FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Player profile
Power hitting
Mantle hit some of the longest home runs in Major League history. On September 10, 1960, he hit a ball left-handed that cleared the right-field roof at Tiger Stadium in Detroit and, based on where it was found, was estimated years later by historian Mark Gallagher to have traveled 643 feet (196 m). Another Mantle homer, hit right-handed off Chuck Stobbs at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. on April 17, 1953, was measured by Yankees traveling secretary Red Patterson (hence the term “tape-measure home run”) to have traveled 565 feet (172 m). Deducting for bounces, there is no doubt that both landed well over 500 feet (152 m) from home plate. Mantle two times hit balls off the third-deck facade at Yankee Stadium, nearly becoming the only player to hit a fair ball out of the stadium during a game. On May 22, 1963, against Kansas City’s Bill Fischer, Mantle hit a ball that fellow players and fans claimed was still rising when it hit the 110-foot (34 m) high facade, then caromed back onto the playing field. It was later estimated by some that the ball could have traveled 504 feet (154 m) had it not been blocked by the ornate and distinctive facade. On August 12, 1964, he hit one whose distance was undoubted: a center field drive that cleared the 22-foot (6.7 m) batter’s eye screen, some 75′ beyond the 461-foot (141 m) marker at the Stadium. The Daily News reported it as a 502-foot homer.
Although he was a feared power hitter from either side of the plate and hit more home runs batting left-handed than right, Mantle considered himself a better right-handed hitter. In roughly 25% of his total at-bats he hit .330 right-handed to .281 left. His 372 to-164 home run disparity was due to Mantle having batted left-handed much more often, as the large majority of pitchers are right-handed. In spite of short foul pole dimension of 296 feet (90 m) to left and 301 feet (92 m) to right in original Yankee Stadium, Mantle gained no advantage there as his stroke both left and right-handed drove balls there to power alleys of 344′ to 407′ and 402′ to 457′ feet (139 m) from the plate. Overall, he hit slightly more home runs away (270) than home (266).
Mantle was also one of the best bunters for base hits of all time. He is in 10th place in number of bases-empty bunt singles for his career, with 80 in only 148 at-bats.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Ember Days
“Ember Days occur next on June 8, 10, and 11. Ember Days happen four times a year at the start of each season. In Latin, Ember Days are known as the quattuor anni tempora (the “four seasons of the year”).
Traditionally observed by some Christian denominations, each set of Ember Days is three days, kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. These three days are set apart for fasting, abstinence, and prayer. The first of these four times comes in winter, after the Feast of St. Lucia, December 13; the second set comes with the First Sunday in Lent; the third set comes after Whitsunday/Pentecost Sunday; the four and last set comes after the Feast of the Holy Cross. Their dates can be remembered by this old mnemonic:
“Sant Crux, Lucia, Cineres, Charismata Dia Ut sit in angaria quarta sequens feria.”
Which means:
“Holy Cross, Lucy, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost, are when the quarter holidays follow.”
Folklore has it that the weather on each of the three days foretells the weather for three successive months. As with much folklore, this is grounded in some common sense since the beginning of the four seasons cue the changes in weather as well as a shift in how we keep harmony with the Earth and respect our stewardship of the Earth, our “garden of Eden.”“
Question of the Day
Is there a difference between heat lightning and sheet lightning?
No, these two kinds of lightning are really just regular lightning that lights up distant clouds. You don’t hear the accompanying thunder because the clouds are too far away. (The sound of thunder rarely carries more than 15 miles.) Heat or sheet lightning usually doesn’t bring rain immediately, but it indicates that unsettled weather is on the way.
Advice of the Day
Use empty metal breath-mint containers for holding seeds.
Home Hint of the Day
Your cellar is a natural air conditioner for your home. Open the door to the cellar or basement and use a fan to draw the cool air into the upper floors.
Word of the Day
A summer’s-day palindrome: It’s “too hot to hoot.”
Puzzle of the Day
One hug (Change these words into one word.)
Enough
Born
- Robert Schumann (composer) – 1810
- Frank Lloyd Wright (architect) – 1867
- Barbara Bush (U.S. First Lady) – 1925
- Jerry Stiller (actor) – 1927
- Joan Rivers (comedian) – 1933
- Bruce McCandless II (astronaut) – 1937
- Scott Adams (cartoonist, creator of Dilbert) – 1957
- Julianna Margulies (actress) – 1966
- David Sutcliffe (actor) – 1969
Died
- Andrew Jackson (7th U.S. president) – 1845
- Leroy Satchel” Paige” (baseball player) – 1982
- Glenne Headly (actress) – 2017
- Anthony Bourdain (chef, writer, and travel show host) – 2018
Events
- An advertisement in a NYC newspaper by a Mr. Hull of 76 Chatham Street announced that he would start manufacturing ice cream on a commercial basis. It was the first known U.S. ad for commercial ice cream.– 1786
- Ives McGaffey was granted a patent for the first U.S. hand-pumped vacuum cleaner– 1869
- The bald eagle was placed under federal protection as an endangered species in the U.S.– 1940
- Jennifer Reinke spelled chihuahua” to win Scripps National Spelling Bee”– 1967
- James Earl Ray, alleged assassin of MLK, Jr., was arrested by Scotland Yard detectives at Heathrow Airport in London– 1968
- The New York Yankees retired the No. 7 uniform of baseball player Mickey Mantle– 1969
- U.S. release of movie Ghostbusters– 1984
- For the first time in 121.5 years, the Sun was partially eclipsed by the planet Venus (Transit of Venus)– 2004
Weather
- Tornado struck National Weather Service office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma– 1974
- Barneveld, Wisconsin, was devastated by a tornado– 1984
- Louisiana was hit by eight tornadoes, including a strong one that caused major damage in Baton Rouge– 1989
COURTESY www.almanac.com
