Mickey Mantle's 1956 Triple Crown

May 30, 1956. Memorial Day at the Stadium, first game of a doubleheader against Washington. Mickey Mantle, batting left-handed, took a 1-0 pitch from Pedro Ramos and launched it toward the roof. The ball struck the right-field facade about 18 inches from leaving Yankee Stadium entirely. Before the day was over he'd homered again -- No. 20, twelve games ahead of Babe Ruth's 1927 pace. That was the summer Mantle hit .353 with 52 home runs and 130 RBI for the New York Yankees and won the Triple Crown.

He led both leagues in all three. He was 24.

The Unfinished Business

A year earlier, Mantle had already been the most dangerous hitter in the American League. He led it in home runs, walks, on-base percentage and slugging in 1955, and none of it was enough. Al Kaline hit .340 in Detroit, the RBI title went elsewhere, and Yogi Berra took home the MVP. (The 1955 near-miss has its own page, and it's a good read if you enjoy frustration.)

He didn't waste any time in 1956. On Opening Day, April 17, at Griffith Stadium, Mantle hit two home runs over the 31-foot center-field wall while President Eisenhower watched from behind the Senators' dugout. The Yanks won 10-4. Ike came for a ballgame and got a preview of the whole summer.

Chasing the Babe

The Memorial Day shot is the one people still talk about. The New York Times checked the Stadium blueprints and put the point of impact 370 feet from home plate and 117 feet off the ground. Nobody ever hit a fair ball out of the old place. Mantle missed by about a foot and a half.

He knew it, too.

It was the best I ever hit a ball left-handed.

Twenty homers by Memorial Day meant a summer of Ruth comparisons. The pace didn't hold (it rarely does), but by September the question had changed from whether he'd catch the Babe to whether he'd catch everybody else in three categories at once.

The Clincher in Chicago

September 18, 1956. Comiskey Park, tie game, top of the 11th. Mantle swung at the first pitch he saw from Chicago left-hander Billy Pierce and drove it into the upper deck in left. Whitey Ford and Bob Grim shut Chicago down in the bottom half, and the Yankees won 3-2 to clinch the pennant -- their eighth in 10 seasons.

It was home run No. 50. Only seven men had ever hit 50 in a season before him, and no Yankee had done it since Ruth hit 54 in 1928. (Lou Gehrig topped out at 49, which tells you how hard that number is to reach.)

Holding Off Williams and Kaline

The home run title was never in doubt. Mantle finished with 52, twenty more than anyone else in the league. The other two crowns were a fight.

Ted Williams chased him for the batting title right to the end. Mantle finished at .353, Williams at .345. Kaline, meanwhile, drove in 128 runs for the Tigers and came within two of stealing the RBI crown. Two RBI. Three more in Detroit and Mantle has a great season instead of a historic one.

He held on to all three, and his numbers topped every National Leaguer's too. Nobody has led both leagues in all three Triple Crown categories since.

The Only Switch-Hitter

Mantle became the second Yankee to win a Triple Crown, after Gehrig in 1934. He's still the only switch-hitter ever to win one. Three men have won it in the American League since -- Frank Robinson in 1966, Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and Miguel Cabrera in 2012 -- and none of them did it batting from both sides.

The writers didn't need to deliberate. Mantle got all 24 first-place votes and 336 points for his first MVP. Berra finished second, 150 points back (that's what happens when your own teammate wins the Triple Crown). Mantle also took the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete in the country.

October Encore

Then he carried it into the World Series against Brooklyn. Mantle hit three home runs in the Series, and the biggest came in Game 5 on October 8: a fourth-inning solo shot off Sal Maglie that broke a scoreless tie in Don Larsen's perfect game. An inning later he ran down Gil Hodges' drive to deep left-center to keep the perfecto alive. The Yankees won 2-0, and then won the Series in seven.

What Came Next

The 1957 season brought a .365 average and a second straight MVP, and some people will tell you that was the better year. They've got the on-base numbers on their side. But 1957 didn't have a Triple Crown in it, and it didn't have the facade.

Decades later, Mantle wrote a book about the 1956 season with Phil Pepe. He called it My Favorite Summer 1956. Of all the summers he could've picked, he went with the one where a baseball came 18 inches from leaving the Stadium.

Frequently Asked Questions

What were Mickey Mantle's stats when he won the Triple Crown?

Mantle hit .353 with 52 home runs and 130 RBI in 1956, leading both the American and National Leagues in all three categories. He also led the AL with 132 runs, 376 total bases and a .705 slugging percentage, and he posted a 1.169 OPS in 150 games.

Did Mickey Mantle win the MVP in 1956?

Yes. Mantle won the 1956 AL MVP unanimously, receiving all 24 first-place votes and 336 points. Teammate Yogi Berra finished second and Detroit's Al Kaline finished third. It was the first of Mantle's three MVP awards.

How close was the 1956 Triple Crown race?

The home run title wasn't close -- Mantle's 52 were 20 more than anyone else in the AL. The other two were tight. Ted Williams finished second in batting at .345 to Mantle's .353, and Al Kaline finished second in RBI with 128, just two behind Mantle's 130.

Who has won the Triple Crown since Mickey Mantle?

Three players have won the Triple Crown since Mantle's 1956 season, all in the American League: Frank Robinson in 1966, Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 and Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Mantle remains the only switch-hitter to win it and the last player to lead both leagues in all three categories.