Editing Mickey Mantle (section)

==Early years==
Mantle was born on October 20, 1931, in [[Spavinaw, Oklahoma]], the son of Lovell Thelma (née Richardson; previously Davis) (1904–1995) and Elvin Charles "Mutt" Mantle (1912–1952).<ref name=sabr-mantle/> He was of at least partial English ancestry; his great-grandfather George Mantle left [[Brierley Hill]], a small town in England's [[Black Country]], and immigrated to the United States in 1848.<ref>[[#Leavy|Leavy]], p. 49.</ref>

[[File:Mickey Mantle's Boyhood Home - Commerce - Oklahoma - USA (41160234324).jpg|thumb|left|200px|alt="A white, wooden house with a greenish roof in the middle of a green lawn."|Mantle's boyhood home in [[Commerce, Oklahoma]]]]

Mantle had two older half-siblings, Ted and Anna Bae Davis, from his mother's first marriage, and four younger full siblings: twin brothers Ray and Roy, brother Larry, and sister Barbara. When he was four years old, Mantle's family moved to the nearby town of [[Commerce, Oklahoma]], where his father worked in [[lead mining|lead]] and [[zinc mining|zinc]] mines.<ref>[[#Leavy|Leavy]], p. 50.</ref>

A semi-pro player himself, Mutt Mantle decided that his eldest son would be a baseball player before Mantle was even born. He named his eldest son after [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] catcher [[Mickey Cochrane]] and, very early on, began training Mickey to become a switch-hitter: Mantle later recalled batting left-handed against his father, who pitched to him right-handed, and batting right-handed against his grandfather, Charles Mantle, who pitched to him left-handed.<ref name=sabr-mantle>{{cite web|title=Mickey Mantle (SABR BioProject) |website=Society for American Baseball Research |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mickey-mantle/}}</ref>

In addition to [[baseball]], Mantle was an all-around athlete at [[Commerce, Oklahoma|Commerce High School]], playing basketball and [[American football|football]]. He excelled in football, playing the halfback position. After graduating, Mantle was offered a football scholarship by the [[Oklahoma Sooners football|University of Oklahoma]] but declined it at his father's behest.<ref>[[#Castro|Castro]], p. 28.</ref> However, in his sophomore year, he sustained an injury during a practice football game which nearly ended his athletic career. He was kicked in the left shin and developed [[osteomyelitis]], an infectious disease incurable just a few years earlier, in his left leg. Mantle's parents drove him overnight to [[Oklahoma City]], where he was treated at a children's hospital with the newly available [[penicillin]]. The treatment successfully reduced the infection and saved his leg from [[amputation]].<ref name=sabr-mantle/>

Later in life, Mantle confided in friends and family about how he suffered from [[sexual abuse]] as a child at the hands of his older half-sister Anna Bae, who often babysat her younger half-siblings when Mantle's parents were out, as well as by other adults, including Anna Bae's friends and older boys in the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news |title=Author: Abuse Shaped Mantle's Behavior Later |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/author-abuse-shaped-mantles-behavior-later/ |work=[[CBS News]] |agency=Associated Press |date=October 19, 2010}}</ref> His wife [[Merlyn Mantle|Merlyn]] recalled later on that Mantle also had a sexual relationship with one of his high school teachers when he was still a [[minor (law)|minor]]. According to Merlyn, the teacher "seduced" him: "She just laid over him."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sandomir |first1=Richard |title=Mantle Biography Delves Into Traumas and Myths |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/sports/baseball/13mantle.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 12, 2010}}</ref>

The [[child sexual abuse]] he endured at the hands of family and adults likely contributed to Mantle's self-destructive behavior as an adult, with biographer [[Jane Leavy]] speculating that Mantle, like many childhood sexual abuse victims, likely suffered from [[complex post-traumatic stress disorder]].<ref>[[#Leavy|Leavy]], pp. 335–337.</ref>