Mickey Mantle’s five biggest postseason games with New York Yankees:
5. Game 5, Oct. 4, 1953, Yankees 11, Dodgers 7. Mantle’s third inning grand slam off Russ Meyer gave the Yankees what proved to be an insurmountable 6-1 lead. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.223.
4. Game 7, Oct. 7, 1952, Yankees 4, Dodgers 2. Hitless in his first two at bats against Dodger starter Joe Black, Mantle faced him a third time with one out in the sixth inning of a 2-2 tie. This time he drove a 3-1 Black pitch over the wall in right-center for the go-ahead – and eventual Series winning – home run. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.267.
3. Game 7, Oct. 13, 1960, Pirates 10, Yankees 9. Possibly the most famous World Series game ever played, Mantle ceded the winning blow to Pirate opponent Bill Mazeroski. But even in defeat, Mick was a force. He singled in the fourth but was stranded, then singled, drove in a run and scored in a four-run sixth that New York take a 5-4 lead.
Mantle wasn’t done. After Hal Smith’s dramatic eighth inning home run boosted Pittsburgh ahead 9-7, Mantle’s ninth inning hit drove in Bobby Richardson with his team’s eighth run and sent Dale Long to third, from where he scored the tying run on Yogi Berra’s ground out.
All that, of course turned out to be merely prologue to Mazeroski’s series-ending homer. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.312.
2. Game 2, Oct. 1, 1953, Yankees 4, Dodgers 2. Hitless through seven innings of a 2-2 tie, Mantle unloaded on Dodger starter Preacher Roe in the eighth with Hank Bauer on base, his two-run home run putting New York ahead to stay 4-2. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.267.
1. Game 3, Oct. 10, 1964, Yankees 2, Cardinals 1. Mantle had already walked and doubled in three plate appearances when he stood in leading off against reliever Barney Schultz in the ninth inning of the third game of a series tied 1-1. He did not prolong the drama, shooting a Schultz knuckler into the right field seats for a game-winning home run.
It was, in a real sense, Mantle’s last post-season hurrah. Despite his best efforts, the Cardinals won three of the final four games and took the series in seven. Mantle Win Probability Added: 0.431.