Lets discuss about one of the greatest home runs hitters of all time. After Ruth in my opinion Mantle has hit the longest home runs in baseball history. He was a very athletic player, if he didn't play baseball then he could of played football, boxing he could even be a track star. Mantle was also one of the fasters players as well, if he didn't have all his leg problems then he could of easily stolen 100 bases a year in my opinion. Speaking of his leg problems, I believe that if he was healthy through out his career he could of easily gotten over 700 career home runs in my opinion. But he just couldn't stay healthy. A lot of people knocks on his alcohol problems that he had, but for me I don't think it factured in a lot in his baseball career. What do you guys think of Mantle? Do you believe he's one of the greatest home runs hitters of all time?
Mantle is underrated in terms of his career accomplishments. A career on base percentage of .421...he struck out 1,710 times, but also drew 1,733 walks. He played in Twelve World Series and won 7 of them... Even Four of the five Series that he lost went the full 7 games. He only batted .257 in the World Series, but slugged .535, and still holds the record with 18 Series Home Runs. Nobody's breaking that one... If Mantle would have had 3 postseason rounds every year, forget it! Bill James rated Mantle as the #6 player in MLB history (Ruth, Wagner, Mays, Oscar Charleston and Ty Cobb), because of the impact of his on-base percentage and slugging. He was by far the greatest switch-hitter in major league history... Pete Rose was a singles and doubles switch hitter, Mantle could hit them out whether he batted left or right handed... in his career, he hit 372 homers left-handed and 164 right handed. Just incredible power. Mantle did not take great care of himself... he always maintained that because his grandfather and his dad had died young, Mickey assumed that he would too, therefore, what's the use of trying to take care of yourself, just have fun and live... At their peaks, Mantle was not only better than Willie Mays, he was a LOT better than Willie Mays... it was really only after the final numbers were in the books that more people began to say that Mays was the better of the two... but at their peak, Mantle was a better hitter than Mays, had more power, and was probably faster (he grounded into far fewer double plays, (113 to 251) than Mays did, and his stolen base percentage was about 80%, compared to 77% for Mays). He also had a greater impact on pennant races... Mantle was also a great defensive outfielder, as was Mays of course. Peak-wise, Mantle was better than Mays...he had at least 3 seasons which were better than Mays' best season... Career wise, Mays was better, because he kept up a high level of production for a significantly longer period of time. Mantle wasn't the greatest player of all time (although he might have been had he taken better care of himself), but he's easily in the top 10, and very close to the top half of that).
In my ranking list I rank him 6th as well, I believe that if he would of been healthy through out his career then he would of been even greater. I remember watching a video of him and he stated that when he played in the minors he wasn't playing at his best, so he called his dad and told me that he might quit baseball altogether. His dad drove down, went to his hotel room, and Mickey asked him what he was doing, he's said I'm here to pick you up and take you home, Mickey responded saying why? He said I didn't believe I raised a coward, and since then he started to hit the ball again. Mickey could hit the ball further then anyone not named Ruth in my opinion, he didn't work out, he just had one of the biggest arms you'll see in baseball history. When he connected with the ball the pitcher didnt want to turn around because he didn't want to see how far it went. But let me tell you a lot of them went really far, over 500 feet. Just imagine though if he was healthy, the sky would be the limit for Mantle.
i put him top 5 just for the simple fact he was a switch and very talented i just wonder how some of these players would fair in todays game I mean they say Pujols and Babe Ruth have the same bat speed so Ruth might be able to if he lost weight, Im sure Mantle could, but they probably didnt throw no faster than 70-80 mph in the 30s through the 70s
