May 1, 1951 Comiskey Park - Mick's first major league, regular season home run. Mantle was fizzling, the promise of spring was fading, he was hitting an anemic .222 and had yet to hit a home run.

White Sox right handed journeyman, reliever, Randy Gumpert toes the mound in the sixth inning with a runner on and prepares to deliver to Mantle. Mick batting left-handed swings and connects solidly. A line drive sails over center fielder Jim Busby's head and into the stands, some 450 feet from home plate. Gumpert remembers the pitch as "a screwball that didn't screw too much."

White Sox pitcher Hal Brown recalled that Mick's blast "was hit so hard it got there in one second and rattled around in the seats for what seemed like five minutes.

Gumpert was not aware that Mantle had had hit his first major-league home run off him until 1956 or 1957. "I was sitting in the clubhouse in St. Pete (as a Yankee spring training instructor) and Mantle reminded me that the homer was his first."

After his first week in the major's Mantle had managed an RBI in the opener and by the end of the first week was hitting .320. Then, for the first time in his baseball life, he slumped. As his hitting slipped, the pressure mounted and he was desperately in need of a big game.

450 feet.

Posted on

Saturday 22 May 2021

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Albums

• You Must Be Mick / 1951 Spring Training & Regular Season Tape Measure Shots

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