Mickey Mantle

Went from Class C in 1950 to the Yankees in 1951, jumping five classifications in the process.

Arguably the greatest all-around centerfielder of the 1950s.

He was considered the fastest man in baseball during the 1950s.

Hit a home run completely out of Griffith Stadium in Washington. DC in 1953 that was measured by tape at 565 feet. Hit a home run completely out of Detroit's Tiger Stadium in 1960 that landed in a lumberyard across the street whose distance was calculated at 643 feet using the Pythagorean theorem. Also hit four home runs into the left centerfield bleachers (Death Valley) at Yankee Stadium over the course of his career and several to straightaway center.

Won the American League's Triple Crown in 1956, leading the league in batting (.353), home runs (52), and runs batted in (130).

Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Hack Wilson and Babe Ruth are the only players to hit .350 and 50 home runs in the same season (1956 for Mantle; 1930 for Wilson; 1932 for Foxx; 1920, 1921, and 1927 for Ruth).

Hit only .237 during his final season in 1968 which dropped his lifetime batting average to .298.

Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1974. Played for the American League's New York Yankees, 1951-1968.

He was diagnosed with cirrhosis, hepatitis, and cancer of the liver. Although he underwent a liver transplant in June of 1995, the cancer had spread to most of his internal organs and Mantle died on August 13, 1995.

Merlyn and Mickey were separated for 15 years, but neither filed for divorce. Mantle lived with his agent, Greer Johnson, until his death. Johnson was taken to federal court in November 1997 by the Mantle family to stop her from auctioning many of Mantle's personal items, including a lock of hair, a neck brace and expired credit cards.

Pictured on one of four USA 39¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring Baseball Sluggers, issued 15 July 2006. Other stamps in this set honor Roy Campanella, Hank Greenberg, and Mel Ott.