September 28, 1968: Mickey Mantle plays what turns out to be his last major league game. It's an unseasonably warm early Autumn Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park in Boston, the next-to-last day of a Major League Baseball regular season that sees both teams, the New York Yankees and the hosts and Pennant holders, the Boston Red Sox, well out of the American League race, which has been won by the Detroit Tigers. Nevertheless, a decent crowd of 25,534 comes out, possibly suspecting that it might be Mickey's last game -- 15,000 more than came to see off hometown hero Ted Williams 8 years to the day earlier.
In the top of the 1st inning, Mantle comes to bat against Jim Lonborg, the previous season's AL Cy Young Award winner, with Horace Clarke on 1st base and 1 out. Clarke steals 2nd, but that doesn't help Mantle much: He pops up to short left field, where the ball is caught by Sox shortstop Rico Petrocelli -- with some irony, a New York native (from Brooklyn).
Mickey gets another standing ovation. In the bottom of the 1st, instead of Mickey, the player who goes out to play 1st base is Andy Kosco. Manager Ralph Houk had switched center fielder Mantle and 1st baseman Joe Pepitone at the start of the 1967 season, to ease the strain on Mickey's legs. Had there been a designated hitter at the time, it would have been Mickey.
Mel Stottlemyre gives up 3 runs on 3 hits and 5 walks in 6 innings. Lindy McDaniel pitches perfect ball the rest of the way. With some irony, it is Mantle's replacements who are the home run heroes, Kosco and Pepitone. The Yankees win, 4-3.
The teams close out the season the next day. Kosco starts at 1st, and again the Yankees win by a score of 4-3. The following March 1, having defied the rumors of his retirement long enough to go to Spring Training in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Mickey realizes, at age 37, that it's just too much for him, and announces his retirement.
He finishes with a .298 lifetime batting average, 2,415 hits including 536 home runs, 12 Pennants and 7 World Series. For perspective, in their entire history, 1901 to 2017, the Red Sox have won 13 Pennants and 8 World Series.
It has now been more than half a century since Mickey Mantle played a regular-season game. So, if you remember him as an active player, you are, at the least, 60 years old. If you remember him in his prime, you're on Social Security and Medicare.
I got to see Mickey Mantle on Old-Timers' Days. So I did get to see Mickey Mantle in his Pinstriped uniform Number 7. But I never got to see Mickey Mantle play baseball in person. So if you are one of those over-60 people, I have some envy for you.
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September 28, 1968 was a Saturday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball that day:
* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at Shea Stadium.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron went 0-for-3, although he did draw a walk.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Willie Mays entered the game as a pinch-hitter, stayed in to play center field, and drew walks in both of his plate appearances. Willie McCovey hit a home run. Pete Rose went 5-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Eventual National League Rookie of the Year Johnny Bench went 2-for-4 with a walk.
* The Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 1-for-4.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3, but the Cubs got home runs from Adolfo Phillips, Willie Smith and Ron Santo. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Willie Stargell did not play.
* The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock went 1-for-4 with a stolen base. Steve Carlton started for the Cards, but was not involved in the decision.
* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Martin Pattin (7 innings) and Jim McGlothin (2) combined on a 7-hit shutout. The only run was driven in by a Roger Repoz single in the 7th inning.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3, although he did draw a walk. Rod Carew only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and drew a walk. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4 with a walk.
* And the Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Indians completed their schedules the day before.
All the NFL games this weekend were played the next day. But 1 game was played in the American Football League: The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Miami Dolphins, 48-3 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
Also on this day, it was a big day in college football. Purdue University, with the Number 1-ranked football team in the country, makes the short trip across northern Indiana from West Lafayette to South Bend to play Number 2-ranked Notre Dame. Number 1 vs. Number 2 matchups this early in the season were always rare, and, with the Bowl Championship Series and now the College Football Playoff system in effect, rankings are now no longer done until mid-October, so it can never happen this early again.
Led by head coach Jack Moellenkopf and star running back Leroy Keyes, Purdue win, 37-22. But 2 weeks later, they will travel to Number 4 Ohio State, and lose 13-0, swinging the Number 1 ranking, the Big Ten Championship, the league's Rose Bowl bid, and a shot at the National Championship, all of them, to the Buckeyes, who would go on to win them all.
Purdue, which had tied for the Big Ten title the season before, and, with the Big Ten's no-repeat rule for their Rose Bowl berth blocking titlists Michigan State, won the Rose Bowl the season before, would also go on to lose to Minnesota, finishing 8-2. Notre Dame would finish 7-2-1, also losing to Michigan State, and being tied by Southern California, and their star running back, who would win the Heisman Trophy: O.J. Simpson.
Keyes would finish 2nd to O.J. in the Heisman voting, and go on to a brief NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles, and an administrative career in Purdue's Athletic Department. O.J. would have a Hall of Fame pro career. At this point, though, he would probably prefer to switch lives with Keyes.
Among other games that day:
* Number 3 USC beat Northwestern, 24-7 at Dyche Stadium (now Ryan Field) in Evanston, Illinois.
* Number 4 Penn State beat Kansas State, 25-9 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.
* Number 5 Florida beat Florida State, 9-3 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.
* Number 6 Texas were upset by Texas Tech, 31-22 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.
* Number 7 Alabama beat Southern Mississippi, 17-14 at Ladd Stadium in Mobile, Alabama.
* Number 8 UCLA beat Washington State, 31-21 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* Number 9 Nebraska beat Number 17 Minnesota, 17-14 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis.
* Number 11 Ohio State beat Southern Methodist (SMU), 35-14 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
* Number 12 Kansas beat Number 13 Indiana, 38-20 at Memorial Stadium (now David Booth Memorial Stadium) in Lawrence, Kansas.
* Army lost to Vanderbilt, 17-13 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.
* Navy lost to Boston College, 49-15 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
* In the "Backyard Brawl," West Virginia beat Pittsburgh, 38-15 at Pitt Stadium.
* And Rutgers beat Princeton, 20-14 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey.
Also, what would become my Alma Mater, East Brunswick High School, played Madison Township High School, later renamed Old Bridge, in football. EB won, 18-6, at the stadium that would later be named Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
Also, Arsenal hosted Sunderland at Highbury, and drew 0-0.
Also on this day, Naomi Ellen Watts is born in Shoreham, Kent, England. She's one of the top actresses of her generation. Hawaiian actress Kelly Hu had been born earlier in the year, on February 13. Imagine a celebrity baseball game with Hu's on 1st, and Watts on 2nd.
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