Meeting Mickey Mantle

Meeting Mickey Mantle



Meeting Mickey Mantle would be a dream comes true. A dream

realized for Dan on his 38th birthday, when his wife honored him

with a week long stay at the Yankee Fantasy Camp in Fort

Lauderdale, Florida.



Dan played with some of the Yankee legends: Bobby Murcer, Mickey

Rivers, Ron Guidry, Moose Skowron and Catfish Hunter. The games

were great and being on the same field with some of the players

he had watched on TV or at Yankee Stadium was mesmerizing.



But what made the week particularly special was the friendship

he nurtured with his hero. The Mick even gave Dan a nickname -

“Nails” for the scrappy, Lenny Dykstra-way that Dan played.

While Mickey didn’t play in these games, he did spend a lot of

time with all the campers. Dan took this time to get to know

Mickey. He loved his down to earth quality. He loved his

honesty. He loved being around him.



“Getting to know Mickey Mantle was as much fun as playing with

the pros,” Dan told me later. 



In one of the games that Mickey was umpiring, Dan strolled to

the plate with the bases loaded. His big chance was here and he

didn’t miss the opportunity as he walloped a long double into

the gap. He hit a rope, and as he glided into second base Mickey

yelled to him, “You hit the sh*^ out of that ball, Nails!”



This was like a call from God. Hearing his idol tell him how

well he hit the ball was more fulfilling than Dan could ever

have imagined.



What could be better than meeting and then hanging out with

Mickey Mantle? How about being recognized as a ballplayer by

your childhood hero?



It doesn’t get any better than that.



This story was contributed by Dan Markim. A long time Yankee fan.



Written by Aron Wallad