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Originally Posted by Merkle923
The absence of the 1951 American League 50th Anniversary emblem that is on the Getty shot of Mantle but not on the supposed home run image got me thinking.
How would that have been possible? It's only a theory, but Mantle went through the 1951 exhibition campaign, right up to the annual pre-season series against the Dodgers, on the Kansas City roster. While newspaper shots of game action from Ebbets Field on April 14 and April 15, 1951 show the A.L. Anniversary emblem, it's possible Mantle's had not been sewn on yet.
That possible clue led me to the box score for the Dodger-Yankee exhibition of April 15, in which Mantle homered in the 8th inning and the next Yankee batter would've been Joe DiMaggio's defensive replacement in center...Number 7, Cliff Mapes.
So the photo is of Mantle's first homer in a major league park, but not his first major league homer. The New York Times box score is below and as an aside, that Yankees-Dodgers series was broadcast on television and radio by the Dodgers. So, one of the announcers who covered Mantle's a) first game in a major league stadium, b) first game in New York, c) first home run in a major league stadium, was a second-year Dodger broadcaster named Vin Scully.
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My American Legion coach from the early 1960's pitched in that game.His name was Max Peterson and was with the club until early May but never played in a regular season game. He quit the game after the 1954 season at the age of 32 and died in 2010 at the Age of 88.
Here he is from training camp 1951.