Did Mickey Mantle play 17 years with a torn ACL?

[joeybee12]

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/mickey-mantle-was-a-neuromuscular-genius-and-may-have-played-his-whole-career-with-a-torn-acl.php

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times wrote about Jane Leavy's new Mickey Mantle biography and included this interesting tidbit regarding the Hall of Famer's infamous 1951 knee injury:

Her research into Mantle's injury history rejects his claim that his right knee was operated on after he fell over a drain cover at Yankee Stadium while stopping to let Joe DiMaggio catch a fly ball in the 1951 World Series.

When Mantle had surgery two years later, there was no established procedure to fix a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which she believes Mantle played on for the rest of his career. The orthopedic surgeon who analyzed the case history that Leavy compiled said it was likely that Mantle compensated for the torn ACL with what the orthopedist called "neuromuscular genius."
There are no further details about the knee injury in Sandomir's article--the goal is to get you to buy the book, after all, and the basic information about the injury is well known--but Mantle was a 19-year-old rookie in the aforementioned World Series and the notion that he went on to play 17 seasons with a torn ACL is pretty extraordinary. Mantle won three MVPs, hit 523 homers, stole 145 bases, and played 12,000 innings in center field after Leavy claims he tore his ACL.

[El Supremo]

1. No. He just played the part of a jerk for more than 17 years.

Did I ever mention that my dad flew the Yankees to and from road games? His airline had the charter contract for a few years. Once he got the whole team to autograph a sheet of airline stationery and gave it to me along with a sheet with just Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle's signatures.

My father was always a Yankees fan. Maybe that's why we didn't get along.

I'll tell you more in my next installment of "Why I hate the Yankees".

[madinmaryland]

2. Uhh. Who is the jerk...

Mantle, your father, or you?

:shrug:

[JonLP24]

3. Mantle I think

I vaguely remember El telling a story here about meeting Mantle and didn't like him after that. I think it was Mantle, could be some other famous Yankee.

[El Supremo]

4. That's right.

And "The Mick" lived in Dallas off of Walnut Hill Ln. For several years my school bus drove right in front of his house.

[madinmaryland]

9. And what did he do to you? Did he say to you..

"Fuck off little runt"??

[joeybee12]

5. Am I first to say the obvious? Yeah, but he played drunk for 17 years

so it balances out.

Snark aside, interesting if true.

[trumad]

6. Yeah---and Ted Williams was a peach...

who gives a fuck that Mantle was a jerk---

He was also one of the best ball players in the history of the game.

[El Supremo]

7. So were Barry Bonds and Ty Cobb!

[trumad]

8. At least Mantle and Cobb played without the juice...

OK--Mantles may have been Vodka.

[Faygo Kid]

11. +1

Casting the first stone, and all of that. I remember him in '61, when I was a kid. He wasn't a jerk; he had problems that weren't dealt with then. You are right: One of the best.

[bluedigger]

10. Based on my own experience, maybe.

I had reconstructive ACL surgery back in 2001. The surgeon said that my ACL had been completely ruptured for at least 10 years prior to surgery. I'm no pro ball player, but I led a physically demanding life. So, yeah, I think it's possible.