To the plurality of boys growing up in America in the 50s and 60s with an interest in athletics, Mickey Mantle was much more than just a fantastic ballplayer. He was a national icon who represented the American dream in a mythological-like manner—a folk hero with Paul Bunyan-like characteristics. Akin to Bunyan, “The Mick” showcased strength and vitality in his profession, while carrying out a career that was more chimeric in its nature than it was concrete. He grew up in Commerce, Oklahoma, a small town of less than 3,000. His father, Mutt, named him after the Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane, whose government name, funny enough, was Gordon Stanley Cochrane. Nonetheless, Mutt was set on honoring the ballplayer’s nickname a full two years prior to Mickey’s birth. With that said, even prior to him spawning into this universe, Mickey Mantle was destined to be a ballplayer. “He’s just a plain, big old country boy who liked to play baseball from the day he was old enough to carry a mitt,” said Ralph Sears, the bank president in Mickey’s hometown, via a 1956 newspaper article written by Carter Bradley, United Press Staff Correspondent (Bradley 4).
Major League Baseball History: The Mick
