same reason. It was an innocent mistake. I wish we could change it but we can't. So blame me for the error. The story is correct but for that one mistake.
Baseball's all time greatest hero and in relation to a key pitcher from the best World Series ever (1968). It doesn't get any better than this!
Old story on the Mick.. In 1960 against the Dodgers he sent two fouls deep. Next pitch was over the center field wall for a homer. A reporter asked him his batting plan.
The Mick said, "I was warming up the pitcher."
It was Jim Price. Mantle had quite a game 2-2 with 2 walks also. Mantle scored both Yankees runs in a 6-2 loss. The game was tied 1-1 at one point, but then the Tigers erupted for 3 runs in the 6th, and eventually stretched their lead to 6-1 when Mantle came to bat in the 8th. Mickey hit his homerun (he would hit his final career homerun later against Jim Lonborg) #535 to pass Jimmy Fox. Pepitone BTW, answered McLain's brushback with a single, befoe McLain retired Robinson and Tresh.
Mantle had the greatest swing in the sport.
i love this sort of stuff. baseball is truly a great sport
God bless you Mickey! The best!
I remember reading this story in several of Mickey's biographies when I was a kid. Either All My Octobers, or the The Summer of '56 or The Mick.
It was Jim Price catching. The game took place, Thursday, September 19th, 1968. Mickey Mantle hit the homerun in the top of the 8th off Denny McLain to make the ball-game 8-2.
The starting 9 for the Tigers that day was:
Dick McAuliffe
Mickey Stanley
Al Kaline
Gates Brown
Norm Cash
Jim Northrup
Eddie Matthews
Jim Price
Denny McLain
Mickey Mantle was THE, all time great.
Could not agree more with. I couldn't even get out of my car at the gas station until the story was over. Priceless like Denny McLain autograph.
pepitone! ahah. I got his autograph once maybe 1967??? my aunt lived in that big building in Fort Lee NJ across from the stadium. once we went to visit her and we were waiting for the elevator and it opens and Joe pepitone was exiting eating a banana. my dad immediately recognized him and asked for a autograph for me. lots of Yankees lived in that building.
Plain and Simple
THE MICK
GREAT MEN !!!
great story,i luv it.
I remember the commissioner's office questioning mclain about that too....very funny!
armondo..no I know . I love the ribbing! I never had season tickets. I lived on Staten Island. I went to lots of games probably starting in 1965 with my dad. during the 1977 season my dads friend was a vice president at warner brothers and got us luxury suite tickets, the royal treatment. seriously. the ones that probably cost $200,000. we were told to hold them out the window to show the cop, and they immediately moved the wooden horses and waived us into the players parking lot, parked right next to Reggie Jackson's rolls royce, we had the middle level luxury box with indoor/outdoor seating, hot and cold buffet, it was amazing. we were right next to steinbrenners suite, right behind home plate. only Thurman Munson had a better seat honestly. it was unreal. after the game got a few autographs on the major Deegan in a traffic jam. jumped out and tapped on sparky Lyles Lincoln window. he signed a napkin for me. lol. wish we had cell phones then.
I read it the most recent Mickey Mantle biography "The Boy" by Jane Leavy. Denny got a letter from the Commissioner's office about serving up the homer, but nothing came of it.
Regarding the Price/Freehan controversy: It was indeed Jim Price. We checked the box score. Mickey was so used to Freehan as catcher that he misremembered. We also re-listened to Rizzuto's call, and there is static in our recording where Rizzuto says "Price" that makes it unintelligible unless you know it's Price. Then you can tell that he does say Price, not Freehan. We apologize for the confusion and our error. We thank everyone, especially those who pointed out it was Price, not Freehan.
This game was Sep. 19th, 1968.. Mantle was 2 for 2, scored two runs and walked twice..so McLain was apparently gifting him more than just the one home run. Mantle hit his his last home run the next day against Jim Lonborg of the Red Sox. Despite his injuries and decreased production, offenses were down across the league in 1968 and Mantle was still easily the best hitter on the Yankees.
@mannyrama Good point about the fans appreciating Mantle's last HR in Tiger Stadium. I listened on radio and we all knew Mantle was retiring after that year.
@Scoclamor Thanks for your insighful comment. We really appreciate it.
Yeah, it was Jim Price, Freehan had the day off. I've always felt Freehan was vastly underrated, and this kind of confirms it...
To raiders1967, the seats were mostly empty that day because it was 2 days after the Pennant had been won. They were basically putting in time until the World Series started.
PS Steve Whitaker was an outfielder for the Yankees in 67/68. He hits 2 home runs in this game and they were his only 2 hrs
in the Major Leagues.
Bill Freehan confirms that story along with Tiger announcer Ernie Harwell
Yes it is. Price (#12) was an excellent catcher.
LOL great story.
PETrudeaufan It wasn't a pizza, it two hot dogs. Thanks for reminding me though. He didn't expect to be called on to pinch hit, hid the hotdogs under his jersey, "didn't want a hit"(he claimed), and ends up sliding head first into second base for a double. Mustard and ketchup all over the front of his jersey. He told Mayo Smith he did it because "He was hungry". The Gator. I think he got fined a couple hundred bucks.
@lewearly Just listened to it now. GREAT!
Adam Wainwright sure knows how to groove pitches too.
You're partially right, Dave...the catcher was indeed Jim Price. The Mick was referring to Jimmy Foxx's personal home run record, as Jimmy Foxx did indeed have 534 career 'taters.
Pepi tells the same story on himself in his autobiography- funny story!
I just heard McClain tell this story on Lansing sports radio and he was saying Price.
It is great to read your comments. I am a fan of the Tigers and have been all my life. I was born in 1964 so I don't remember the 1968 season. One question for you. For a game in September 1968 against the Yankees, why are there so many empty seats in Tiger Stadium in the picture in the video?
I looking at McLain's autobiography "I Told You I wasn't Perfect" (2007) right now. On page 111 McLain writes, "I signaled our catcher, Jim Price, to come to the mound. I told Price "I want Mantle to hit one"."
I'm also looking at McLain's autobiography "Strikeout" (1988) right now. On Page 44 McLain writes: "I called Bill Freehan out to the mound."
I'm also looking at page 157 of McLain's autobiograpy "No Body's Perfect" (1975)
right now. McLain writes: "Bill Freehan was catching."
Story is it landed on an empty seat in the upper deck so hard it broke the back of the seat... love this story. Denny went 30-5 that year, the last pitcher to win 30 in a season.
Your going down, Pep.
It don't matter if it was a total bs story. Mantle was god when we were kids in nyc in the 60s. He was a great story teller. I was at mickey mantle bat day at the stadium June 69. Still have my ticket. I got a tom tresh bat. Lol
+Armando Gallegos I just Googled when Tom tresh was traded and it said Jun 14 1969. about a week after mantle day. mantle day was Jun 9. now that you mention it, im not positive that it was bat day/mantle day. i did go to both and i still have my ticket, but was it the same day.???? went to so many games years ago. we're talking almost 50 yrs ago..... have to google it. i was at some epic games though. i was at reggies 3 homer game in ws oct 77. David wells perfect game, clemens 300th win and the final game of 96 ws. trying to remember if it was bat day
yes i was . and when joe d got his 56th hit . i also caught the mantle 565 ft homer too. lol
no but heres my ticket from david wells perfect game . i save everything. i had to dig it out of the goodies box then take a pic of it, in front of the perfect game poster. i had copies of the tickets frame in the poster. then upload it to google and set it as photo. just so you dont think im full of it armondo.. but i did catch babe ruths called shot in chicago in 1932. lol
+Armando Gallegos I attended mt first big league game on September 6, 1969. Tom Tresh homered to win the game in extra innings for the Tigers. The announcer boomed: TOM (crack) TRESH! The crack was Tresh hitting the ball. Something I'll never forget.
story is true because I think mclain was fined
He went 31-6
Denny McLain got win number 31 in this game won by Detroit 6-2.
LOL! McLain's autobiographies contradict each other. The two earlier books say Bill Freehan was the catcher. His most recent book says Jim Price was the catcher.
@Scoclamor We welcome all comments. If you have more please feel free to post them.
It was Jim Northrup's hit in the World Series that finally beat the Cardinals
Only one thing wrong wight the story. I just heard an interview with Denny McClain 10 minutes ago and he mentioned that Jim Price was the catcher. I looked it up and sure enough it was price.
+Johnnyboy792 Mantle played against the Tigers probably hundreds of times and Freehan probably caught most of those games. He may have just assumed it was Bill.
True :)
Even if this isn't true, it should be.
@longlakeshore actually he was 31-6
McLain tells his version of the story (at the 6 minute 19 second mark) in the following video: ruclips.net/video/z7Jij5eqsfs/видео.html
Credible articles I have read say that in fact it was Jim Price who was the catcher NOT Bill Freehan.
@lewearly Want more?
(LOL) Pepitone gets no respect . . .
Did Mickey really hit a ball 565 feet? How factual is that?
Yes, Tom, Mickey really hit a ball 565-feet. On April 17, 1953 at Griffith Stadium in Washington Mickey blasted a 565-foot home run out of the park batting right handed. In left-field there was a billboard for National Bohemian beer. The ball grazed the right-hand edge of the billboard, crossed the street that ran adjacent to the ballpark, and carried down the street that ran perpendicular into Griffith Stadium where it landed in the back yard of the third house down.
Yankees PR Director Red Patterson, one of the great PR men in baseball, saw Mickey's homer from the press box and immediately saw its potential for publicity. He ran down the ramps from the press box to the street level, ran around the ballpark to where the ball left the park and began his search for the ball. Up the street he saw 10-year-old Donald Dunaway on his bicycle. He asked him if he saw the ball and Dunaway immediately took him to the spot in the yard of the third house, showed him the depression in the grass where the ball landed, and the ball itself, which he had retrieved.
Red measured the distance to the point where it left the ball park, then consulted the blueprints to determine the distance from home plate to the point where it left the park. Total? 565-feet. However, AP picked up the story and made a typo, writing that the ball traveled 562-feet. That headline was picked up by many newspapers, thus the distance is remembered as 562-feet by many people. But the official distance, per Yankees' PR Director Red Patterson, who measured it, was 565-feet. It's listed in the Guinness Book of Sports Records as the longest home run hit in a regular season game that was measured at the time.
But this was hardly Mickey's longest home run. During spring training in 1951 (for some reason the Yankees traded spring training facilities with the Giants, so the Yankees trained in Arizona and the Giants in Florida that spring only) The Mick hit two mammoth blasts at Bovard Field at USC (the University of Southern California) on the Yankees barnstorming tour of California toward the end of the spring, both hit left-handed. The first cleared the fence in left-center-field, crossed an adjacent football field, landed a few feet in front of a short wall that bordered the football practice field area, bounced over the wall and disappeared. The ball was seen land by legendary USC coach Rod Dedeaux and center-fielder Tom Riach. Both went out separately and pointed to the spot where the ball landed. The spots they pointed to were less than two feet apart. The distance from home plate to where the ball landed measured an astounding 656-feet. Mickey later blasted an opposite field homer that left the park in right-field, crossed the adjacent street, carried down the street that ran perpendicular into the park, and struck the second-floor porch of the third house down the street. The estimated distance of that shot was 550 feet, possibly the longest opposite field home run ever hit. Mick drove in seven runs in that game. It should be noted that he hit several other amazingly long home runs that spring, including a shot at Seals Stadium in San Francisco where only Joe DiMaggio had ever hit one. He also hit long home runs in Sacramento and El Paso, Texas, where the team played while making its way back to New York.
But Mantle's legendary home runs don't stop there. In Detroit on Sept. 10, 1960, batting left-handed against Paul Foytack of the Tigers at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Mickey launched a dramatic cannon-shot of a home run that cleared the roof above the third deck in right-field, sailed over the street that ran adjacent to the park (Trumbull Avenue), and carried deep into the Brooks Lumber yard. Paul Borders, an employee at the lumber yard, was almost struck by the ball. Some years later researcher Paul Susman returned to the park to determine the length of Mickey's homer. Borders had passed away, but he had shown his good friend Sam Cameron the exact spot where the ball landed, which was 91 feet inside the lumber yard lot. Mr. Susman and mathematician Robert Schiewe measured two of the three legs of the right triangle of Mantle's blast, then used the Pythagorean theorem to determine the distance: 643 feet! While Ted Williams was the first to hit a ball to clear the right-field roof in Tiger Stadium, Mickey hit the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, in 1956, 1958 and the longest of them all in 1960. The 9/10/60 home run is listed in the 1986 Edition of the Guinness Book of Sports Records as the longest home run hit in a regular season game that was measured after the fact.
But Mantle himself did not call any of these the hardest ball he ever hit. He reserved that distinction for the ball he hit off the façade at Yankee Stadium on May 22, 1963 off Bill Fischer of Kansas City. (Mantle hit balls that struck the façade at Yankee Stadium five times in his career: 9/12/51 off Virgil Trucks, 8/7/55 off Babe Birrer, 5/5/56 off Moe Burtschy, 5/30/56 off Pedro Ramos, 6/23/57 off Dick Donovan and 5/22/63 off Bill Fischer.) The ball missed leaving the park by mere inches, bouncing off the façade and all the way back to the infield near second base. The distance from home plate to where the ball hit the façade was 360-feet. The distance from the façade to where the ball first struck the field was around 250 feet. Of course the ball hit the façade, which absorbed a good deal of its energy. Mathematicians and physicists have calculated that, had the ball not hit the façade, it would have traveled anywhere from 680-734 feet. The lower number would be the distance if the ball was at its apex when it struck the façade, However, the unanimous opinion of players from both teams, umpires and fans who were interviewed and questioned was that the ball was still rising when it struck the façade. A few inches can make a very big difference when calculating distance. Personally I believe 700-feet is a good estimate since there is every reason to believe that the ball would've risen at least another six inches. But many believe it would have gone much higher, which is why there is such a discrepancy in the estimates of how far it would have gone.
So several of Mantle's monster blasts were actually measured, others were calculated. The Griffith Stadium blast coined the term, "Tape Measure Home Run," thanks primarily to Red Patterson, who had Mickey pose with him holding a large tape measure after the Griffith Stadium home run. This photo ran in perhaps hundreds of newspapers around the country, and a new phrase was born: The Tape Measure Home Run.
The final answer to your question is, yes, Mickey Mantle definitely hit a 562-foot home run. But the truth is that he hit several balls further than that. Many of those weren't measured because, after Red Patterson left the Yankees, his replacement, Bob Fischel, just wasn't up to running after every monster homer Mickey hit. During one game Fischel ran down the ramps and around the ballpark to retrieve one particularly long home run to return to the press box, out of breath and perspiring heavily, only to find that The Mick had just slammed another one!
Some have asked me how I can possibly believe a baseball could be hit 700 feet? My reasoning is as follows: We know Mickey hit homers that measured 565-feet, 643-feet and 656-feet. Mickey himself said that the "hardest ball I ever hit" was the home run that hit the façade on May 22, 1963. It traveled over 600 feet on the rebound (360 feet in the air to the façade, plus another 250 feet in the air back to the infield) and that was after losing a good portion of its return energy when it hit the façade. Taking all of this into account, along with the calculations made by experts, I have to give it to The Mick and believe him when he said it was the hardest ball he ever hit.
In addition, in John Brenkus' book, "The Perfection Point," in which he examines the limits of athletic performance in a number of athletic endeavors including how fast a human can run (long distance and sprinting), swimming, holding one's breath, the high jump, the basketball dunk, driving a golf ball, weight lifting and hitting a baseball, he concludes that, with all factors lining up perfectly, a baseball could be hit 750-feet. Benkus' book is not opinion, but rather an analysis of athletic performance by medical specialists, sports doctors, physicists, mathematicians and sports medicine experts. Given their expertise and explanation of how they came to their conclusions, I have to accept their findings. That, along with The Mick's prior performance and his statement about the façade shot, I find that I can indeed accept that he may well have hit that ball 700 feet had it not struck the façade.
Mick was my hero as a kid...check out my old sports cards on ebay @ nickhockeycards
Our generation (90's) got Griffey who is pure class. Kids today get Pujols who is also a great drug free role model, plus he's a hell of a hitter more akin to Ted Williams and Musial than the Mick.
I have mixed feelings about this. I also rooted for Denny, but was so disappointed when he was banned. Why some never learn about mixing gambling and sports.
Go YANKS!!!!
I doubt McLain was just doing Mantle a favor. It's well known that McLain had dealings w/ gamblers, bookmaking. He probably had some wager that benefited him if Mantle hit the HR.
+Randy Bailin you are an idiot.
So much bullshit. McClain grooved one in Yankee Stadium for home run number 500. Nobody told him. Mickey and all of his fans I figure including me, 15 years old at the time, were delighted Mick finally got the 500th. He had been in a big drought in the midsummer after going on a tear in early July. He hit a near record number of home runs for a couple of weeks in July. For the pitiful Yankees of the day, it was really something. Remember the next year the Mets would win the World Series. They Yankees and the Mets practically traded places in the mid to late sixties.
Wrong. Stu Miller of the Orioles threw the pitch Mantle hit for HR #500. That was on Mother's Day the year before, 1967.
How old were you then, Bill?
Were you a Yankee fan?
I'm sorry Bill but it just isn't true. McClain threw the pitch that Mantle hit for 500. It was in 1968 and sports writers accused McClain of grooving it because McClain won 31 games that year, he was one of the game's best, that year. Mickey was having a hard time getting his 500th. He had a hot June or July but then cooled off. It is a lie that he hit 500 off of Stu Miller in 1967. It is also a lie that he hit number 534 instead off of McClain.
Eddie Bryan
Eddie, sorry, you're wrong. Mickey hit #500 off Stu Miller at Yankee Stadium, on May 14, 1967. He didn't hit #535 (not 534) off McLain until the following year, in Detroit. Here's a link to the daily news, the following day, May 15, 1967: www.nydailynewspix.com/sales/largeview.php?name=6kz07kgt.jpg&id=103954&lbx=-1&return_page=searchResults.php&page=0
For all here...I was present at that game. Bill Freehan was not catching...it was Jim Price. The Tigers had clinched the pennant a couple of nights prior and some of the regulars had the day off. Check the box score from that game. I remember being a little disappointed because two of my heroes, Willie Horton and Bill Freehan weren't in the line-up. But watching the Mick blast one...that was a thrill!!