If Your Birthday is October 20th...

...you share it with the late Mickey Mantle. The beloved Yankee icon of the 1950s and '60s succeeded Joe DiMaggio in center field and then wrote his own ticket to Cooperstown with a combination of power, speed and style. There was also the poignancy of his frequent injuries and the sadness of his final seasons when for many of us he became the only reason to see the Yanks. As a baby boomer, I call attest he was as much of a star to us as Elvis or any of the The Beatles. And he wore number-7, fitting in that Mount Rushmore of single-digit Yankees.
More than 45 years after his retirement, he still holds an impressive collection of records:

  • The most World Series home runs (18)
  • The most World Series extra-base hits (26)
  • The most World Series RBIs (40)
  • Tied (with future Hall of Famer Jim Thome) for the most walk off homers (13; 12 in the regular season and 1 in the World Series

His monument still draws big crowds at Yankee Stadium. Catch the key quote toward the bottom: "A magnificent Yankee who left a legacy of unequaled courage."

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