Editing Mickey Mantle (section)

===Hitting===
[[File:Mickey Mantle 1953.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Mantle ({{circa|1953}}) became known of his power-hitting prowess very early in his career|alt="A young man in New York Yankees pinstripes and cap looks ahead whilst swinging a baseball bat."]]

Mantle is considered to be one of the greatest [[switch hitters]] in baseball history, hitting for both average and for power from both sides of the plate.<ref name="Player Stats"/> In particular, he was known for his power, hitting some of the longest home runs in Major League history. On September 10, 1960, he hit a ball left-handed that cleared the right-field roof at [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Tiger Stadium]] in Detroit. Based on where the ball was found, it was estimated years later by historian Mark Gallagher to have traveled 643 feet (196 m).<ref>{{cite news |title=Study Shows Mantle Hit Longest Home Run |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1985/07/27/study-shows-mantle-hit-longest-hr/ |newspaper=[[Sun Sentinel|South Florida Sun-Sentinel]] |date=July 21, 1985}}</ref>

Another Mantle home run, hit right-handed off [[Chuck Stobbs]] at [[Griffith Stadium]] in Washington, D.C., on April 17, 1953, was measured by Yankees traveling secretary Red Patterson (hence the term [[tape-measure home run]]) to have traveled 565 feet (172 m). Deducting for bounces, there is no doubt that each of the above home runs landed well over 500 feet (152 m) from home plate.<ref>{{cite web |title=April 17, 1953: Mickey Mantle hits a mythic blast at Griffith Stadium |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-17-1953-mantles-mythic-blast/ |last=Wolf |first=Gregory |website=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref>

Twice in his career Mantle hit a home run off the third-deck facade at Yankee Stadium, nearly becoming the only player to hit a fair ball out of the stadium during a game. On May 22, 1963, against Kansas City's [[Bill Fischer (baseball)|Bill Fischer]], Mantle hit a home run against the {{convert|110|ft|m|adj=on}} high facade, before the ball caromed back onto the playing field.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mantle Measures Up to History; Long Homer Adds to His Records at Yankee Stadium |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/13/archives/mantle-measures-up-to-history-long-homer-adds-to-his-records-at.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 13, 1964 |url-access=subscription |via=TimesMachine}}</ref> It was later estimated that the ball could have traveled {{convert|504|ft|m}} had it not been blocked by the ornate and distinctive facade.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Worley |first1=Mike |title=May 22, 1963: Mantle's missile thwarts A's comeback |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/may-22-1963-mantles-missile-thwarts-as-comeback/ |website=Society for American Baseball Research |quote=Batting lefty against the right-handed Fischer, Mantle swung and connected with a fastball from Fischer. The blast hit the façade of the Yankee Stadium roof in right field, approximately 370 feet from home plate and 120 feet high, barely missing leaving Yankee Stadium entirely.}}</ref> On August 12, 1964, he hit one whose distance was undoubted: a center-field drive that cleared the {{convert|22|ft|m|adj=on}} [[batter's eye]] screen, some 75 feet beyond the {{convert|461|ft|m|adj=on}} marker at Yankee Stadium.<ref>[[#Castro|Castro]], p. 211.</ref>

Although Mantle was a feared power hitter from either side of the plate and hit more home runs batting left-handed than right, he was a better hitter overall right-handed: roughly 25% of his total at-bats were from the right side, producing a batting average of .330 as opposed to .281 when batting from the left side. His 372 (left) to 164 (right) home run disparity was due to Mantle having batted left-handed much more often, as a large majority of pitchers are right-handed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/mantle-is-baseballs-top-switch-hitter/|title=Mantle is Baseball's Top Switch Hitter |last=McConnell |first=Bob |website=Society for American Baseball Research}}</ref> In spite of short foul pole dimensions of 296 feet (90 m) to left and 301 feet (92 m) to right in the original Yankee Stadium, Mantle gained no advantage there as his stroke both left and right-handed drove balls to power alleys of 344–407 feet (right center) and 402–457 feet (left center) from the plate. Overall, he hit slightly more home runs away (270) than home (266).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/event_hr.cgi?id=mantlmi01|title=Mickey Mantle Career Home Runs|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>

Despite being known for power hitting, Mantle was also regarded as one of the best [[bunt (baseball)|bunters]] for base hits. He is in 10th place in number of bases-empty bunt singles, with 80 in only 148 at-bats.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/12/10/3748738/best-bunter-all-time-career-bunt-hits-bases-empty-mlb|title=The Best Bunter of All-Time |date=December 10, 2012 |author=Gentile, James |work=[[SB Nation]]}}</ref> He was also known for his remarkable ability to avoid grounding into [[double plays]]: for every 100 at-bats, Mantle grounded into 1.40 double plays, one of the lowest marks in history. In both 1953 and 1961, he hit into only two double plays over the course of 1,186 [[plate appearances]].<ref name="Player Stats"/>