On March 1, 1969, Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle announced his retirement from baseball. After years of being plagued by injury, Mantle cited his inability to “hit when I need to” as part of his reason for leaving the game. During his eighteen-year career, the Mick had a .298 batting average and hit 536 home runs, which – at the time – put him third on the all-time home run list behind Babe Ruth and Willie Mays.
