"I can't hit anymore" - Mickey Mantle (3/1/69)...
Yankee president Michael Burke upon hearing the news of Mickey Mantle's retirement on this date in 1969 called "The Mick", "one of a kind". Burke went on to add, "this is Mickey's future and he has agonized over this major decision. We want him to do what is right for him". That said, Mantle one of the great stars of baseball for the past 18 years admitted, "I can't hit when I need to. I can't go from first to third when I need to. There's no use trying"...
The Yankees were not about to let Mickey leave on the heels of a spring training announcement and would give their teams' most famous number 7 a proper farewell by retiring Mick's number on June 8th as New York celebrated Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium. It was an emotional on-field ceremony with tons of tributes and gifts and a parting speech by Mantle...
Mickey would leave the game with a career batting average of .298, 536 home runs (behind just Ruth and Mays at the time), 4 home run titles, 3 most valuable player awards, 20 all-star game selections and 5 World Series records. He played in 12 World Series in his 18-year career...
Mickey Charles Mantle was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 88% of the vote in 1974...
More March 1 Memories...
1692) 4 women are charged as witches as the Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village in the Massachusetts Bay Colony...
1780) Pennsylvania becomes the 1st state to abolish slavery (for new-borns only)...
1790) Congress authorizes the 1st U.S. census...
1873) E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, NY begins manufacturing the 1st practical typewriter...
1912) Captain Albert Berry makes the 1st parachute jump from a moving airplane (now it wouldn't have been news if it wasn't moving, would it now ?)...
1932) The 22-month old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh is kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, NJ (the baby's body is found in May)...
1941) W47NV in Nashville begins transmitting, becoming the 1st licensed FM station in America (they start with a commercial for Nashville's Standard Candy Company. Hey they had to pay the bills right ?)...
1949) Joe Louis who held the heavyweight championship longer than any other fighter in history retires with a record of 63-3, 49 KOs and 25 successful title defenses...
1953) WJZ-AM in New York City becomes WABC...
1954) 5 Congressmen are wounded after 4 Puerto Rican nationalists open fire from the gallery of the House of Representatives...
1957) The Everly Brothers sign with Cadence Records and then record "Bye Bye Love"...
1957) Chuck Berry releases "School Days" on Chess Records...
1961) President John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps ("er-uh, let me say thiiiis about thaaaat")...
1968) 36-year old Johnny Cash and 38-year old June Carter get married (in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout ?)...
1975) The Eagles are #1 with "Best of My Love"...
1976) The former wife of Andy Williams, Claudine Longet, shoots her boyfriend (world skiing champion Spider Sabich) after he had evicted her and her 3 children. Longet is arrested for manslaughter...
1985) "HELP!" by the Beatles is used for the 1st time in a TV commercial for Lincoln-Mercury...
1989) Julianne Phillips shows Bruce Springsteen who's the boss by divorcing him...
1990) The NFL adds 2 wild-card teams to its playoff format, introducing another round of playoff games as part of their new $3.3 billion TV deal...
1991) "The Doors" movie opens starring Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison...
2003) Suspected 911 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is captured by the CIA and Pakistani agents...
To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1926) Robert ("Hogan's Heroes") Clary...
1927) Harry (Day-o) Belafonte (who will not get a card from the President)...
1935) Robert Conrad...
1944) The Who's Roger Daltrey...
1947) Alan Thicke...
1954) Catherine ("Daisy" of "Dukes of Hazzard") Bach...
1954) Ron Howard...
1956) Tim Daly ("Wings")...
Today is the 60th day of 2006 with 305 days remaining in the year, 19 days until spring and 31 days until opening day...
