Evening star., 1961-02-24
WIN, LOSE OR
6NAW By FRANCIS sTANN
The Tope-Meosure Kid

MIAMI, FEB. 24-Most baseball men say there are
better players than Mickey Mantle They say that Mantle
doesn't have the range the Of Willie Mays Hank
Aaron Is rated more dangerous hitter.
Yet Mantle remains person apart He was outplayed
by Roger Mars his teammate but he signed for S75OO
lar more than Mars In the recent baseball golf tourna
ment, nobody else drew such galleries.
The golfers Of near-pro quality were Paul Richards
Alvin Dark Peanuts Lowrey and Ralph Terry They were
shooting in the low 7Os every day Mantle turned in
remarkably erratc card of 3ss yet he the boxoffce
champion.
Factually he longer is the Oklahoma Kid, nor the
Tape-Measure Kid. He'll be 80 on his next birthday and
he's been with the Yankees for whole decade There isn't
much that is consistent about him on the ball field One
season he win hit .365 and the next 2sS
HIS LIFETIME AVERAGE is .311, and most of the
astute observers don't think he will Live his potential
But there something Ruthan about the crew-cut Okla
homan. When he hits bal-whether it be baseball or
golf ball-it goes for herculean distances.
Over 72-hoe stretch Of golf wispy oldster like Paul
Wane weighing in at mere 125 l30 pounds outdrveS
Mantle. But when Mickey really ties into ball, Waner
could hit drive and No. wood and still have trouble
keeping up
And almost wonderful as the booming tee shot
whether in baseball go miss by Mickey loved
Ruth when he struck out He proving was human
It's the same with Mantle
Red Patterson when he was beating the drums for the
Yankees probably did much to make Mantle what he
stands for today anybody When Mickey hit that monu-
mental drive off Chuck Stobbs in Washington in 1853 Pat
terson'S sense Of the dramatic came to the fore.
Patterson, who slipped out Of the press box quest
for truth, that he across tape measure With
the help of witnesses outside Griffith Stadium he came up
with the revelation that Nantes ball sailed 565 feet On
another occasion Mantle nearly drove the right
field wall OF Yankee Stadium which Is three tiers high
MANTLE WAS ALWAYS Casey Stengels charge and
Casey critical at times "He buns when he should be
swinging Stenge used to complain HE is better player
than he's letting himself be-"
Now his new boss is Ralph Houk, who was bet
ter than thirdstring catcher Houk thinks he do
something about Mantle's many strikeouts.
II do strike out too much" Mickey admitted between
golfing rounds here zone hundred and twenty times
like last year. is too many"
And just what do you propose do about tp" he was
asked
WELL" he said Ralph thinks ought to choke up on
the bat little. I'm going to try it."
There are some specifications" Houk amends. 1--WE
would like Mickey to choke the bat with two strikes
and only when he's hitting lefthanded don't keep
records but know that he strikes out much often
lefthanded than rghthanded"
PART OF MANTLES tremendous appeal doubtlessly
Is his ability to bat from either side of the plate
power is concerned, he to hit mighty blast
from side the other Yet his 1860 figures broken
down, reveal Mantle to be far better highlander
He made 14e appearances righthander last
this small number because there fewer southpaw
ptcher) and he batted $40 He struck out only ~ times
and banged IA home runs.
Lefthanded, he was just another guy He batted $50
times for 247 average He hit 26 homers and hear
this he whitfield SO times.
Mantle refuses to consider the possibility Of abandon
ing his efthanded stance Il don't know why had such
poor year hitting lefthanded," he says 81 have
cuses" Houk claims that Mickey bunts too much the
third strkestrangey while batting Northumberland that
If he'll cut down this practice he'll raise his average
Whatever it Is, Mantle isn't hurting too much. At
$4,000 he's still one of the highest paid players in the
game. And he almost always gets cut Of the World
Series swag-whch he helps to win, matter how he
swings.