Mantle’s Big Strength Is Down-Home Warmth

Now in his second year as a color commentator with SportsChannel, the cable affiliate that telecasts 40 Yankee games, Mickey Mantle sat in the Yankee Stadium press room the other day and said:

“I’ve become a lot more comfortable with it, but I still don’t think I’d like to do it every day. I’ve already got too many jobs.”

Mantle is still under contract to the Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City, committed to 80 days a year. He is also under contract to the Reserve Life Insurance Co. of Dallas.

In addition, after touring last year to promote his autobiography, “The Mick,” he is now making appearances to promote an instructional video that he filmed with former Yankees Whitey Ford and Phil Rizzuto.

The schedule permits him to appear on only 25 of the 40 SportsChannel telecasts.

His grammar isn’t always perfect, but he takes pride in the job.

“I’m not a Scully or Kubek or Garagiola, but I do think I’m improving,” he said. “I don’t want to embarrass myself or the people I’m working for. I want people to like me, which wasn’t always the way I felt when I was playing.

“It didn’t mean as much to me then as it does now.”

Mantle’s down-home, Oklahoma warmth is evident on the tube. He is self-effacing and careful with his criticism, almost always recalling an anecdote to illustrate that he once made the same mistake.

“If I’m watching a game, I like to hear comments from Kubek and Garagiola,” he said. “But I don’t like to hear something every pitch.

“I’m trying to remember that, which is why I still don’t talk as much as the rest of them.

“I don’t try to dissect every fly ball or every ground ball. If I see something interesting, I’ll comment. If I don’t, I won’t.

“It comes down to the fact that I can only do what I can do. If that’s not good enough, somebody will tell me. So far, nobody has said anything.”