Mickey Mantle Hits His 500th Home Run

On May 14, 1967, Mickey Mantle hit his 500th career home run off Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. The solo shot in the seventh inning gave the Yankees a 6-4 lead in a game they won 6-5. It was Mother's Day, and a crowd of 18,872 watched Mantle become the sixth player in major league history to reach 500 home runs, and the first switch-hitter ever to do it.

Mantle was 35 years old and deep into the painful final act of his career. His legs, wrecked by injuries dating back to a torn knee ligament in the 1951 World Series, made every game a physical ordeal. He had hit .288 with 23 home runs in 1966, solid numbers for most players but a visible decline for a man who had won three MVP awards and hit 52 home runs in a single season.

The pitch from Miller was a 3-and-2 changeup. Mantle drove it into the right-field stands, batting left-handed. He had been pressing for the milestone, stuck on 499 for several games, and the relief was visible as he rounded the bases. "It felt like when you win a World Series," Mantle said afterward. "A big load off your back."

Miller, a veteran reliever known for off-speed pitches and an unhurried delivery, was philosophical about surrendering the milestone. "I don't care whether it was his first or his 500th," he said. "I was doing my damnedest to get him out."

Mantle played two more seasons after the 500th, retiring in March 1969 with 536 home runs and a career that had been simultaneously dominant and diminished by injury. He hit .298 over 18 seasons, won seven World Series rings, and carried the Yankees through the transition from the DiMaggio era to the late-1960s decline. The Hall of Fame inducted him in 1974 on the first ballot.