Mickey Mantle Interview by Bob Costas 

He seems to be a very humble man.

Alcoholism destroys lives, sad Mickey suffered from it. His name resonates as equal to LEGEND but since you met him I believe you, he was a humble and beautiful man.

People are too soft to handle interviews like this

Such a sweet man, I always appreciated and respected his honesty

You summed it up perfectly.

July 31, 1967. V. KC. bottom 8th. S. Whitaker, cf. HR., C.Smith 3rd. HR. Fans erupt, tied game. M. Mantle, 1st. Ball to R. Field wall, leaping catch. Concrete fell upper deck. Score card, J.Gibbs C., gr. ball short? I saw game R. field, G.A. K.C win 9th.

@MANCHESTER UNITED stfu soccer is a boring retarded sport

@MANCHESTER UNITED What's your point ?

@MANCHESTER UNITED I've learned to appreciate the game of soccer thanks to soccer player friends who explained the game while we watched. But I still can't wrap my brain around a tie game ending in a draw or even a shoot out.

Beautifully put..

oh fuck you with stupid soccer shti that non cares about

I agree and even after he stopped drinking the damage was done ....he would die in a few years ...sad !

Paul Dirac, Well said! I'll always love "The Mick".

Was my favorite player. But after I saw this when it aired he became one of my favorite people. Truly admirable.

Gayle samplers and dock butkus

Duck butkus

Agreed..I met him...all of the above.

My fellow Okie. James Garner, Tony Randall, Jimmy Webb, Bill Harder, Leon Russell, Steve Pryor ------- content to be ourselves, don't care when people make fun of our accents.

I have to disagree with you. Nostalgia is clouding your judgement. There are plenty of current ball players who have a good personality. Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, Clayton Kershaw, DJ Lemahieu, Bo Bichette, Zack Grienke, Christian Yelich Do I need to keep going?

You can call Mickey Mantle a lot of things. Humble is not one of them.

Very well said.

Very well said. One of the best comments on here, and a great written tribute to the Mick.

I agree fully. Read my q.v. comment to that effect on that topic.

Costas is the GOAT in my book.

You know, i am not really a fan of Mr. Costas, but i readily admit he is damn good at what he does.

He might be a good interviewer but he sucks as a sports announcer

@@Mario-cv5elCostas does not suck as a sports announcer, it's just that his forte is baseball. NBC was forced to have him call NBA games back in '98 when Marv Albert was embroiled in legal troubles.

Absolutely

Gentle....he's being a gentleman and behaving in a manner that men who know someone else is in pain comports themselves... compassionate...I have a new respect for Costas after watching this

@@jackiethompson3770 well put and I came away feeling as you did. I re-watched it and was moved by Mickey's facial reaction when he told Costas that they gave his son a drug called' Dilaudid'. I went and looked it up and it explains why his son had so much trouble. Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

@@herbwhite7384 thank you sir ..and sadly enough I've sat both those seats enough to know grief Andrew compassion when I pay you eyes on....I compare it crudely but quite accurately to grief being a shit sammich we all gotta eat at one point in our lives... somebody may share our grief and take a bite of our sammich for us but no matter how long you eat it its never finished and it always taste like shit..a horrible thing we all at some point must endure and it'll last far longer han it doesn't...

My dad asked me one day in our backyard, I was holding a 5 iron, he said, I’m not sure if you want to be Mickey Mantle or Arnold Palmer..I loved sports! I was 12 years old then..now..73…😊

I was lucky enough to get him to sign his book, "The Mick" in Frankfort KY at a book signing. His wife was right next to him. He had huge hands, furry, you could see he was "over it".

Mike trout

Ken Griffey Jr ?

He's great. Absolutely amazing. But Mike Trout and Ken Griffey Jr are up there.

Lou Gehrig was decent???? Maybe?

He didn’t drink because of mlb lifestyle. Read the Last Boy biography. He drank bc he was abused.

I always wondered why he was so beloved. I think you are right. It's his humility. Regarding his abuse, there are multiple reasons for why people do counter productive things. His family drank. Then he lived a wild life as a MLB player. It was what they did during his time. The parties, the women and not needing to be at the ballpark for the until noon the next day created some pretty bad habits. Guilt of adulatory was a factor in his drinking. And I'm sure the abuse affected him too.

11 years later from your comment, the world is falling apart, how are you James Ellis

@@amazinggrace9114 Still loving the truth. Still frustrated with all the lies that cover up why our world is falling apart.

Very well said. That level of personal honesty is in short supply

You dad was absolutely right. Without the injuries and booze he's have easily hit 700/700+ Home runs and carried .330 (or better) lifetime BA and, maybe, even accounted for 2,000 RBIs !!

No doubt! Mick was a legend. I'm not saying he was as legendary, but as a kid Ken Griffey Jr. was pretty special. Unfortunately injuries and not being juiced up like the rest, he got overlooked during the second half of his career.

Mike Woosley.....yah got everything right but the "young" part...

john james lol how u gonna roast the oldies 😂

So true Mike, same age as you and the Mick will always be my hero!

I'm 73 years young and Mickey was my hero while I was growing up. For years I kept track of his statistics on a daily basis.

why would a baseball player be your hero

MrYellowlabs He was also a crude, drunken bum who abused women and abandoned his wife and children.

dirtyturban46 he never abandoned his children!! they were all very close don't spread rumors.....

dirtyturban46 Read "The Last Boy" and you will learn something. Maybe.

cravinbob I read Jane Leavy`s book in `10. Nobody is perfect....Mickey did hurt a few people who loved him....but, he also brought tremendous joy to millions of others.

MrYellowlabs You are correct and I am sure you feel as I do in that he did not do anything vicious but was a product of his upbringing. The alcohol played a huge role in bad decisions he made as well.

Patrick bickers, that is indeed high praise from one of the all time most humble greats of baseball.

Jeff Vanevenhoven n

pop

Jeff Vanevenhov

I think many of his contemporaries would say that. It's interesting you should mention Hank because Mickey once pointed to him as an example of someone who left nothing on the table, who got all he could out of his ability. Even with the injuries and lack of conditioning and self-inflicted punishment to his body, MIckey's numbers are staggering.

You should have had the 1952 mantle!

It’s incredible Mantle ever played again after such a terrible injury. But he was injured again and again through this career and somehow missed relatively few games because of injuries. He played hurt all the time. Heavily bandaged, both legs. And yet, in his prime, he was extremely fast and an excellent base stealer.

He holds the record for fastest sprint from home plate to first base; 3.1 seconds when batting left handed. He was 18 or 19 at the time. After knee injuries he transformed into a power clutch hitter. Hard to do. Hank Aaron thought Mickey was the most talented player he'd ever seen.

Me too.

He found religion once he realized he had destroyed his liver.

S White - I hated the Yankees but I loved the Mick

Lester Green Mickey didn’t find “religion.” He surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Former teammate Bobby Richardson, second baseman for the Yankees, led him to Christ while he was ill. He opened his heart and received Christ as his Savior and made his peace with God. Then went on to his eternal reward. And you can do the same if you decide to.

@@lestergreen1190 what a small minded thing to say.

@@terribleTed-ln6cm but true. He was a big bum.

Agree

NO DOUBT

Indeed! Left me in tears.

Rich B I know what you mean. He was larger than life. His honesty and humility in this interview is very touching.

The very end of it is where it cuts very very deep. That's where you see the 1950's legend confronting the reality of his existence in the 1990's, a really riveting piece of TV. If only there was some way this legend could truly understand the depth of his magnitude in his lifetime. The fact that he actually did have a good idea of it and stayed humble pales in comparison to how deep that loves really goes. RIP

@@danielk9067 RIP MANTLE, alcoholism is dangerous

@@danielk9067 this was a great interview. I was at the stadium one day as he got out of his car and walked into stadium. He truly was so great. Great interview

Very well said, thanks, I wanted to say the same thing but just don’t have the ability to put my thoughts into words like that.

I think Costa is lucky not to get punched in the mouth... I felt 2 of those questions were too intrusive for a person who is obviously suffering. This is a credit to Mickey Mantle the way he humbly kept his cool.

I got to Derek Jeter play many times, Mariano Rivera, A-Rod. I also got to see Barry Bonds once against the Mets at Shea Stadium. Roger Clemens, Frank Thomas, Randy Johnson, Ichiro, such amazing ballplayers, but this list pales in comparison to your story. Just visiting Tiger Stadium alone would be a worthy anecdote. I'm thankful I got to go to the original Yankee Stadium (renovations aside) for so many games growing up.

Indeed...a true legend.

No sound!!!!

My Grandmother died of Liver Disease. She died the Same year as the Mick. She couldn't get a Liver for Transplant but Mantle did and he kept Drinking. That changed the way I felt about him for many years.

Coming from you that means so much.

He was a selfish scumbag.

@@jamesnewman7961 fuck you Pharisee. Your mind frame is why people don't let go of their past.

Not just like... you were.

They were very close friends. Costas spent a lot of time with him.

For me my hero was my dad first and then Frank Howard.

I started seeing major league baseball live in 1971. First game was Cubs vs. Pittsburgh with Roberto.

I've seen it many times, and it makes me cry every time. It is one of the most poignant interviews I've ever seen.

Beautifully said.

Joey Chuzie yes Mickey was the ultimate childhood sports idol. there was something totally magical about his presence in Yankee pinstripes and the number 7 he wore. His all American good looks and persona of invincibility made him the ultimate sports icon. there will never be another athlete like Mickey Mantle.

He was a real sport. Just ask his wife and kids.

He was fantastic

Me too

Not really you ask a kid of the fifties tell tell you Mickey Mantle was there hero and sixties as well

1burnman My dad was a kid in the fifties. He is black and his hero was Willie Mays.

Willie Mays was awesome and he still is

A. Bruce McDonald yes it is. It kind of every fathers greatest fear....not being able to the father to your boys they need you to be. And on top of that feeling guilty for not giving 100% to the thing that prevented him being the father he felt he should have been. But if there was any redemption necessary it was his humility in the end. However i get the feeling he was always humble. He was just blown away by his life and capabilities. His best capability was that of being just a simple human being in a life of a true superstar. Man i wish there was more like him. I hope he found s way to expeirence the forgiveness he so much deserved and piece of mind that follows. Because after all he only had to recieve that redemtion from himself. He gave us so much we could never pay him back. He was real and the benifits he gave our childhoods were real. He did his job.

Lucky to see the mick,play at comiskey park and wack a 3 run upper deck shot

Mickey Mantle was one of the greatest ever!!

Brian Drewry, And that is the greatest thing he ever did. And I think the man was great, anyway!!

yeah fine, but do you/we extend that courtesy to others? it's so much easier; when we already want to like the person, isn't it?

Brian Drewry Thank you so much for your comments! Be well always!

mickey's body was that of a bulldozer. an absolute strongman.

Jay DeLuca- Good for you for not bothering them. They shouldn't be expected to be "on" all the time. I grew up in New York during the Mantle/Maris era. In 1975 I found myself in Florida at a table across the room from Roger Maris with his family at a Pizza Hut. A PIZZA HUT!! I had just moved into town and had no idea he lived there. I'm not much of an autograph seeker but that sure would have been a cool one to have. It didn't occur to me to even try.

@@dzanier he reminded me of Gordie Howe!

That was my thought too when I stood in line to get his autograph. I had his book, "The Mick". A prized possession. Then as luck would have it I met Mickey Cochran's daughter 5 yrs ago. She gave me his baseball card. She signed it for me.

Who cares

Well stated.

Billy miller

He was one of the best baseball players ever.I don't like the Yankees. But I liked Mickey Mantel.

Lol role model?? Suuuuure - shytty dad, husband and person to his fans...raging adulterer and alcoholic. Guess it's the American way. So you might have a point.

No you miss my point. As you can see in this video he is very much full of regret. And he wasn't a shitty father. I admit he could have done a better job when it came to spending time with his kids. But at least he wasn't abusive with them. As for the drinking and adultering. Fame and fortune can do that to anyone. Happens with alot of celebrities

+Bomboclat Man : try reading b4 you reply. Mr Gibney did not condone Mr Mantle's behavior, merely alluding to his overcoming of issues, such as the kind you mentioned

Thank you very much

I met Mickey at a few BB card shows. He would talk to us vendors prior to the general public entering most venues.

I think the death of his son really really got to him because I think he felt responsible but he wasn’t. Mickey started living his life the right way in the latter part of his life and he made amends. Being a ball player for a living and being away from your kids I’m sure was tough on him and probably one of the reasons he drank.

He knew.

me too

My chance to meet Mickey was when I was 33 years old in 1974. He retired in 1969 and got into the Mickey Mantle’s Mensware business with a retail store in the Indianapolis area. I wanted in line for almost three hours to meet him, get his photo and autograph, and tell him he was my all-time hero. He was so very gracious to me, and a day I will never forget…NEVER! RIP!