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Mickey Mantle Wins Second MVP In 1957!
Sometimes I think if I had the same body and the same natural ability and someone else’s brain, who knows how good a player I might have been. -Mickey Mantle
Sixty-eight years ago yesterday, November 22, 1957, Mickey Mantle edged out the great Ted Williams to win the American League MVP. In a controversial vote, the 26-year-old Mantle won the award for the second time, his first coming the previous year. He would win it a third time in 1962.
Mickey certainly had a great year in 1957, hitting .365, with 34 home runs, 94 RBIs, a league-leading 121 runs, .512 on-base percentage, .665 slugging average, and a remarkable 221 OPS+. What catches our attention 68 years later, however, is that Ted Williams arguably had the better year and bested Mickey in almost everyone of these categories, leading the league in batting average (.388), on-base percentage (.526), slugging average (.731), OPS (1.257), and OPS+ (238). He also out-slugged Mickey with 38 home runs.
Of course, in Mickey’s favor is that he was also the MVP on the 1957 Yankees that won the 1957 American League pennant with an 98-56 (.636) record; while Ted was on a Red Sox team that finished in third place with a 82-72 (.532) record, 16 games behind the Yankees. I also read that one reason for Mickey topping the “Splindid Splinter” in spite of his great year is that two Chicago sportswriters listed Ted in the ninth and tenth places on their ballots.
Here’s a few words about Mickey’s Hall of Fame career, edited from earlier posts. Also look above to see a photo tribute to the Commerce Comet, featuring some of our favorite Mickey Mantle photos. If there ever was any question of how Mickey Mantle generated the power to hit 536 home runs, it’s answered in the featured photo. Check out those shoulders and legs…they’re mammoth!
Mickey’s Great Career
Mickey Mantle was the most feared hitter on the most successful team in baseball history. He endured great physical pain over the course of his 18-year career (1951-1968). He is generally regarded as the greatest switch hitter of all time and is undoubtedly one the greatest all-around players in baseball history. He had a lifetime batting average of .298 with 2415 hits, 536 home runs, 1509 RBIs, 1733 walks, .421 on-base percentage, and a .557 slugging percentage.
Just a few of Mickey’s many career highlights include: 20-time All-Star, seven-time World Series champion, three-time American League MVP, Triple Crown winner (1956), Gold Glove award winner (1962), American League batting leader (1956), four-time American League home run leader, and American League RBI leader (1956).
Mantle was blessed with all-American boy good looks, amazing physical strength, and blazing speed. Over time he developed into a superb defensive center fielder. Had he not been plagued with injuries, and had he taken better care of his body, there is no telling what he might have done to the baseball record book. In spite of all he accomplished, his manager Casey Stengel always lamented that he could have done so much more.
Mickey Mantle’s #7 has been retired by the Yankees. He is a Monument Park honoree. Mickey was selected for the Major League All-Century team and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Mickey passed away at the Baylor University Medical Center on August 13, 1995, aged 63, with his wife Merlyn and son David at his side.
Maybe some of our Red Sox fan readers can add some insight in to why the sportswriters favored Mickey that year over Ted. Both certainly had great years.
Gary Livacari
Information: Excerpts edited from Mickey Mantle Wikipedia page; statistics from Baseball Reference.com
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Fine essay, Gary. I think you hit the nail on the head with the decisive factor being Mantle playing for a pennant winning team and Williams’ Red Sox finishing third well off the pace. Interesting too is your mention that two Chicago writers placed Williams ninth and tenth on their respective ballots.
I’m sure that vote was tough on Sox fans, but maybe not as much as the one ten years earlier when Williams lost the MVP by a single point to Joe DiMaggio, even though Williams won the Triple Crown and led in virtually every offensive category. Again, the Yankees won the pennant that year. But also interesting in that vote, is the rumor that a Boston writer (Boston, no less) left Williams completely off his ballot.
Those voting curiosities, had they not occurred, would likely have led to a different result in both years, and seem aimed at Williams in punitive fashion, leaving history to wonder why. But as a lifelong Yankees fan, I’m not complaining.
Thanks Ron…great insights!
There’s more to this than meets the eye. The Mick always was pleasant to his fans. Teddy Ballgame was aloof to the Boston fans, almost dismissively so. He had his reasons, given the fickle nature of the Fenway fanatics. This turned off the sportswriters, not just in Beantown but in all the other cities of the American League as well. I grew up in western Mass., where the Red Sox weren’t gods – but the Yanks always were devils. I was a rabid Tigers fan growing up. Part of that was because the Red Sox wouldn’t recognize a quality pitcher to save their lives. (Gimme a break – Bill Monboquette being a star pitcher??) Detroit recognized the value of excellent pitching and that alone was worth 20 games in the win column, year after year. I still consider the 1968 World Series the best I ever saw. Also think 1961 was a tragedy…the Tigers won, what, 103 games that year and STILL finished five games behind the Yankees? Norm Cash had a career year and still was eclipsed by Mantle and Maris.
Oh, well – had Williams been a friendlier guy, he might have won the MVP award. He certainly had the numbers.
Thanks Frank…very interesting observations.