Continuing on Aaron, in addition to being a great hitter, he was also pretty adept on the basepaths. He was one of the first, if not the first, major leaguers to hit over 30 home runs and steal over 30 bases in the same season. He did it in 1961 with 44 homers and 31 stolen bases. I have read that the only other Hall of Famers to ever do this were Willie Mays and Barry Larkin.
My favorite all-time pitcher also played for the Braves back in those days–Warren Spahn. Loved to watch him pitch with that high leg kick of his.
Willie Mays, oddly enough with a focus on his defensive prowess. I saw a photo of his back-to-the-infield grab of that Vic Wertz drive and never forgot it.
I remember Harry Carey calling the Cardinal games. Harry had this thing about calling Cardinal home runs where he would say, “It could be…it might be…it IS…a home run!” Like you said, Maxvill was a horrible hitter, but one night he hit one long and Harry said, “It could be…it might be…no, it couldn’t be!” But it was, his only homer of the year.
My dad went to elementary and some junior high school with Bill Dickey. A classmate of theirs was Wilbur Mills. We lived about 50 miles South of Kensett/Searcy and Bill came to visit dad and brought Wilbur with him. Both had become famous by then and that sealed the deal for me. I’ve been a Yankees fan ever since. Dickey, of course, Elston Howard, Yogi, Mantle, Whitey, Gehrig, DiMaggio, with the cherry on top - the great bambino, Babe Ruth.
As far as Mantle, once his knees were shot, I’m not sure there was anything in those days to fix them. Of course, he didn’t live a healthy lifestyle. Maybe that’s what you were referencing. But the Mantle just wasn’t the same after tearing up his knees.
Yeah, I was referring to his lifestyle which may have led to his problem with his knees. I have read all the stories about his drinking and extra curricular womanizing. He had such a cute wife. If he had tried to stay healthy and worked on conditioning I believe he could have performed at a high level even longer. In spite of all his faults I thought the world of Mantle. The thread was about your childhood hero and I was 12 to 16 during the late 50s. Later when he died I bugged out of a management retreat to go to my room and watch the tribute to Mantle hosted by Bob Costas. As I recall he was Costas’ hero also. When country singer, Roy Clark, who was a buddy of Mantle’s, sang “Yesterday” as a tribute to him, his voice was cracking and tears were running down my cheeks… Not a crying kind of guy.
Loved Yogi also. I have the book of Yogi sayings. Still use some of his gems. When I was 14 my brother was stationed at an Air Force base near Kansas City. I road a bus to KC and got to see the Yankees play in the old, old KC stadium. Saw Yogi tomahawk (he was famous for swinging at high pitches) a pitch over his head and knock out a light fixture beyond the right field fence. Wonderful memory.