Mickey Mantle

Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself

Remembering Stan Musial

It's a truism that American men are first conscious of their own mortality when their fathers die, but I would argue that such consciousness is a process for the average American male that usually begins earlier, the men pictured on his baseball cards start dying. When I was a kid in 1963, Stan Mus ... More >>

How Does The Mets 1962-2012 All-time Team Stack Up to The Yankees?

Last night, SNY broadcast the Mets All-time Team 1962-2012 from the 92nd Street Y. I love programs like this -- the video clips, the debates on old ballplayers, et al. The voting panel of the Daily News' John Harper and Mike Lupica, the Post's Mike Vaccaro, MLB.com's Marty Noble, and Mets broadcast ... More >>

Say It Ain't Mo

And so it ends with a bang and a whimper. No Yankee great's departure has ever caused anything like the shock to the system New York fans are now experiencing. I'm hearing from some, "Well, what about Thurman Munson's death?" A shock, yes, but let's be honest, Munson wasn't loved. Certainly his l ... More >>

Mickey Mantle's Restaurant Could Be Doomed. Should We Care?

The current owners of Mantle's, on swanky Central Park South, have filed for bankruptcy and the rent is now four months past due. A cool million is needed "to get it back on its feet." Mantle's 25th anniversary is coming up, but the landlord wants them out by the end of May. Bill Liederman, Ma ... More >>

TAKE ME OUT

New York Yankees host California Angels

A Brief Primer On Riff Raff, The (Really Good) Houston Rapper Who Will Be Portrayed On Screen By James Franco

If Noz and The Onion collaborated, they might come up with a scenario like this one: Gucci Mane and Selena Gomez star in a Harmony Korine-directed film alongside James Franco, whose character is loosely based on the little-known YouTube rapper Riff Raff. But, of course, this is the era of trollgaze, ... More >>

We're Mad-off as Hell! There's a Site for Frustrated Mets Fans

​Are you as sick about the loss of Jose Reyes as I am? Have you had it with the bullshit excuses from the Mets front office about Reyes's injuries? (Didn't Mickey Mantle have a lot of injuries? Would you have signed Mickey at age 28, the age Jose is now?) Are you angry at the insult to the Me ... More >>

Those Glorious '86 Mets — Hey, Where Are the Celebrations on Their Silver Anniversary?

Strawberry!Did I miss it, or has someone written tributes to the 1986 Mets that I didn't see? October 18 marks the 25th anniversary of the first game of the great 1986 World Series, and we just passed the 25th anniversary of perhaps the greatest division series ever, the one with the Houston Astros ... More >>

Roger Maris and the Myth of the Asterisk

​Phil Pepe's superb new book, 1961: The Inside Story of the Maris-Mantle Home Run Chase (Triumph Books, $20.00) is the best thing yet written - or likely to be written - about the amazing season 50 years ago which captivated the country. Pepe dispels several myths about the legendary pursui ... More >>

Willie Mays Turns 80, and He's STILL Not the Greatest Player Ever

​Willie Mays turned 80 on Friday, and, as happens every few years, there was another shower of praise for Willie and testimonials to his having been the greatest player in baseball history. With every year Willie's stature grows, partly because he was fabulous and very well could have been th ... More >>

Roger Maris for the Hall? No, It's Still Not a Good Idea

​Every few years, like a bad idea whose time has come, the argument for Roger Maris and the Hall of Fame springs up again. There have been several lately, no doubt spurred by the 50th anniversary of the Maris-Mantle home run chase in 1961 when both Yankee sluggers went after Babe Ruth's single ... More >>

Let's Look at Obama's Debt-Reduction Plan!

​Hey American, did you do the assigned homework for today? You were supposed to watch Obama's big debt-reduction speech! People are going to try to talk to you about it, what are you going to say? Sure, whether you saw it or not won't affect your response to the plan or the president; our smal ... More >>

Derek Jeter The Best NY Athlete of All Time? Really?

​In 1975, a survey representing America's biggest rock and roll stations asked several thousand listeners to name the greatest rock and roll record of all time. The Beatles, you might guess? Stones? Beach Boys? Stevie Wonder? Maybe Elvis? Or The Supremes? None of the above. According to those ... More >>

Pirates-Yankees 1960 Tonight, Thanks to Bing Crosby

​Bing Crosby didn't know it, but when he took off for Paris on October 12, 1960, he left us all with a wonderful Christmas present. Bing was part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and fearful that his National League champions were no match for the Mickey Mantle-Roger Maris-Whitey Ford Yankees. ... More >>

Best Of NYC: We're the Greatest Sports City in the World

And proud of it

Keith Olbermann: New York Yankees Super-Fan

Olbs at the ballgame​MSNBC blowhard Keith Olbermann appears not once, but twice in this weekend's New York Times Book Review, most notably assessing Jane Leavy's The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood, but most interestingly in a small article about his Yankees fandom. ... More >>

Ken Burns Outed as a Red Sox Fan

​The Tenth Inning, the two-part, four-hour update of Ken Burns's 1994 documentary Baseball, airs tonight and tomorrow night (September 28-29) on PBS. We caught up with the show's creator and co-director, Ken Burns, at Yankee Stadium last week before the tribute to George Steinbrenner. Are ... More >>

Vic Ziegel, One of the Best

Ziegel​Vic Ziegel of the New York Daily News died Friday, July 23 of lung cancer, still young at 72. He was one of the good guys. When I started regularly for the Village Voice in the mid-1980s, Ziegel was one of the few writers from a New York daily to accept me as a colleague when I'd se ... More >>

Ralph Houk and Yogi Berra: Let's Not Forget the Facts

​Respect for the dead doesn't demand a revision of the historical record. I liked Ralph Houk, too, and was sad to hear of his passing last Wednesday. Yes, Houk was respected by the players that he managed, particularly Mickey Mantle (whom he made the Yankees captain, or at least their unoffici ... More >>

Willie Mays Needs a Tiebreaker From These Clowns?

​Anyone out there feel as cheated by the final regular position episode of The Lineup as I did? The segment on center fielders was really the only one worth doing; the winners at the other positions -- Yogi Berra at catcher, Lou Gehrig at first, Jackie Robinson at second, Derek Jeter at short, ... More >>

Dave Winfield? 'The Lineup' Goes Off the Tracks

​After gimmes at catcher (Yogi Berra), first base (Lou Gehrig), second base (Jackie Robinson), third base (Alex Rodriguez) and shortstop (Derek Jeter), MSG's The Lineup lost all credibility last night when they picked Dave Winfield as New York baseball's all-time best left fielder. First of ... More >>

Derek Jeter Best Shortstop, but Where's at Least a Mention of Jose Reyes?

​Like the Huffington Post on steroids, MSG's weekly show The Lineup continues to tell us what we already know. In the first four episodes we were told that the best catcher in New York baseball history was Yogi Berra, the best first baseman Lou Gehrig, the best second baseman Jackie Robinson ... More >>

Where's the Suspense in Picking New York's All-Time Baseball Lineup?

​We just watched the second episode of MSG's The Lineup, which airs Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. and repeats throughout the week, and aside from the fun of watching clips of old ballplayers, we're kind of wondering what the point is. The Lineup's panel -- former players Gary Carter and Sparky Lyle ... More >>

Willie Mays Is Old, but What's the Daily News's Excuse For Remembering Things So Badly?

​Every baseball fan will want to watch Bob Costas interview Willie Mays tonight on the MLB Network's Studio 42 (8:00 pm EST). But fans should also be cautioned that Willie's memory isn't what it once was. According to a column attributed to Wayne Coffey, Michael O'Keefe, and Mark Lelinwalla in ... More >>

Jockbeat: How Important Was Don Fehr to Baseball?

The late great Dodgers and Yankees announcer Red Barber once called Major League Baseball Players Association founder Marvin Miller "one of the three most important men in baseball history, right up there with Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson." (Branch Rickey, who brought Robinson into baseball and cre ... More >>

Mickey Mantle's Touching "F*** Yogi" Ball Is Auctioned

This video of Joaquin Phoenix getting booed for not signing autographs may explain why he was so crazed and morose on the Letterman show. Phoenix should learn that it helps to cultivate a favorable impression with fans; then you can do whatever you want. For example, Mickey Mantle always found time ... More >>

Former Mets/Yankees Reflect on the Stadiums Facing Demolition

Mantle Still Hits Cleanup

The Mick’s family tries to block a collector from cashing in on his name

Stealing Mickey's Mantle

José Reyes could be the greatest—if he doesn't figure out just how much Mets fans want from him

Atlas Slugged

Alex Rodriguez is one of the greatest Yankees ever. And the whole world is on his back?

Sports

Music

Words Failed Him

Hey, Wells, Reading Is Fundamental

Sports

Sports

Blast-off in the Bronx

Just How Far Did Bonds Hit It?

Where Have You Gone, Derek Jeter?

Before We Enshrine the Local Hero, Let’s Take a Look at Some Cold Facts

NY Mirror

Subway Summary

Fleshing Out the Details of a Dynasty

Sports

The Year in Sports

Hit or Myth

Examining the Legends of the World of Sports

Sweeping Questions

The Yanks Are Champs Again. So What?

Director of the Pinstriped Pilgrimage

Tony Morante breaks down the big ballyard in the Bronx

Home Away From Home

A Yankee Fan's History of Fenway Park

Legend in the Gray Flannel Suit

Joseph Paul Dimaggio, 1914-1999

Foul Balls

Against Collecting

Swinging Sixties

An Analysis of an Exclusive Baseball Club