10. June 14, 1955, Yankees 7, Tigers 6. Mantle seemed to have a thing for crushing the hopes of Tiger fans at the most sensitive possible moment. Five of his 10 most game-critical performances occurred against the Tigers, the only team to have been victimized by him more than once. On this Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, the Tigers carried a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth Mantle to that moment had a good but not great day working: 1-for-3 with walk and a seventh inning triple that did not translate to a run.
There were two on and two out when Mantle came up against Tigers closer Billy Hoeft, trying to protect that narrow lead. Instead, Mantle lined a game-tying single into left field, scoring pinch runner Frank Leja and sending Joe Collins to second. That set the stage for Elston Howard’s game-winning hit. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.559.
9. August 7, 1955, Yankees 3, Tigers 2. This was the second game of a Sunday doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, Detroit having won the first game. Mantle’s first inning home run off Detroit’s Frank Lary gave New York an early lead, but the score stood 2-2 at the end of the regulation nine innings.
Bob Turley worked around a two-out Bill Tuttle double to get out of the 10th inning scoreless, but Tiger reliever Babe Birrer fanned Hank Bauer and got Bobby Richardson on a grounder to short for the second out. With the prospect of an 11th inning looming, Mantle opted for an alternative outcome, ripping his second home run of the game deep into the right field seats. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.563.
8. June 6, 1958, Yankees 6, Indians 5. Again, Turley was the starter, and again Mantle christened the proceedings with a first inning home run. The Indians countered with three second-inning runs, but Mantle countered that with a three-run fifth inning blast of his own into the left field seats. That made the score Mantle 4, Indians 3.
New York added to its advantage in the seventh when Indians starter Dick Tomanek surrendered singles to Andy Carey and Tony Kubek then (sensibly given what had already transpired) intentionally walked Mantle. Bill Skowron’s bases loaded single scored Carey and Kubek. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.579.
7. Aug. 13, 1957, Yankees 3, Red Sox 2. Through seven innings, the home town Red Sox led 2-1 despite Mantle’s best efforts. He had singled home New York’s only run off Sox starter Frank Sullivan in the third, walked in the first and singled harmlessly in the sixth.
But in the top of the eighth, opportunity knocked one more time and Mantle answered. After Gil McDougald singled to left, Mantle blasted a Sullivan pitch deep into the seats in right field for a game-shifting, go-ahead two run home run. Reliever Bobby Shantz quelled a two-out Boston threat in the ninth to wrap up the 3-2 win. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.591.
6. Sept. 3, 1961, Yankees 8, Tigers 5. Not only were Mantle and Roger Maris approaching the home stretch of their drive to break Babe Ruth’s home run record, but the Yanks and Tigers were locked in a close pennant race. Entering the three-game series just one and one half games ahead of the Tigers, New York had won the first two and sent Bill Stafford against Jim Bunning in search of the sweep.
The Tigers scored in their first, but Mantle had an answer for that; his 49th home run of the season with Maris, who had singled in front of him, on base. Yogi Berra followed with a homer of his own to make it 3-1.
But the Tigers held on until Jake Wood’s ninth inning single off reliever Luis Arroyo plated Dick McAuliffe and Reno Bertoia with the game-tying and go-ahead runs. Gerry Staley came in to protect that one-run lead but the first batter he faced, Mantle, blasted a 1-0 pitch into the right-center field seats for a game-tying 50th home run. Five batters later, Elston Howard delivered a three-run game-winner to cement the 8-5 victory. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.620.