Mickey Mantle Retires: Today in Sports History

On March 1st, 1969, Yankees legend Mickey Mantle announced his retirement just as Spring Training was getting started. Struck with leg and knee injuries throughout his career, Mantle ultimately decided his time was up after seeing a decline in his play over his previous two seasons. Mantle's batting average dipped below .250 for both of his final two seasons, something that never occurred beforehand. Despite this, Mantle still put up seasons of 150 and 143 OPS+, showing that while he was no longer otherworldly, the superstar was still ridiculously good at playing baseball. “For the first time in nearly 50 years there is no Yankee superstar,” Robert Markus of the Chicago Tribune wrote at the time. “It all started with Babe Ruth and then the Babe was joined by Lou Gehrig, While Lou was still there along came Joe DiMaggio. In Joe’s final year in the majors Mickey Mantle came along and so the chain was unbroken. Until Saturday when Mantle hung ‘em up.” With 3 MVP's, 20 All-Star selections, 7 World Series rings, a Triple Crown, a Gold Glove and a Batting Title, Mickey Mantle was inducted into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot, securing 88.2% of the vote in 1974.