The last boy : Mickey Mantle and the end of America's childhood

Jane Leavy, the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, returns with a biography of an American original--number 7, Mickey Mantle. Drawing on more than five hundred interviews with friends and family, teammates, and opponents, she delivers the definitive account of Mantle's life, mining the mythology of The Mick for the true story of a luminous and illustrious talent with an achingly damaged soul. Meticulously reported and elegantly written, The Last Boy is a baseball tapestry that weaves together episodes from the author's weekend with The Mick in Atlantic City, where she interviewed her hero in 1983, after he was banned from baseball, with reminiscences from friends and family of the boy from Commerce, Oklahoma, who would lead the Yankees to seven world championships, be voted the American League's Most Valuable Player three times, win the Triple Crown in 1956, and duel teammate Roger Maris for Babe Ruth's home run crown in the summer of 1961--the same boy who would never grow up. As she did so memorably in her biography of Sandy Koufax, Jane Leavy transcends the hyperbole of hero worship to reveal the man behind the coast-to-coast smile, who grappled with a wrenching childhood, crippling injuries, and a genetic predisposition to alcoholism. In The Last Boy she chronicles her search to find out more about the person he was and, given what she discovers, to explain his mystifying hold on a generation of baseball fans, who were seduced by that lopsided, gap-toothed grin. It is an uncommon biography, with literary overtones: not only a portrait of an icon, but an investigation of memory itself. How long was the Tape Measure Home Run? Did Mantle swing the same way right-handed and left-handed? What really happened to his knee in the 1951 World Series? What happened to the red-haired, freckle-faced boy known back home as Mickey Charles? "I believe in memory, not memorabilia," Leavy writes in her preface. But in The Last Boy, she discovers that what we remember of our heroes--and even what they remember of themselves--is only where the story begins

""In Leavy's hands, the life of Mantle no longer defies logic: it seems invitable, She's hit a long home run."---Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A masterpiece of sports biography."---Booklist (starred review)" "Mickey Mantle's sweater hangs on the door to my office. I put it there the day I decided to write this book... It has followed me from closet to closet and house to house since he gave it to me twenty-seven years ago. I packed it away in an old garment bag right after I said goodbye to him. I thought I was done with the Mick.---from the preface" "Jane Leavy, the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, returns with a biography of an American original---number 7, Mickey Mantle, Drawing on more than five hundred interviews with friends and family, teammates, and opponents, she delivers the definitive account of Mantle's life, mining the mythology of The Mick for the true story of a luminous and illustrious talent with an achingly damaged soul." "Meticulously reported and elegantly written, The Last Boy is a baseball tapestry that weaves together episodes from the author's weekend with The Mick in Atlantic City, where she interviewed her hero in 1983, after he was banned from baseball, with reminiscences from friends and family of the boy from Commerce, Oklahoma, who would lead the Yankees to seven world championships, be voted the American League's Most Valuable Player three times, win the Triple Crown in 1956, and duel teammate Roger Maris for Babe Ruth's home run crown in the summer of 1961---the same boy who would never grow up." "As she did so memorably in her biography of Sandy Koufax, Jane Leavy transcends the hyperbole of hero worship to reveal the man behind the coast-to-coast smile, who grappled with a wrenching childhood, crippling injuries, and a genetic predisposition to alcoholism. In The Last Boy she chronicles her search to find out more about the person he was and, given what she discovers, to explain his mystifying hold on a generation of baseball fans, who were seduced by that lopsided, gap-toothed grin. It is an uncommon biography, with literary overtones: not only a portrait of an icon, but an investigation of memory itself. How long was the Tape Measure Home Run? Did Mantle swing the same way right-handed and left-handed? What really happened to the red-haired, freckle-faced boy known back home as Mickey Charles?" "I believe in memory, not memorabilia," Leavy writes in her preface. But in The Last Boy, she discovers that what we remember of our heroes---and even what they remember of themselves---is only where the story begins.

Contents My Weekend with The Mick Part One Innocence Lost, Atlantic City, April 1983 March 26, 1951: The Whole World Opened Up October 5, 1951: When Fates Converge October 23, 1951: Undermined May 27, 1949: Patrimony May 20, 1952: In the Ground April 17, 1953: One Big Day November 2, 1953: Fish Bait September 26, 1954: No Other Time Part Two A Round with The Mick, Atlantic City, April 1983 May 30, 1956: A Body Remembers May 16, 1957: Returns of the Day August 14, 1960: Season Under Siege Part Three Nightcap, Atlantic City, April 1983 September 25, 1961: Dr. Feelgood* May 18, 1962: His Best Self June 5, 1963: The Breaking Point September 26, 1968: Last Licks Part Four Dream On, Atlantic City, April 1983 June 8, 1969: Half-life of a Star December 19, 1985: 18 Below in Fargo February 5, 1988: Top of the Heap February 4, 1994: Getaway Day Part Five Riding With The Mick, Atlantic City, April 1983 August 13, 1995: The Last Boy Epilogue Acknowledgments Interview List The Kinetic Mick Who's Better? Bibliography Index Preface: My weekend with The Mick Innocence lost, Atlantic City, April 1983 March 26, 1951: The whole world opened up October 5, 1951: When fates converge October 23, 1951: Undermined May 27, 1949: Patrimony May 20, 1952: In the ground April 17, 1953: One big day November 2, 1953: Fish bait September 26, 1954: No other time A Round with the Mick, Atlantic City, April 1983 May 30, 1956: A body remembers May 16, 1957: Returns of the day August 14, 1960: Season under siege Nightcap, Atlantic City, April 1983 September 25, 1961: Dr. Feelgood May 18, 1962: His best self June 5, 1963: The breaking point September 26, 1968: Last licks Dream on, Atlantic City, April 1983 June 8, 1969: Half-life of a star December 19, 1985: 18 below in Fargo February 5, 1988: Top of the heap February 4, 1994: Getaway day Riding with The Mick, Atlantic City, April 1983 August 13, 1995: The last boy The kinetic Mick. Jane Leavy weaves together episodes from her 1983 interviews with The Mick in Atlantic City after he was banned from baseball with reminiscences from friends and family of the boy from Commerce, Oklahoma, who would lead the Yankees to seven world championships, be voted the American League's Most Valuable Player three times, win the Triple Crown in 1956, and duel teammate Roger Maris for Babe Ruth's home run crown in the summer of 1961 -- the same boy who would never grow up. Leavy reveals the man behind the coast-to-coast smile, who grappled with a wrenching childhood, crippling injuries, and a genetic predisposition to alcoholism. How long was the Tape Measure Home Run? Did Mantle swing the same way right-handed and left-handed? What really happened to his knee in the 1951 World Series? What happened to the red-haired, freckle-faced boy known back home as Mickey Charles? Award-winning sports writer Jane Leavy follows her New York Times runaway bestseller "Sandy Koufax" with the definitive biography of baseball icon Mickey Mantle. The legendary Hall-of-Fame outfielder was a national hero during his record-setting career with the New York Yankees, but public revelations of alcoholism, infidelity, and family strife badly tarnished the ballplayer's reputation in his latter years. In "The Last Boy", Leavy plumbs the depths of the complex athlete, using copious first-hand research as well as her own memories, to show why The Mick remains the most beloved and misunderstood Yankee slugger of all time. This is one of the best sports biographies I have ever read. Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, it reveals with stunning insight both the talents and the demons that drove Mickey Mantle, bringing him to life as never before. Leavy treats us to a rarely known Mantle; more flawed, more human, and more likable. A terrific read. Drawing on more than five hundred interviews with loved ones and fellow baseball players, the author crafts a deeply personal biography of the Yankee great, weaving her own memories of the major league slugger with an authoritative account of his life onand off the field Drawing on interviews with friends and family, as well as teammates and opponents, "New York Times"-bestselling author Leavy delivers the definitive account of one of the biggest talents and most tragic figures ever to play baseball--Mickey Mantle. I met Mickey Mantle in the Atlantic City hotel where my mother lost her virginity, three weeks after Pearl Harbor.