num_pages: 280
description: In Mantle: The Best There Ever Was Tony Castro brings to life the man who is arguably not only the greatest ballplayer of his time but also the greatest ballplayer of all time. Castro offers illuminating new insight into Mantle's extraordinary career including the head-turning conclusion based on the evolution of analytics that the beloved Yankee switch-hitting slugger may ultimately win acclaim as having fulfilled the weighty expectations once placed on him: of being greater than even Babe Ruth. Castro also adds intimate never-before-published details from Mantle's personal life as the author received unprecedented access to Mantle's widow Merlyn who hopes to rescue her husband's historical reputation from the public revelations of alcoholism infidelity and family strife. Castro offers the whole sweep of Mantle's turbulent life: his lonely brutal upbringing with an over-bearing father and sexually abusive half-sister his brilliant young baseball exploits his titanic blowups from his frustration at not meeting expectations his touching but doomed love affair with an actress in New York his glorious seasons as a Yankee and his alcoholism that destroyed his family and ultimately killed him. Throughout Castro blends Mantle's public and private selves to present a fully-rounded portrait of this complex misunderstood national hero.
language: English
title: Mantle: The Best There Ever Was
publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers