Class of 1974 brought the Big Apple to Cooperstown
But in between, Cooperstown hosted a Bronx Bombers celebration.
“I’m just lucky my father and grandfather persuaded me to switch-hit,” Mantle said during an off-the-cuff speech delivered after he tore up three pages of notes, “so Casey couldn’t do to me what he did to the rest of the guys: Platoon ’em.”
Mantle’s modesty, however, belied a career that featured 536 home runs, three American League Most Valuable Player Awards and 20 All-Star Game selections.
Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, while introducing Mantle to the estimated crowd of 2,500, summed up Mantle best, calling him “Simply one of the greatest players the game has ever known.”
Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Mickey Mantle

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Casey Stengel

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