Batting left handed, Mantle was timed running from the batters’ box to first base in 3.1 seconds. That is inconceivable, and as the years have passed, the time has become 3.5 seconds because broadcasters find it incredulous that Mantle actually did it in 3.1 seconds and so, in order for broadcasters to be believable, the higher time is used. Three and one tenth seconds has evolved into 3.5 seconds. It still is incredulous.
Willie Mays was almost as fast. Willie Mays was a better baserunner than Mantle (or anybody, including Ricky “I am the greatest of all time” Henderson, for that matter). Mays made more of his speed than Mantle did of his, but Mantle had more speed but he used it only when his team needed it.
Mantle was one of the greatest right-handed hitters of all time. Mantle was one of the greatest left-handed hitters of all time. He could hit the ball 500 feet as a righty. He could hit the ball 500 feet as a lefty. “Poor” Willie had to settle on being one of the greatest right handed hitters of all time. Not bad, but not Mantle.
Statistics are nice, but one can present and interpret them so many ways that they lose their meanings and significance. Aaron and Mays hit more homeruns than Mantle, Henderson and Brock stole more bases than Mantle, Gwynn and Boggs hit for a higher average than Mantle, but none could combine power and speed better than Mantle.
One had to have seen Mantle play to completely understand what it felt like for the fans when Mantle stepped up to the plate. Remember Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa in September of 1998? Remember when it was Pete Rose’s turn to bat when he was tied for lifetime hits with Ty Cobb? Well, those were special occasions that happen once in a lifetime. Every time Mantle stepped to the plate was a special occasion. It was a thrill that is indescribable and one that will never again be experienced.
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