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Michael Keedy’s Top-Ten Greatest World Series Catches
No. 6:
Mickey Mantle, 1956 World Series
Anybody who followed big-league baseball in the 1950s and ’60s remembers Mickey Mantle, who had to be God’s gift to the sport. A natural powerhouse, from both sides of the plate. Author of countless tape-measure home runs. Winner of the coveted Triple Crown, 1956. Three-time American League MVP (’56-57-62), who would have been the first and only winner of four such awards if he hadn’t been omitted altogether from three writers’ ballots in 1960. (He ran first on more such ballots that year than Roger Maris, the eventual winner, but got a bit of the old “Ted Williams treatment” from sportswriters with personal axes to grind, unfortunately.)
In the years following his retirement, and perhaps more so since he died, in 1995, Mantle has been seen as a star-crossed man and ballplayer whose unlimited potential vastly exceeded his actual achievements on the field, as eye-opening as those were. Any serious study of his life and career gives a deeper meaning to the term “bittersweet” as a result. We can only guess how great he would have been if
not for a horrifying, career-threatening injury in his rookie season, or how long he could have played near the top of his game if he hadn’t been sentenced to a lifetime of unrelenting pain thereafter. By his own later admission The Mick himself squandered much of his strength, skill, and speed, inch-by-inch and night after night, chasing The Grim Reaper incarnate. He was through, for all intents and purposes, by his 33rd birthday – and he knew it. He admitted as much, and The World of Baseball grew suddenly and noticeably poorer when he was forced into an early retirement.
At the peak of his career, though, Mickey Mantle was an artist’s concept of the mythologically perfect ballplayer. At just 5′ 11″, but built like a chiseled monument, The Mick was THE most awe-inspiring athlete of his era to fans of the national pastime and the most intimidating to his opponents. Frank Sullivan, a tall righthander for the Red Sox in the 1950s, was once asked how he would pitch to Mantle. “With tears in my eyes,” came his unhesitating and candid reply. He must have been speaking for every other pitcher in the league – both leagues, for that matter.
“Faster Than Cobb!”
Because a ball hit by Mantle “probably had a stewardess on it,” to misquote Crash Davis, fans didn’t seem to care that much about his fielding. Defense was secondary. His time from home to first measured a ridiculous 3.1 seconds, though, and crowds gasped audibly at how fast he could circle the bases. He was much faster than Joe Dimaggio, for example, and all other speedsters of the time. His predecessors? Forget it. Cried Yankee Manager Casey Stengel in spring training, on seeing his new, kid blacksmith with the lightning cleats: “My God! He’s faster than Cobb!”
Offense: the Name Of The Game!
As if to confirm what everyone already knew, before a scheduled World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, no less an evaluator of baseball talent than Jackie Robinson felt obliged to confess that “we don’t have anyone that good.” Hercules in pinstripes? Check. A locomotive on the basepaths? Check. Chasing after fly balls? Well. . .what’s THAT all about? Offense was the name of this game, and the Lords of Baseball didn’t even come up with the Gold Glove idea until 1957, seven full seasons into Mantle’s astounding but stunted playing career.
Mickey’s Defense an After-Thought
When it came to jaw-dropping, circus plays in the field, defensive stars such as
Jimmy Piersall, Willie Mays, and Duke Snider would leap to mind among Mantle’s contemporaries. Later on, fans inevitably thought first of great glovemen like Curt Flood, Vada Pinson, and Paul Blair. More recently they have been inspired by the acrobatics of Ken Griffey, Jr., Jim Edmonds, and other, unnamed aerialists in baseball gear. But as a genuinely modest and self-deprecating Mantle would say, “I wasn’t that good of a fielder.” He was lying, but he had people believing it. He was the game’s primogenitor of power and speed. Even most eye-witnesses to his outstanding catch in the 1956 World Series decided those were the defining characteristics of the “Commerce Comet”: Speed and power; power and speed. His defense was definitely an afterthought – in his mind and everyone else’s.
When Al Gionfriddo speared Joe D’s deep drive into “Death Valley” in 1947, the 25-year-old outfielder earned his place among a select few whose World Series catches deserve the “greatest” label, featured in our current, top-ten study. His long, lightning-fast sprint to the railing in left-center and contorted, last-second grab, all immortalized by broadcaster Red Barber’s iconic call, live on today in the collective memory of baseball aficionados around the world.
In contrast to “making the hard ones look hard,” as Gionfriddo surely did then, nine years later another 25-year-old patrolling the very outfield at Yankee Stadium achieved his own rightful spot on this same hallowed list by making a hard one appear – well, impressive, yes, but – all thanks to his preposterous speed – relatively routine. Because of its particular significance in the history of the World Series, his running stab actually ranks a slight notch above Gionfriddo’s, in the humble and biased opinion of one superannuated Brooklyn fan who has struggled a lifetime to overcome an inbred prejudice against anything bearing the label of U.S. Steel, General Motors, or the New York Yankees.
Mickey Saves Don Larson!
Mickey Mantle had given the Yanks their only run with – wait for it – a homer into the right-field stands in the bottom of the fourth, staking a journeyman pitcher to the slimmest of leads over Sal Maglie and the Dodgers. It was the 1956 World Series, and these clubs had split the first four games.
Although he rang up a disastrous 3-and-21 record for the Orioles just two seasons earlier, and would go 1-and-10 within a few short years of this historic date, as the fifth inning opened Don Larsen began to realize that the Dodgers had no hits, and that some of the best stuff of an otherwise mediocre career had been sailing out of his no-windup delivery this particular afternoon.
With one down, the great Gil Hodges, who helped to slay the hated Yanks in Game Seven the year before, drilled a shot into the yawning gap of Death Valley. It looked like extra bases for sure, and of course the end of Larsen’s short-lived no-no. Considering his uneasy grip on such attributes as command, control, and self-confidence (to say nothing of a comfortable lead, which he didn’t have), it could well have meant the conclusion of Larsen’s brief outing as well. He wasn’t even the pitcher of record yet, for heaven’s sake.
Relying on his all-world speed, Mickey Mantle streaked across the outfield into left-center, his back to the plate, and not far from the spot marking Al Gionfriddo’s earlier claim to series immortality [see featured photo above]. To the delighted surprise of a raucous Yankee crowd, and their partisan, professional cheerleader Mel Allen, The Mick drew a perfect bead on The Great Gil’s bid for extra bases. Caught!
As things played out, this great catch by the smooth and speedy Mantle could not have been much bigger. It saved the only Perfect Game in series history. With Maglie hurling a five-hit, complete game of his own, it enabled the Yanks to take a 3-2 lead in games heading back to Brooklyn. When relief artist Clem Labine shut down the Bombers over ten innings at Ebbets Field the next day, holding on for an eventual, one-to-nothing win on a walk-off hit by Jackie Robinson, the Mick’s catch loomed ever larger.
Mickey Mantle: “The Last Boy”
Mickey Mantle was a splendid, many-faceted being: Astonishing power at the plate; late-night carousing; Olympic speed; a magnificent but oft-injured and mercilessly abused body; All-American charm; an addictive fondness for pharmaceuticals and feminine attention; genuine modesty and shyness; and, most poignantly of all, an occasional and destructive relationship with nagging yet tantalizing images of a premature death. He will long be remembered for all of these things.
In the considered opinion of an excessively outspoken Dodger fan and Yankee hater, he should also be honored for making one of the greatest catches in World Series history. Improbably, Mantle called his saving snare off the bat of Gil Hodges “…probably the only good catch I ever made.” That has to be the all-time understatement of any major-league ballplayer, living or dead.
Michael H. Keedy
October, 2022
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This confession comes from a 75 year old lifetime baseball fan. All those years, all those old magazine I pored over as a kid, looking at game photos with dotted lines showing the trajectory of balls in play (Cookie Lavagetto’s double off the right field wall off pitcher Bill Bevins, for instance) and yet I never knew a thing about Mantle’s astonishing catch in the ’55 Series. Almost inconceivable that such a play, and one the saved the prefect game, could have escaped my attention.
Thank you, thank you, and thank you again Mr. Keedy for this valuable and illuminating recollection of one of the game’s greatest plays.
Thanks Tom…great comment!
This article was extremely well written and includes some details I was unaware of even though I was a rabid Dodger fan. In effect Mantle was indeed ” The Natural”. I remember he made an appearance shortly before he passed away as he was rolled out in a wheelchair. Mantle said if you want to have a role model, look at me and do not follow my example. That took a lot of courage, and I was awe struck. I also took note of the “Ted Williams” treatment example and the notation of sportswriters with an axe to grind. Many of these writers turn my stomach. What will it take to get these writers out of a say so on the Hall of Fame, The most recent example is the political exclusion of Curt Schilling. I will never visit the HOF or recognize its legitimacy . In fact there is writer in Sacramento named Marcos Breton that openly brags that he will never vote for Schilling as he is a racist. I do not know if that is true, but that should have no bearing on HOF status. If so they should remove Ty Cobb and probably many more. It is a good thing I left my native Sacramento for Arizona to ease my 78 year old arthritic bones. If I saw Breton on the street I would be imprisoned for assault and battery. Dennis Friedenbloom
Well said, Dennis…thanks!
Hello Tom,
That is such a kind-hearted comment! I am thrilled to know these “best catches” essays are more than just a “same-old/same-old” study, even for fans who’ve been following the game for more than a half-century.
In keeping with your thoughts here, it is probably now my turn for a confession: As irrational as it was, I detested The Mick while growing up. In the last couple of years, after belatedly taking the time to delve into his personal and professional histories more thoughtfully, I have found him to be one of the dearest sportsmen ever to come down the pike. Near the end of his life he was probably his own worst critic (God bless him), but in my mind, and partly for that reason, he totally redeemed himself — as an unquestioned superstar, certainly, but most importantly on a human scale.
(Who’d have thought?! I actually felt privileged to do this piece.)
Very best regards,
Michael
Formerly Mr. Keedy
I’m currently reading The Last Boy by Jane Leavy. The following short paragraph pretty well sums up Mickey and the affect he had on people, especially women!
“Women – none more beautiful than he was – staked out hotel lobbies. When Elston Howard’s wife Arlene, met him for the first time, she thought, ‘My God, who is that? Just the physical body. I’d never seen anything like that. There was something about his presence that was just absolutely stunning.’ “
Hello Dennis,
(My loving bride urges me to “zip it,” poor woman, but so far no good.)
Even though The Great Gil’s induction this year was an impossible dream finally come true (for me), I have to agree with your take on sportswriters, the Hall, and the politicization of baseball in recent years — if not virtually every walk of life. If there is any validity to the claim that Curt Schilling is a racist I have yet to see it. Playing the “race card” has become our current national pastime, and it is beyond loathsome. It is the antithesis of fair discourse, on any subject.
Do we, should we care about a guy’s political views in determining his worthiness as a professional athlete? His race, gender, religious background, or what part of the globe his ancestors sprang from? We know the answer.
Many thanks for your supportive comments, and for your fortitude in calling out this sort of nonsense. May we both live to see it come to a crashing halt.
Kindest wishes,
Michael
Well said Michael!
Thank you for the kind words, Michael. I wish I had your command of the English language and written word. My office is a baseball sanctuary except for Joe Montana. It is populated by most of the greatest Dodgers both Brooklyn and LA. I also enshrined the history of Sacramento Baseball, my hometown PCL Solons. But there is also a special place for Mantle, Joe Dimaggio, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. I also am thankful for having lived when I did, without the political ramifications of almost everything.
Great article by Mr. Keedy. Thnx for posting it, Gary. Yes, “The Mick” was indeed a NY and MLB icon and legend who’s personal demons and physical limitations curtailed the possibility of him being able to set the all-time offensive numbers bar EXTREMELY high. The interview Bob Costas did with Mantle shortly before his death is a classic piece of journalism. As has been said, Mantle’s transparency, humbleness and honesty in that interview was very compelling. As far as great WS catches goes, the one by Brooklyn’s Sandy Amoros {off the bat of Yogi} in 1955 has to be included among the best ever. And not to be overlooked are the awesome grabs by Tommy Agee and Ron Swoboda in the 1969 Fall Classic. Many people agree that Willie May’s catch off the drive by Vic Wertz in the ’54 WS, was the “G.O.A.T”, but I disagree. Given the degree of difficulty and probability, there’s others that are better, IMHO. {And in closing, I’ll go out on a limb and predict that this year’s WS ends by Philly taking both games in Houston}. Always enjoy the content from these weekly articles. Thnx.
Dear Mike:
Wow! Great job!
I could echo the “I hate Mickey Mantle”comments made here by some of my fellow bloggers, for the same reasons they express. However, after reading your excellent homage, how could I not have a new respect for someone I always knew (grudgingly) was a superstar? Thanks for this insight into a very complicated and very talented man.
Sincerely,
Joan
A little disappointed to see the conversation get sidetracked away from baseball here, but at least it is a somewhat civil and respectful discussion. Schilling, in my opinion, is being denied votes simply because of his conservative views, nothing more. I don’t follow the game like I used to, but when they would publish the HOF votes every year, it amazed me when I saw some of the players that received votes. My sole criteria had always been in any given 5-10 year period, if fans would argue about who the best players were, there would always be the same players at each position whose names were always mentioned, with the few odd names sprinkled in here and there. If a player wasn’t mentioned consistently, no Hall of Fame. It is not the Hall of Very Good players; it should be reserved for only those who were head and shoulders above everyone else for a substantial part of their careers. Not to pick on the guy, but Harold Baines does not belong in the Hall of Fame; very good player…yes. One of the all-time greats? Sorry, not in my book.
But back to baseball. I love this series of articles. Many of these catches to date were just before I started to get really interested in the game, but I was very familiar with all of them. It is still fascinating to find out new details about all of these catches and some of the behind the scenes stories that I had not heard about, stories that made baseball and the history of the game so enjoyable. I don’t miss the game as much as I miss that part of it. I can’t imagine Mick stepping out of the batter’s box to adjust his gloves after every pitch; I just can’t watch that any more.
These comments are very much appreciated; no exceptions. Thank you!
And to Thomas: With five catches to go, you’re reading my mind. (What a team!)
Best wishes to all,
Michael
I just came across this today and thought you might want to see what I believe is the actual catch.
Great article on the 10 greatest catches and thank you for sharing it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVpKthuQCSc
The catch is from 9:20 to 9:30 but if you have the time the entire 10 min. 25 sec. video is worth watching, too IMO.
Also it is poetic justice that the GREAT GIL HODGES HOF was involved in at least 3, from what I recall of the top 10, in one way or another (#’s 6, 3, and 2.)
While I may always be a die hard Yankee fan I’m equally a Gil Hodges fan, too.
With that I once again say thank you to Gary and ALL the Baseball History Comes Alive writers/ readers that signed his HOF petition to finally make things right last yr.
In my haste to leave a response I incorrectly stated that Gil was somehow involved in 3 of the top 10 world series catches, it was 4 #’s 6, 3, 2 and 1.
Sorry for the mistake I obviously am in no way A HOF caliber poster but GIL is definitely a HOF worthy member that we all can look up to!