Watching the World Series this evening, Tim McCarver and Joe Buck mentioned that today would have been Mickey Mantle's 80th birthday. One of the clay-footed icons of American sports, Mantle was- and remains- one of the baseball player gods. The book by Jane Leavy, The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood, tells Mickey's story in all its ups and downs. Sad, tragic, almost Shakespearean in its tragedy, Mantle's life shows us the change in culture and sports in the last 40 years. Our heroes today are fewer and far more uncertain. We never know when, or how, our heroes will be knocked from their pedestal. Of who will work hard to complete the action.
In any case, today would have been his birthday. Mick- we wish it could have been different. Happy Birthday.
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