Mickey Mantle

Mantle was a heavy drinker during his baseball career. As with many celebrites, the success and glamour and the accompanying financial windfalls could become a burden, and for a star like Mantle, raised in poverty in the midwest, it was fame he had difficulty handling. During his years as a player, there was little public knowledge about his off-the-field exploits. He often teamed up with fellow Yankees Billy Martin and Whitey Ford, carrying on into the early hours of the morning. To many of his teammates and others who knew about the carousing, they often turned their heads. After all, he was still performing on the field, so wasn't this just harmless fun?