The Stat That Proves Mickey Mantle Was Unstoppable Year-Round
It didn't matter if it was the spring, summer, or fall -- The Mick was always doing damage at the plate.
There weren’t many things that legendary New York Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle didn’t accomplish during his incredible 18-year MLB career. But outside of all the accolades, it was his elite consistency throughout the regular season (and postseason) that stands out the most.
The Mick did a little bit of everything — he was a 20-time All-Star (no, that’s not a typo), a three-time MVP, a Triple Crown winner, a Gold Glove winner, and a seven-time World Series champ.
He’s also one of the best (if not the best) switch-hitters we’ve ever seen. Mantle’s 536 career homers are the most ever by someone who could hit from both sides of the plate. While his 54 taters in 1961 finished second behind Roger Maris, it’s still a single-season record for switch hitters.
And it didn’t matter what time of year it was. If Mantle’s name was called, his chances of doing damage with the bat were extremely high.
Mantle’s Monthly Breakdown Is Every Hitter’s Dream Come True
When I pull up a player’s Baseball-Reference or FanGraphs page, I love looking for trends, whether it’s between multiple seasons or a specific situation during a single season.
For legends like Mantle, it’s hard to find a scenario where he didn’t perform well on offense. That’ll happen when you post a lifetime .298/.421/.557 line with 536 homers, 1,509 RBI, and 1,676 runs scored.
But still, sometimes there’s a situation where a player, even as good as Mantle, struggled, right? Well, not quite. I was wondering what The Commerce Comet’s breakdown of monthly production throughout the regular season looked like. While he enjoyed hitting homers during the middle three months more than others, his rate stats all looked eerily similar to one another:
April: .299/.435/.537 with 42 homers and 127 RBI in 222 games
May: .308/.424/.589 with 108 homers and 297 RBI in 429 games
June: .290/.416/.567 with 113 homers and 316 RBI in 466 games
July: .307/.421/.572 with 111 homers and 410 RBI in 449 games
August: .296/.418/.539 with 95 homers and 254 RBI in 454 games
Sept./Oct.: .287/.415/.519 with 67 homers and 205 RBI in 381 games
So, the end of the regular season was a little slower than the rest of the year for Mantle. However, it’s not like he was a poor finisher — he posted a slugging percentage of at least .519 in each month of the regular season… for his career! That’s very impressive.
It’s also hard not to look at May, June, and July and notice how those numbers jump off the page more than the others. Playing in more games during those months certainly played a role. But still, his three highest monthly OPS marks came during this stretch (1.013 in May, .983 in June, and .993 in July). This period also included about 62% of his total homers and 68% of his total RBI.
His Postseason Numbers Were Pretty OK, Too
You know I couldn’t leave out Mantle’s postseason body of work, right?! At that time in baseball history, making the playoffs simply meant going straight to the World Series.
Mantle appeared in the Fall Classic a total of 12 times. Across 65 games played, the switch hitter posted a .257/.374/.535 line with 18 homers, six doubles, and two triples, along with 40 RBI and 42 runs scored.
Even with all the years the World Series has been around, The Mick’s 18 round-trippers on the game’s biggest stage are still an MLB record. It’s a record that will also likely be safe for quite a while.
Four active players are currently within the top 27 of the World Series home run leaderboard, but none of them have more than seven:
George Springer: 7
Freddie Freeman: 6
Corey Seager: 6
Alex Bregman: 6
Mickey Mantle last played in a big-league ballgame during the 1968 season. That was nearly six decades ago. His legacy as a legendary slugger — and one of the best switch hitters the game has ever seen — is alive and well. Oh, and his consistency at the plate from Game 1 of the regular season to the final contest of the World Series is something every ballplayer should be trying to emulate year after year.
Single-Season HR Performances | Career HR Performances | Postseason HR Leaders | HR Derby Performances
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Goodness, Mantle's July numbers -- can we retroactively call him "Mr. July," to go with the other nicknames? Great article, Matt!
Great info on this piece Matt! This was great and you have great stat details! The Commerce Comet was hands down the greatest switch hitter ever! one stat i always find neat is that in 1961 Mantle was intentionally walked 127 times and Roger Maris got no respect never getting intentionally walked once! It was unfortunate that Mantle got hurt at the end of that season because it would of been great if the HR chase came down to game 162! and one of my favorite Mantle all time moments was the walk off HR vs. the Cardinals in game 3 of the 1963 WS.