33-year-old Mickey Mantle—his electrifying talents blunted by injuries, age and years of alcohol abuse—tosses his helmet away in disgust after a weak at-bat at Yankee Stadium, June 1965.


33-year-old Mickey Mantle—his electrifying talents blunted by injuries, age and years of alcohol abuse—tosses his helmet away in disgust after a weak at-bat at Yankee Stadium, June 1965.

22 comments
  1. 13 hours and counting of sobriety for me after years of abuse and finally acknowledging it , if anyone is suffering quietly , you can get out of it. I’m a Minnesota fan cmon

  2. One of my favorite photos of all time, baseball or otherwise.

    Really encapsulates the game as well as the man.

  3. If only there was a video of this someone could combine this with the Bobby Shmurda hat toss video for a gif goldmine.

  4. If he didn’t have his alcohol problems, and hadn’t busted his knee up so bad, he could have made a very compelling case for GOAT.

  5. Mantle had so many demons. Never mind the physical issues that plagued his body, as I’m sure half the reason he drank was to numb the constant physical pain. Repeatedly raped as a young boy, wet the bed until his teenage years, watched all the men from his family succumb from cancer due to the mines. Truly tragic.

  6. Imagine if he took care of his health, and didn’t trip over a sprinkler head. He could have easily made a run at being the best ball player ever.

  7. He still had a 137ops+ in his “disappointing” 33 year old season btw..The next year he had a 170ops+…

  8. His death was the first major sports figure i remember passing away when i was young. I want to say it was either 1994 or 1995

    of course i had no clue who he was until many years later, but i definitely remember it being a big deal

Leave a Reply