This year’s International Convention comes back to the middle of the United States in Oklahoma City. If you visit the area known as Bricktown, you may see the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Outside of the stadium is a statue of Yankee’s great Mickey Mantle in his famous left-handed swing. Inside that stadium located at 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive that image is on every seat. The Oklahoma City Comets who play at the stadium are a Triple A farm team for the Los Angeles Dodgers. So how did a Yankee legend come to be outside and inside the stadium? It’s to honor Oklahoma’s native son.
Mickey Mantle was born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma on October 20, 1931. His father “Mutt” played semi-professional ball, and his grandfather Charles played on a mining company baseball team. His baseball career started as a shortstop for the Commerce, Oklahoma high school team. His nickname was Commerce Comet, likely due to his cometic rise to fame, joining the Yankees at age 19. So, the name of the Oklahoma City team honors Mantle further.
Anyone who follows baseball knows that Mantle is a baseball legend, but they may not realize the great leader that Mantle was. Just comparing him to accepted leadership traits makes that clear.
- Accountability – Mantle is famously quoted as saying when you keep aiming for the fences, you’re bound to strike out a lot. He was acknowledged to have a sense of modesty that bordered on inferiority.
- Adaptability -Mantle was a switch hitter with 372 career home runs batting left-handed and 164 batting right-handed. In World Series History he hit 10 home runs left-handed and 8 right-handed. Ten times in his career he homered from both sides of the plate in the same game. He played 2,401 games for the Yankees, most of those in pain from an injury to his knee playing football in high school. Despite the pain he was one of the fastest players in the American League and could outrun a flyball in the outfield.
- Confidence -Mantle said in his 1985 autobiography, The Mick, “Stan Musial and Ted Williams were both every bit as strong as I am. The difference is that they were always trying to meet the ball, while I always wanted to kill it. If you swing for distance, you almost have to have the bat in motion before the pitch is even released.” Because of his success despite his injuries, he was an inspiration to both players and his fans. Mantle was the American League MVP in 1956, 1957 and 1962.
- Creativity – When the Yankees were losing to the Milwaukee Braves 3 to 1 in the 1958 World Series, Mantle decided to use humor to inspire his teammates. He went into the locker room with a fake arrow on his head and told his teammates they were in tough shape. His humor lightened the mood and inspired the team to not give up. The Yankee’s not only won that game but the World Series.
- Empathy – Mantle was known as being one of the most respected and liked players in the baseball word, because of his own humility. He sincerely wanted others to do well, unless it hurt the Yankees. His message was that we are all human, we are all fallible, and we all can have some fun.
- Positivity – For most of Mantle’s career the Yankees were the dominant baseball team, winning 12 American League pennants and 7 World Series. And Mantle has been considered one of the greatest players, to this day ranking 8th on the all-time home run list. His 18 home runs in World Series play are still a record.
- Team-building skills – Beyond rallying the team in the 1958 World Series with the arrow, he never let his own fame outshine his team. Yankee Manager Roger Houk told Mantle he was going to be the leader of the team and Mantle, through his humility and team-building skills, did go on to be the leader of the Yankees, making it official after his retirement when he became a coach on the Yankees.
While I’ve tied Mickey’s legacy to his home state and examples of leadership skills, there is one more connection between Mickey and the 2025 IAIP International Convention. Mickey after he retired from baseball took his leadership skills and fame to a new career- as a public relations executive for Reserve Life Insurance Company out of Dallas, Texas in1972. In 1973 Reserve issued an advertising premium fold out with a record called “How to Hit” by Mickey Mantle, “How To Hit” Mickey Mantle Reserve Life Insurance Company Mantle was the guest speaker at their quarterly insurance associate meetings. Through the 1980’s they gave out Reserve Life Mickey Mantle collector cards at those quarterly meetings where Mickey was the guest speaker where he would personally autograph the postcard sized cards. They would also mail those cards out to customers. His leadership as well as his talent continues to keep the name Mickey Mantle as an example of success long after his retirement and death. While in Oklahoma City I hope you’ll stop by Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark June 19– 22, 2025 to catch a Comets’ game and learn more about Oklahoma’s own Commerce Comet.
Author
Brenda McDermott, CPCU, SCLA, CLP, CIIP, ARM, AIDA, AIC
Brenda McDermott, CPCU, SCLA, CLP, CIIP, ARM, AIDA, AIC is a MAL from IAIP Region V where she is currently servicing as the Region V Marketing Director and Assistant to the RVP. She is currently co-chair of the IAIP Marketing and Publications Task Force . She is a past Missouri Council Director, Past Region V Vice President, and past local president. She is the 2002 International Rookie of the Year, 2002 Claims Professional of the Year, 2015 CWC International Speak Off winner and 2022 Risk Management Professional of the Year. She recently celebrated her 255h anniversary with The Hartford as a Major Case Workers Compensation Claims Consultant.