Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 - August 13, 1995) is regarded as one of the best baseball players of all time. He played his entire professional career for the New York Yankees.
He was born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma.
Mantle was a switch-hitter whose career was mostly in center field. He had played shortstop in the minor leagues, but on arrival at the Yankees became the regular centerfielder (playing only a few games at shortstop and third base in 1952 to 1955) until 1967, when he was moved to first base. As a centerfielder, he replaced Joe DiMaggio, whose retirement coincided with Mantle's arrival. Among Mantle's many accomplishments are All-time World Series records for homeruns (18), runs scored (42), and runs-batted-in (40).
On January 16, 1961 Mantle became the highest paid baseball player by signing a $75,000 contract.
In 1974, Mantle was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame; his uniform number 7 was retired by the Yankees.
He died in Dallas, Texas.