"Gave Up Mickey Mantle's Second Last Home Run (535) And Last Bunt Single.
That would Denny McLain. And the irony is, the bunt was before the home run. About a month.
It was August 24th, 1968. The Mick was in his last season, and heading the wrong way. He'd finish the season with a batting average of just .237, and that dropped his lifetime mark to below .300 (.298) when the season ended. He retired just before spring training the next season.
Denny finished '68 31-6 with an ERA of 1.96. He easily won the Cy Young award. In 1969, he proved he was not fluke by winning 24 more games and sharing the Cy Young with Mike Cuellar.
But it wasn't as if Mickey didn't set some positive milestones that last year. He hit home run # 535 off McLain on September 19th. Denny gift-wrapped that one for the great Yankee slugger. However, that was not Mantle's last home run.
That came off Jim Lonborg. Lonny, ironically enough, had won the Cy Young award himself in 1967. So there was a legit long ball. And off a a pretty good pitcher.
McLain looked like he'd never lose a game in 1968. He won his first five decisions. He finally lost a game, but was soon at the .900 W% (9-1). Soon, he was 18-2. When Denny shutout Boston on August 16th, he was 25-3. And his ERA was 1.87. But then came a loss.
The Chicago White Sox handed McLain just his fourth loss on the campaign on August 20th. The second game of a doubleheader. McLain was touched up for 9 earned runs in only 5 2/3 innings. Surely he'd beat the New York Yankees on August 24th. Their aging superstar was but a shadow of his former self.
But Mickey, who'd got 5-5 in the first game of another doubleheader on May 30th of that season, still had some magic left. The Yankees, too, were starting to look like the Yankees of old. They'd been 51-60 on August 11th, but now were doing well. In fact, they were 60-63. Soon, they'd be 79-70. McLain's Detroit Tigers were, however, the best team in baseball that year. And they proved that by beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the Fall Classic in seven games.
So McLain went out against Mel Stottlemyre (Todd's dad) on a Saturday in August. The Bronx Bombers were at home. They didn't waste any time. Roy White belted a 2-run home run in the bottom of the first. New York was not about to look back. Detroit couldn't muster much offence.
Stottlemyre cruised. Through four innings, he'd given up just a hit and a walk. The Yankees batted in their half of the fourth, and it was Mickey Mantle leading off. Denny McLain had gotten him out in the bottom of the first on a strikeout, just before White hit his home run.
Leading off, Mantle bunted to second. He beat it out. However, White forced him at second. The rally seemed to continue as Joe Pepitone singled. White made it to third. A fly ball makes it 3-0 here.
But Tom Tresh fanned and then Rocky Colavito grounded out to third. Detroit finally scored a run in the top of the seventh as Willie Horton hit a solo home run. That proved to be all the giving Mel did all afternoon. When it was over, he'd allowed just four hits and one run.
Mantle could only fly to centre in the bottom of the sixth. But New York didn't need any more offence. They won 2-1, handing McLain his second straight loss (25-5). McLain went 6-1 the rest of the season.
The rest of the season saw the Yankees play well. In fact, going into a September 19th game at Tiger Stadium, New York was eight games over .500 (80-72). This time, McLain clearly got the better of Stottlemyre.
By the eighth inning, Stottlemyre was gone and it was 6-1, Tigers. Mantle had scored the lone run. McLain decided now would be the right time, with the game in the bag, to let the slugger pass Jimmy Fox for third (At the time) most home runs. Groving one for The Mick with one out and the bases empty, Mantle smacked it for a four-bagger.
The Yankees lost the game 6-2, and McLain had his 31st win. Obviously, he lost his last decision. The Mick hit only one more home run the rest of the season, retiring with 536. One of his last great power moments and his last great speed moment came against the best American League pitcher in 1968.
References
Gallagher, Mark. Explosion!: Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs. New York: Arbor House, 1987. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 2 Apr 2016.
Retrosheet. Web. 2 Apr. 2016. <www.retrosheet.org>
That would Denny McLain. And the irony is, the bunt was before the home run. About a month.
It was August 24th, 1968. The Mick was in his last season, and heading the wrong way. He'd finish the season with a batting average of just .237, and that dropped his lifetime mark to below .300 (.298) when the season ended. He retired just before spring training the next season.
Denny finished '68 31-6 with an ERA of 1.96. He easily won the Cy Young award. In 1969, he proved he was not fluke by winning 24 more games and sharing the Cy Young with Mike Cuellar.
But it wasn't as if Mickey didn't set some positive milestones that last year. He hit home run # 535 off McLain on September 19th. Denny gift-wrapped that one for the great Yankee slugger. However, that was not Mantle's last home run.
That came off Jim Lonborg. Lonny, ironically enough, had won the Cy Young award himself in 1967. So there was a legit long ball. And off a a pretty good pitcher.
McLain looked like he'd never lose a game in 1968. He won his first five decisions. He finally lost a game, but was soon at the .900 W% (9-1). Soon, he was 18-2. When Denny shutout Boston on August 16th, he was 25-3. And his ERA was 1.87. But then came a loss.
The Chicago White Sox handed McLain just his fourth loss on the campaign on August 20th. The second game of a doubleheader. McLain was touched up for 9 earned runs in only 5 2/3 innings. Surely he'd beat the New York Yankees on August 24th. Their aging superstar was but a shadow of his former self.
But Mickey, who'd got 5-5 in the first game of another doubleheader on May 30th of that season, still had some magic left. The Yankees, too, were starting to look like the Yankees of old. They'd been 51-60 on August 11th, but now were doing well. In fact, they were 60-63. Soon, they'd be 79-70. McLain's Detroit Tigers were, however, the best team in baseball that year. And they proved that by beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the Fall Classic in seven games.
So McLain went out against Mel Stottlemyre (Todd's dad) on a Saturday in August. The Bronx Bombers were at home. They didn't waste any time. Roy White belted a 2-run home run in the bottom of the first. New York was not about to look back. Detroit couldn't muster much offence.
Stottlemyre cruised. Through four innings, he'd given up just a hit and a walk. The Yankees batted in their half of the fourth, and it was Mickey Mantle leading off. Denny McLain had gotten him out in the bottom of the first on a strikeout, just before White hit his home run.
Leading off, Mantle bunted to second. He beat it out. However, White forced him at second. The rally seemed to continue as Joe Pepitone singled. White made it to third. A fly ball makes it 3-0 here.
But Tom Tresh fanned and then Rocky Colavito grounded out to third. Detroit finally scored a run in the top of the seventh as Willie Horton hit a solo home run. That proved to be all the giving Mel did all afternoon. When it was over, he'd allowed just four hits and one run.
Mantle could only fly to centre in the bottom of the sixth. But New York didn't need any more offence. They won 2-1, handing McLain his second straight loss (25-5). McLain went 6-1 the rest of the season.
The rest of the season saw the Yankees play well. In fact, going into a September 19th game at Tiger Stadium, New York was eight games over .500 (80-72). This time, McLain clearly got the better of Stottlemyre.
By the eighth inning, Stottlemyre was gone and it was 6-1, Tigers. Mantle had scored the lone run. McLain decided now would be the right time, with the game in the bag, to let the slugger pass Jimmy Fox for third (At the time) most home runs. Groving one for The Mick with one out and the bases empty, Mantle smacked it for a four-bagger.
The Yankees lost the game 6-2, and McLain had his 31st win. Obviously, he lost his last decision. The Mick hit only one more home run the rest of the season, retiring with 536. One of his last great power moments and his last great speed moment came against the best American League pitcher in 1968.
References
Gallagher, Mark. Explosion!: Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs. New York: Arbor House, 1987. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 2 Apr 2016.
Retrosheet. Web. 2 Apr. 2016. <www.retrosheet.org>
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