Mickey Mantle, recovering as well as doctors could hope from his emergency liver transplant, was shifted out of an intensive care unit at Baylor University Medical Center late in the morning.

Describing the former Yankee slugger’s condition as “serious but stable,” Dr. Goran Klintmalm, medical director of the Baylor Transplant Institute, said Mantle remained exhausted from his Thursday morning operation.

But, Klintmalm added, “The most acute danger seems to have passed.”

Klintmalm spoke of the move from intensive care as “the phase where life begins again.” During the morning, the last drainage tube was removed from Mantle’s stomach, and he will soon be moved into a chair.

Pearson grabs victory

Larry Pearson celebrated his 200th start on the series with a victory in the Carolina Pride-Red Dog 250 NASCAR Busch Grand National stock car race at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway.