SN Archive (1963): Mickey Mantle names his favorite Yankees team of all-time originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
This article, ‘Mantle cites big supply of young talent; by Til Ferdenzi, originally appeared as the cover story in the March 23, 1963 issue of The Sporting News.
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FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA — Mickey Mantle’s first major league training camp was in Phoenix. The year was 1951. Since that time, the center fielder has played on ten pennant-winning teams. He says all of them were good clubs, but he likes the 1963 edition “best of all.”
There is absolutely nothing backward about Mickey when it comes to assaying the merits of this Yankee team.
“It’s the best Yankee club I’ve ever been in training camp with,” the Switcher said during a long batting drill in Fort Lauderdale Stadium. “it is the best of all because we’ve got more good, young, experienced players than we’ve ever had.”
Mantle swept his bat around the infield.
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“Where will you find a better one?” he asked. “All young guys, too. Boyer, Kubek, Richardson and Pepitone—all those guys are well under 30 and, with the exception of Pepitone, all are loaded with big league experience.”
Mantle said there were “specific reasons” this Yankee team was his all-time favorite.
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“All right,” he said, “let’s start with the outfield. We’ve got Tresh now and he’s made a great difference. Tom’s a wonderful defensive player. He gets to those long balls hit in left-center and he can throw. He’s just a natural ball player, that’s all. And how about his hitting? You’ve got to say he can hit pretty good.”
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Mantle said what everybody has said about left field in Yankee Stadium.
“You’ve got to have good legs to cover it right,” he said. “That big area in left-center is tough, but Tresh did a great job there last season. He should be even better this year.”
The center fielder then skipped to the intangibles.
“The spirit of the team is wonderful,” he said. “We’re not overly cocky, but we’re just confident we can do it again. There’s something wonderful about winning and, when you get a good taste of it, it’s hard not to want more. That’s what I mean by spirit. There’s plenty of good spirit in this camp.”
March 23, 1963 issue of The Sporting News
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Mantle was then asked about the pitching.
“It’s very good,” he said. “You hear folks say the Yankee pitching is shaky, but I don’t buy that. The pitching we have in this camp is far better than we’ve had in a long while at this time of year. We’ve got a lot of pitching. There are about eight guys scrambling for three or four jobs.
“No matter how you look at our pitching, you’ve got to say it’s far above what we had at this time a year ago. Arroyo looks good again, Ditmar seems to be making a comeback, Reniff is back where he was two years ago—there are so many good signs on that mound.”
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The center fielder said there was no way to minimize the worth of the Yankee infield to the over-all effort.
“Take that defense around second base,” he said. “Kubek and Richardson have been playing together ever since they broke into professional ball. They never surprise each other on double plays. They sure help the pitcher get out of jams with the kind of plays they make.
“Kubek has got to be the best in the business,” Mantle added. “Just think. This is his seventh year in the big leagues and he’s not yet 27. That’s what I mean. He’s a good example of the kind of young, experienced guys we’ve got around here.
“And I don’t think Tony’s reached his peak yet. I still say one of these years he’s going to put together a great year at the plate. He’s big and strong and in my book he’s going to hit .300.”
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Kubek batted .314 last year in 45 games after he was discharged from the Army.
“There’s a method to winning,” Mantle said. “There’s more to it than having good players. You’ve got to have a good manager, and we’ve got that. You’ve also got to have ball players who want to win every day. Not maybe three or four days a week. Winning consistently is kind of a mental thing.”
Mantle said his top aim this year was the same as it’s been “right along.”
“I would like to play every day,” he said.
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