I have had Jane Leavy’s 2010 biography of Mickey Mantle on my Kindle for probably ten years, but I just kept moving it to the bottom of the “pile.” Last week a writer I admire said he read it recently, and I thought the start of baseball season (GO MARINERS!) seemed a good time to knock this one off my list.
I knew very little about Mickey Mantle heading into this read. I knew he was a Yankee, I knew he was an amazing athlete, and I knew Billy Crystal loved him. I also knew he had a reputation for being a big drinker. Leavy does a nice job of walking the reader through the history of the Yankees and explaining why Mantle was such an amazing athlete (lots of swing analysis for baseball buffs). She also details why he was so beloved despite his lifelong history of adultery and alcohol abuse.
One interesting item of note is that Mickey Mantle was one of the many celebrity patients of Dr. Max Jacobson, also known as Dr. Feelgood. Dr. Jacobson famously treated his patients with “vitamin shots” that were laced with various substances. John F. Kennedy was his most famous patient, but Truman Capote, Lauren Bacall, and Cecil B. Demille among many others also visited “Miracle Max.” What stood out about Mickey Mantle’s treatment, however, is that the shot he received in his hip caused a severe infection that threatened his career and sidelined him during the Yankees’ 1961 pennant quest and the home run race with teammate Roger Maris. That season gets a lot of ink.
Leavy covers Mantle’s retirement as well, and I learned a lot about baseball memorabilia profits. I also learned that Mantle was in Paul Simon’s 1988 video for “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” because Willie Mays backed out at the last minute. Simon released the video to promote his 1988 greatest hits album. Again, more lost pop culture years for me, since I hardly watched TV in college.
Mickey Mantle had a pretty spectacular career, and a pretty brutal personal life. Leavy does a nice job of showing the complexity of both. I give The Last Boy 15 signed baseballs.