It's been a l-o-n-g time since Mantle was around - now when a celeb parades around town with someone other than his spouse, it makes headlines - especially A-Rod, whom the NY press has never let up on. Face it, the guy behaved like a jerk; he deserves the negative press he's getting. Last year's lack of performance (no pun intended) may have had more to do with A-Rod's domestic problems than his bb skills.
Ah, you're preaching to the choir so to speak. I grew up with Mantle and Whitey hanging out in bars and witnessed them having a drink or two, literally.
And it's true that sports writers like Red Smith etc by and large did respect their off field behavior to a point.
After returning from military service in 1955, Martin played in another World Series and then in 1956 played one more regular season with the Yankees. Then his world collapsed. For his twenty-ninth birthday party, on May 16, 1957, a group of players went to dinner with their wives, although Martin, being divorced, attended alone. Afterwards, they went to Manhattan's Copacabana Club, and player Hank Bauer supposedly got into a fight with men at the next table. The following day, the newspapers broadcast the story. Yankee owner George Weiss blamed Martin for the mess and called him a bad influence on Mantle. One month later, Weiss traded Martin to the Kansas City Athletics, ending his playing career with the Yankees and leaving him hurt and bitter for years to come.
Arod is probably just as famous right now as Mantle was then. And one could argue that reporters and photographers are more agressive now than they were then. But there is no excuse for stupidity.
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