Mickey Mantle in the Yankees' greatest decade

Mickey Mantle / Topps

Mickey Mantle is a name that often comes up in baseball conversations. He had a rough start to his career with the Yankees. He made his debut with the Yankees in 1951. Mantle replaced Joe DiMaggio whose career had ended the prior season. He faced the pressure of living up to the former Yankee great. Due to the pressure, he struggled putting the ball in play and struck out frequently. Mantle was sent down to a farm team for a while but was back just in time for the playoffs and played in his first World Series. With the Yankees, he won seven World Series titles.

He improved his next few seasons and then broke out in 1956 when he won the Triple Crown and a MVP award. That year was considered the best in his whole career. In 1961, he and his teammate Roger Maris were chasing Babe Ruth’s season home run record of 60. Many Yankee traditionalists were angered by Mantle and Maris chasing Ruth's long-lasting record. Many newspaper and media did not even give Mantle and Maris any praise. Maris in the end won the race beating Ruth's record. In this decade, Mantle had some of his best season on the Yankees. He status as one of the Yankees' top players will never change.