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(More customer reviews)(Review originally published in The Washington Post TV Week, May 16-22, 1999)
One of the best baseball videos ever produced, "Mickey Mantle: The American Dream Comes to Life®," came out 10 years ago and was duly acclaimed.
A current look at this tape confirms that view. For an hour, Mantle tells stories of fact, feat and, most all, frolic that center around his 18 glorious years as a hero, slugger and "bad boy" of the New York Yankees.
Mantle sits in his trophy room at home and tells his stories, (neither interviewer Lew Early nor his questions are on the tape) in a plain ol' down-home drawl, often with the back-lot grammar he learned while growing up in Commerce, Okla. It's priceless Mantle, and often while he's telling his tales, pictures and classic black-and-white film clips illustrate the people or events involved.
During the 50th anniversary year of Mantle's rookie year (1951), producer-director Lew Rothgeb and Baseball Legend Video are doubling the pleasure of fans with another hour's worth of Mantle stories that didn't make it onto the original video. Called the "Lost Stories, " they had been stored in a vault, unseen publicly. Over the years, Early said he was often asked if he had more stories of the late outfielder. This is the answer. The new video, still titled "Mickey Mantle: The American Dream Comes to Life®," contains the original hour of stories as well as the additional hour. The price is $29.95, plus $4.95 shipping. (To order, call 1-800-843-6425.) There is additional Mantle information on the Web site, [...].
Recounting too many of the stories Mantle tells in his own fashion would spoil the video for the viewer. But among his recollections, Mantle talks of his dad's dream for his son and how his father and grandfather pitched to him daily to be sure he attained the goal of playing in the major leagues. He relates how he was signed by Yankees scout Tom Greenwade on a train heading to Washington for the season's opener. He also tells of his awe on his first visit to Yankee Stadium and how he could feel the "ghosts" of legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
On the fun side, he tells of Casey Stengel's tabbing him, Billy Martin and Whitey Ford as "Whiskey Slick," mentions "nosy poker," and talks about in-flight jokes and pranks reserved for rookies (and Joe Pepitone in particular).
And he dispels the belief that he and teammate Roger Maris did not get along. He calls Maris a great player, person and friend who was amazingly precise about every phase of the game, and adds that if any of the four Mantle sons were looking for a role model, he wishes they would choose Maris.
"The Lost Stories" are every bit as warm and charming as the original batch. For baseball fans, especially Mantle buffs, this profile leaves a legacy that's as big a boomer as one of The Mick's tape-measure home runs.
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