I have also had more of a passing interest in position players who pitch. So, and I know it be just a little thing, but what went on between him and Casey over his desire to throw a knuckle ball in a game would have been nice.

[0] Where did you get your information that she interviewed everyone who had info. Lots of living whom she missed and the info she got seemed banal. She didn’t ask what needed to be asked and some of her anecdotes were time worn. I also believe that he must have had some friends outside the game, ones who lived on the dark side. I was just part of New York at the time. Why did he go to the Dr. Feelgood? Did Mel Allen take him? Where are the piercing questions to Whitey Ford, yet alone Joe Pepitone, among others. Did she talk with Jake Gibbs? Very thin. Very thin. Bouton said more about him in Ball Four than he did in this book.

Not enough answers to the telling questions, among which were the drug use (including why he missed part of a world series), his relationships with teammates, and philandering. I know of someone who lives nearby in Burlington she didn’t speak with.

Jane’s book spends too much time on the mundane, as you pointed out, like with respect to the homer in Washinton. Not much on the homer that almost went out of the stadium. Always thought DeLillo used that story in Pafko at the Wall. How tired are all fans of The Mick of the Copa story. Put the Tom Scout story to bed and the story of him and Mutt watching the WS from the hospital bed. In fact, she didn’t do as good a job with the knee as she could have. And she missed the opportunity to deconstruct the triple crown season, an achievement worthy of more pages. Didn’t she have an editor who was a baseball fan?

Ancient manner used to tell the story. I felt cheated by the oft used photos and lack of interactivity-at least refer us to the many web sites on The Mick. Inadequate explanation why sources aren’t documented or referenced. Lots of the places she went were places we could go without leaving our computers.

Her attempts at psychological analysis seemed primitive, if not simplistic. So, Mutt died. Big deal. And he was a star.

What happened to him money? How did he amass the millions he died with if he wasn’t doing anything that produced a salary. What products did he hawk-coffee makers, banks…. What was he doing? Why did he move to Florida. Whom did he live with? What was he putting into his body and who, if anyone, was getting it for him

I also suggest that someone knows more about his relationship with Billy. He used Billy as a cover, I would submit as well as a foil.

Hard to put together a good picture of The Mick’s relationship with his wife. I have read her book, a painful read, and still don’t get it, either the actual contact they had or the nature of their relationship. I mean, was he Tiger Woods or just an ordinary shit?

[7] Jane could have used your help in actually setting out his significant statistical superiority. I needed a little more of how these offensive contributions made the Yankee dynasty and how they related to the performance of others at the time.

And now it comes out. One day, I tripped up, here, by suggesting that part of The Mick’s stardom came from his being white. Some banterer took me to task. Jane’s book spends some time on this subject. I was the most interesting and unique part of the tome.

Not a satisfying read. I am on to Reggie’s book, after I finish the latest Phillip Roth.

My favorite story is one game Mantle game to the Stadium even more hung over then usual. He told Casey he needed the day off, but Casey basically said Fuck That, and told Mickey to suit up and sit in the dugout. So Mickey basically propped himself up in the corner of the dugout and slept a lot of the game. Come the late innings, Casey was still pissed and wanted to embarrass Mantle to teach him a lesson, so he told him to grab a bat so he could PH. Mickey couldn’t believe it, but staggered up, grabbed a bat, and tripped on the dugout steps on his way to the on-deck circle.

But of couse, when Mickey came up to bat, he hit a Home Run.
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•Led AL in Batting Wins 9 times
•Led AL in Adjusted Batting Runs 9 times
•Led AL in Runs Created 7 times
•Led AL in Offensive Win % 7 times
•Led AL in OPS 6 times
•Led AL in Extra-Base Hits 3 times

“Son, nobody is half as good as Mickey Mantle.”
Al Kaline, to a taunting fan who said Kaline was not half as good as Mickey Mantle

Jeter: “Black what?”