Title/Author:
“Mantle: The Best
There Ever Was” by Tony Castro
Tags:
Baseball, biography,
Yankees
Publish date:
April 12, 2019
Length:
272 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very
good)
Review:
Not much needs to be said to
introduce readers to Mickey Mantle. No matter the age of a reader or how much
of a baseball fan that reader happens to be, Mantle is one of those
personalities who have become larger than life, long after death and even when
all of his shortcomings have been revealed.
However, there may still be readers who have not read much on the man and
if you fall into that category, as I did before obtaining this book, then “Mantle:
The Best There Ever Was” is a good place to start to understand why he became
such a legend – oh, and a pretty good ball player as well.
The book starts with excerpts from
interviews with Meryl Mantle, Mickey’s widow, that the author, Tony Castro, promised
not to publish until after her death. Her
answers revealed a belief that she had for a long time – that her husband, despite
all the issues they had in their marriage, was a good man and also the best
baseball player in the history of the game. Having whetted the appetite of the
reader with this revelation, Castro makes the pitch why he believes this to be
true.
However, that doesn’t come until the
last chapter of the book. In between, the reader will be treated to many
stories about Mantle told by Mantle himself (from interviews before Mickey’s
death in 1995), teammates and his long-time love, Holly Bright. Through these stories, many of the beliefs
that have been passed down are either confirmed or shown to be false. One
example of the latter is the belief that Mantle and Joe DiMaggio couldn’t stand
each other as there are examples of them helping each other. Another is that Bright was not close to Mantle
after his marriage – the popular belief is that she was his girlfriend in his
rookie year of 1951 but then they went separate ways after he married Merlyn. According to Bright, they were always close
and that he really wanted to marry her, not Merlyn. He only did so because he was afraid to go
against his father’s wishes.
That last point is important as that
is always a theme in any narrative about Mickey Mantle – that he was loyal to
his father and was always aiming to please him (or didn’t want to disappoint him),
even long after Mutt’s 1952 death. Putting this pressure on himself to go with
the terrible injury Mickey suffered in the 1951 World Series (another chink in
the legend of DiMaggio and Mantle disliking each other) made Mantle a tragic
hero even with his extraordinary accomplishments on the field. Castro also points out that this image of
Mantle was further enhanced by the growing popularity of television as it
brought Mantle to the homes of millions of boys and their fathers who ended up
worshipping Mantle as their hero.
Finally, the book goes back to the
point made in the title – why the author and Mantle’s widow believe he is the greatest
baseball player to every step onto the diamond. Castro uses sabermetrics to make
this point – at least that Mantle was superior to Babe Ruth. However, that is
only part of the story why he states this. Castro also points out that so many
of Mantle’s peers also made this claim and that Mickey’s championship pedigree should
also be considered when making this statement.
The reader will then be able to judge whether he or she agrees with
Castro or not.
Because this reviewer had not
previously read a complete book on Mantle or any of Castro’s previous work on
Mantle, the material felt fresh and was very entertaining and easy to read. Readers
who have read other books on Mantle may not gain new information and even feel
that because these stories are just that – stories – they may not pass as
completely factual. While that is a fair
point, readers who just enjoy reading about this legendary New York Yankee will
want to read this one, no matter how much they think they know about him.
I wish to thank Roman and
Littlefield for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
Paperback
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