Mickey Mantle ranks high on the list of the most beloved baseball players of all time. Ask any baby boomer who grew up in the New York area who their favorite player was as a kid, and odds are high they’ll tell you it was The Mick.
During baseball’s 1950s-’60s Golden Era, few stars shined brighter than Mantle, who was the quintessential “all-American” on the field if not off it. His achievements helped the Yankees become the most successful sports team of the era.
It’s easy to see why Mantle was one of the most beloved ballplayers of his era: He went from small-town Oklahoma to achieving fame and success beyond his wildest dreams. A switch-hitter who could hit towering home runs from both sides of the plate, he hit 536 home runs, had 2,415 hits, and a .298 batting average during his 18 seasons with the Yankees, a career that also won him three MVP Awards and 16 All-Star Game appearances. And he was also a beast in the Postseason, helping the Yankees win seven championships in 12 World Series; he still holds the records for most home runs (18), RBIs (40), and runs scored (42) in World Series play.
Mantle’s career was plagued by injuries, and his achievements were even more astonishing when you realize that he did it all while playing through constant pain. He also struggled with alcohol during his playing career. Through it all, he stayed humble and self-effacing and was always friendly with fans. Many of these quotes we’ve collected reflect his humility and great sense of humor. While Mantle may not be quite as quotable as fellow teammate Yogi Berra, some of his quotes are up there with the greatest baseball quotes of all time.
“All I had was natural ability.”
“It was all I lived for, to play baseball.”
“Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, ‘Sure, every time.'”
“Hitting the ball was easy. Running around the bases was the tough part.”
“If I knew I’d live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.”
“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.”
“All the ballparks and the big crowds have a certain mystique. You feel attached, permanently wedded to the sounds that ring out, to the fans chanting your name, even when there are only four or five thousand in the stands on a Wednesday afternoon.”
“In 1960 when Pittsburgh beat us in the World Series, we outscored them 55-27. It was the only time I think the better team lost. I was so disappointed I cried on the plane ride home.”
“It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing all your life.”
“Sometimes I think if I had the same body and the same natural ability and someone else’s brain, who knows how good a player I might have been.”
“I don’t care who you are, you hear those boos.”
“The only thing I can do is play baseball. I have to play ball. It’s the only thing I know.”
“To play eighteen years in Yankee Stadium is the best thing that could ever happen to a ballplayer.”
“Baseball was my whole life. Nothing’s ever been as fun as baseball.”
“I never knew how someone who was dying could say he was the luckiest man in the world. But now I understand.” (about Lou Gehrig)
“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.”
If these great quotes have you feeling nostalgic, check out the most legendary baseball games of all time.