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March 18
⚾ Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays Are Back! March 18
TODAY ON THE DAILY HIGHLIGHT
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March 18, 1985 -- Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Hall of Fame members Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had been banned from association with organized baseball by former commissioner Bowie Kuhn due to their employment by Atlantic City casinos. Ueberroth's ruling will allow both men to pursue employment with major league teams.
'They are free as of today to be employed by baseball, and any type of restriction heretofore placed on them is removed,' Ueberroth said.
Mays was required to quit his job as a coach with the New York Mets in 1979 when he accepted a promotional position with the Bally's Park Place Casino Hotel. Mantle lost his position as a spring training batting instructor with the New York Yankees in 1983 when he was hired in a similar capacity by the Claridge Casino Hotel.
'I am very pleased to be back in baseball even though I didn't think I did anything wrong to leave baseball,' Mays said.
'Like Willie, I know we never did anything wrong,' Mantle added.
Mantle said Kuhn warned him before he accepted the Claridge job that he would have to quit his appearances with the Yankees.
'I have never said anything against him (Kuhn),' Mantle said. 'He warned me ... so I did it with my eyes wide open.'
Ueberroth said he 'found no fault' with Kuhn's strict policy and was only making two exceptions to the rule. But he said he was working on new guidelines concerning affiliations with gambling industries because 'the whole world of gambling is changing.'
Major hotel chains are branching into the casino business and a prohibition of baseball players from their employment would affect 'hundreds,' Ueberroth said.
Kuhn said he would not have lifted the bans had he still been the baseball commissioner, but he also said he understood the new position struck by his successor.
Game of the DayOctober 16, 1962 World Series Game 7 New York Yankees vs San Francisco Giants
Mantle & Mays square off in this Game 7 Classic
Did you know?
March 18, 1981 — After being declared a free agent because the Red Sox mailed his contract one day past the contractual deadline, Carlton Fisk signs a 5 year – $2.9 million deal with the White Sox. On Opening Day, the 33 year-old catcher will hit an eighth-inning three-run home run to tie the score, 3-3, that proves to be the difference in Chicago’s eventual 5-3 victory over his old team at Fenway Park.
🎙️ Classic Baseball Moment of the Day! 🎙️
Don Larsen(1956), Sandy Koufax(1965), Bob Gibson (64,67 and 68), Mantle, DiMaggio, Williams (1941), Clemente 1971, Brooks 1970, Oakland Three Peat and so many others!
With Classic Baseball Broadcasts, you can relive these legendary moments through the actual radio calls that made history!
Relive baseball history, one play at a time. Dive into the archives and feel the magic of baseball’s golden era.
Trivia:
Willie Mays & Mickey Mantle are two of the greatest homerun hitters in MLB history. They played against each other twive in the World Series, in 1951 & 1962. How many total homeruns did they hit? 1,2 3,4, 5, 6,7, 8, or 0
Hint: The answer is below
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
March 18, 1942 – Two black players, Jackie Robinson and Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox during spring training in Pasadena, California. Sox manager Jimmie Dykes allows the two to work out but later dismisses the Robinson will have to wait five years before making his major league debut. Dykes will let the two work out with team but will dismiss them, telling them that it was not his decision who could be signed and it will take five more years until Robinson breaks baseballs color barrier.
March 18, 1953 –Braves Win Last Game for Boston, before moving to Milwaukee.
Born: Friday, March 18, 1955 in Merced, CA USA . . . Dwayne Murphy his biggest offensive year came in 1984, when he hit 33 home runs and drove in 88 runs. He was one of the best defensive players in the game, winning six straight Gold Gloves from 1980 to 1985. His signature play became a trademark of sorts for him – his hat blowing off his head on virtually every play he made, from tracking down routine fly balls to making spectacular catches deep in center.
March 18, 1958 -- Emmett Kelly, the Dodgers' resident 'tramp' in Brooklyn, announces his contract has not been renewed to join the team when they begin playing in L.A. this season. The veteran circus performer believes the size of the Coliseum, the club's new home on the West Coast, is just "too big for one clown".
March 18 , 1962 - With Houston Is still three weeks away from it» debut in the National League and the crowds get bigger every week. An estimated 17.000 visited the sites of the Houston Colts’ temporary baseball stadium and the adjacent domed sports stadium, that will be called the Astro Dome, now under construction, Officials of the Colts invited folks out to look the place over after large crowds visited the area the previous two Sundays, Last week a policeman estimated the tournout at 8.500 to 9.000. Ben Gerhart of the police traffic division said most visitors took a look at the stadiums and left A few hundred stayed to hear a broadcast of Houston's Arizona exhibition game on the stadium speaker
Quote of the day:
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'I am very pleased to be back in baseball even though I didn't think I did anything wrong to leave baseball,' Willie Mays said.
'Like Willie, I know we never did anything wrong,' Mickey Mantle added.
MILESTONES
Birthday Boys
Al Benton, Dick Littlefield, Elbie Fletcher, Fred Hatfield, and Pat Jarvis
Debuts
None today
Final Games
None Today
Passings
Charlie Lau, Charlie Metro, Gene Bearden and Jack Quinlan
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Trivia Answer:
Zero. Mantle has the all time record with 18 career World Series game homeruns, but failed to hit one in 51 and 62 playing in 9 games. Mays played in all 13 games and tallied two doubles but no homeruns in 50 at bats.
