Tribute To ‘The Mick’

Comments on New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle, who died Sunday in Dallas at the age of 63:

“He is greatest player I ever played with and one of my best friends. Mickey and I had a lot of fun.”

- Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford

“What can you say about Mickey, after you say he was one of the greatest? He had talent he didn’t realize he had. If he had (Joe) DiMaggio’s serious, bear-down attitude, there’s no telling how great he could have been. With his one good leg, he could outrun everyone.”

- former teammate Gene Woodling

“He transcends any game and any team. Just as Jesse Owens was to track and field and Michael Jordan is to basketball, Mickey Mantle is to baseball. Great athletes like Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio transcend the game. They are heroes to every fan. Mickey Mantle certainly is one.”

- Yankees owner George Steinbrenner

“Mickey meant an awful lot to me. He was a tremendous athlete. People didn’t understand him the way they should have. He played 10 years on one leg. But more than that, he was a tremendous person.”

- home run king Henry Aaron

“I played with him for nine years and marveled at how hard he hit and how fast he ran. How can anyone ever forget the catch he made on Gil Hodges’ line drive to save Don Larsen’s perfect game?”

- former shortstop Tony Kubek

“I remember he used to get very mad at himself if he failed to hit. I’ll never forget how hard he played all the time, especially the catch he made in my perfect game.” - Don Larsen, who pitched a perfect game in the 1956 World Series

“They’re going to remember him for being the catalyst for the Yankees all those years. He was a pretty damn good ballplayer.”

- former St. Louis pitcher Bob Gibson

“He’s part of Americana, part of the folklore of this country: a guy who grew up in Oklahoma and became arguably the greatest power-hitting switch-hitter ever.”

- Oakland A’s pitcher Ron Darling

“When he took BP, everybody would kind of stop what they were doing and watch.”

- former pitcher Jim Kaat

“Mickey was a great, great player in the organization and a mythical figure in baseball. He’s kind of like a Babe Ruth or a Joe DiMaggio. He’s part of the legacy of the great Yankees players.”

- New York Yankees captain Don Mattingly

“He’s always had an impact on me. He was my hero, so to speak, when I was a young kid growing up. I think a lot of kids intended to be a switch hitter and play center field for the Yankees. I used to watch those Saturday afternoon Game of the Week telecasts with Tony Kubek and Bobby Richardson and Bill Skowron and Yogi Berra and all the great Yankees, but Mantle was the star.”

- Yankees manager Buck Showalter

“It’s a sad day for baseball and an especially sad day for me. We lost a legend today, and I lost a real friend.”

- Houston Astros pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, a former teammate

“Mick has done more good for organ donations than probably anybody else ever has. Don’t let Mick’s untimely death deter from this enormous impact he’s had on his fellow man.”

- Dr. Goran Klintmalm, head of the transplant program at Baylor University Medical Center