12-31-2003, 05:42 AM
one thing thats great about baseball is the history and the quirky stories there are from the past about mantle and dimaggio and ted williams and babe ruth and so on. i just read this last one about mantle and mays and whitey ford. anyone else have good ones, i always like reading them
in 1961, mickey mantle and whitey ford went to san francisco for the all star game game, and they wanted to play a little golf before the game. they went to giants owner horace stoneham, and they asked, "can we use your club to play a little golf?"
stoneham said, "sure, here's my card, go to olympic and play as much as you want." and so they did. they bought sweaters and balls and windbreakers - five, six hundred dollars' worth - and signed everything to horace stoneham,
they see stoneham at toots shor's restaurant that night, and mickey peels off $300 and begrundgingly gives it to whitey to give to stoneham.
horace stoneham says to whitey, "i'll make a bet with you, if you strike out mays the first time he gets up, you don't owe me anything. if he gets a hit, you owe me double." whitey takes the deal back to mickey. mantle says, "geez, i don't know." but then he throws a couple of scotches down in him and mickey, half in the bag says, "oh go ahead."
the next day in the game, in the bottom of the first, clemente doubles off the right field wall. two out. mays is up. whitey gets ahead of him 0-2.
he looks in. he remembers the bet and he loads up the biggest spitball he can. he throws a pitch that looks like it's heading for willie's head. mays ducks out of the way and falls on his fanny. and the pitch breaks over for a strike.
willie gets up and looks at whitey incredulously. "what, are you throwing me that pitch in an all star game?"
and then whitey looks out at center field, and there's mantle jumping up and down, laughing his butt off, because he saved the $600.
in 1961, mickey mantle and whitey ford went to san francisco for the all star game game, and they wanted to play a little golf before the game. they went to giants owner horace stoneham, and they asked, "can we use your club to play a little golf?"
stoneham said, "sure, here's my card, go to olympic and play as much as you want." and so they did. they bought sweaters and balls and windbreakers - five, six hundred dollars' worth - and signed everything to horace stoneham,
they see stoneham at toots shor's restaurant that night, and mickey peels off $300 and begrundgingly gives it to whitey to give to stoneham.
horace stoneham says to whitey, "i'll make a bet with you, if you strike out mays the first time he gets up, you don't owe me anything. if he gets a hit, you owe me double." whitey takes the deal back to mickey. mantle says, "geez, i don't know." but then he throws a couple of scotches down in him and mickey, half in the bag says, "oh go ahead."
the next day in the game, in the bottom of the first, clemente doubles off the right field wall. two out. mays is up. whitey gets ahead of him 0-2.
he looks in. he remembers the bet and he loads up the biggest spitball he can. he throws a pitch that looks like it's heading for willie's head. mays ducks out of the way and falls on his fanny. and the pitch breaks over for a strike.
willie gets up and looks at whitey incredulously. "what, are you throwing me that pitch in an all star game?"
and then whitey looks out at center field, and there's mantle jumping up and down, laughing his butt off, because he saved the $600.