The book chronicles Mantle’s career from his youth in hardscrabble Oklahoma mining and farming country, through his meteoric rise to baseball greatness, and on past the twilight of his Yankee years to his present status as a golfer and celebrity/businessman. The heart of the book covers his years with the great Yankee teams that won twelve American League pennants and seven World Series victories, and Mantle effectively captures the energy, determination and professionalism of these teams. His brief, telling sketches capture the essential personalities of his teammates, particularly the smooth, composed Whitey Ford and the irrepressible, irascible Billy Martin, his closest friends. The dry wit, wisdom, and warmth of Casey Stengel stand behind the team’s success, and the egocentric, frigid cleverness of George Weiss, the general manager, shows how even a player of Mantle’s magnitude was exploited before the players’ successful strike.
 
Hardback