Mickey Mantle signing bonus

As I understand it, the Yankees signed Mantle because nobody else noticed him. Here's an article indicating that even legendary scout Tom Greenwade wasn't entirely persuaded at first.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1970 ... -greatness

Greenwade wasn't too impressed the first time he saw Mickey, when he was still in high school. A year later the Mick had bulked up a bit, but made errors at SS along with long hits at the first games Greenwade saw. Only after Mantle finally faced a lefty and Greenwade realized that Mickey was a switch hitter did he determine to sign him. As far as I can tell from this article, nobody else was scouting Mickey at the time. This was before the era when huge scouting combines blanketed the entire USA and much Latin America as well, so it was perfectly possible for some 17 year old kid in rural Oklahoma to go more or less unnoticed. I have to believe that somebody eventually would have noticed him, but the Yanks found him because they were looking in the right place at the right time.

For the record, the Yankees signed Yogi Berra when other teams though he was too funny looking to be a good ball player. They signed Whitey Ford even though other teams thought he was too short to be a big league pitcher. They signed Phil Rizzuto even though other teams thought he was WA-A-A-Y too short to be a major league shortstop. And they signed Joe Dimaggio after other teams shied away due to a minor league knee injury.

So think about what Yankee (and baseball) history would be like if the Yankees followed conventional wisdom and turned down Mantle, Berra, Dimag, Rizzuto, and Ford? Sometimes thinking outside the box and giving someone a chance has its value.

Wow, outstanding post and a great article. Really brings home how far scouting and information has come.
Also shows that the beginnings of the yankee dynasty were as much about hard work as financial power.

Most important of all I now have that site bookmarked and will be visiting often.

Wow, outstanding post and a great article. Really brings home how far scouting and information has come.
Also shows that the beginnings of the yankee dynasty were as much about hard work as financial power.

Most important of all I now have that site bookmarked and will be visiting often.

Thanks for the kind words, Valen! I'm glad to be of help. BTW, I remember when the late lamented Bobby Murcer, another Oklahoma country boy, said once in an interview that he was offerred more money by other teams but chose to sign with the Yankees for less because Mickey was his idol. It was scout Tom Greenwade who signed him, too. Greenwade obviously had Oklahoma covered.

Like Mickey, Murcer came up as a SS, but he chucked a few too many balls over the 1Bs head into the RF seats!—a sight I vividly remember from spring training games of the mid-1960s. So, like Mick, Murcer made the transition to OF, and the rest is history.

This post reminded me -- I actually saw Bobby Murcer play shortstop for the Yankees the year he came up. Ironically, it was on (the first) "Mickey Mantle Day," held in September 1965. Murcer played short, Mick played left. When Mick came to bat the first time, Tigers' pitcher Joe Sparma called time, walked in and shook Mick's hand. A classic moment.

Here's a blog post I wrote about the first Yankee game I saw. It was also unique in Mick's career.

http://herm4444.blogspot.com/2012/07/v- ... tvmlo.html

Thanks hotcorner, enjoyed that blogpost. I am really glad I started this thread. Some excellent responses, entertaining and educational.

Following one of the themes here read an article about the Hamilton kid who is moving from SS to CF to speed his ascent to Cincinnati. That article mentioned he is being coached by Eric Davis and that Davis was originally a SS.

And in keeping with themes of this thread that got me thinking/dreaming. What if Eric Davis had stayed at SS and at least got good enough to be a 2 rated SS. Or even a 3. Wouldn't that make a nice ATG card. Or even better what if Mickey had stayed at SS and at least got to be average and get a 3 rating. How many of us would would change our minds about playing a 3 at SS if he put up Mantle's 56 or 61 numbers? How many of us would even use that card if he were rated a 4 at short?