Editing Mickey Mantle (section)

===Minor leagues (1948–1950)===
Mantle began his [[professional baseball]] career in Kansas with the semi-professional [[Baxter Springs, Kansas|Baxter Springs]] Whiz Kids.<ref name=sabr-mantle/> In 1948, Yankees scout [[Tom Greenwade]] came to Baxter Springs to watch Mantle's teammate, third baseman Willard "Billy" Johnson. During the game, Mantle hit three home runs. Greenwade returned in 1949, after Mantle's high school graduation, to sign Mantle to a minor league contract with the Yankees at $140 per month ({{Inflation|US|140|1949|r=-2|fmt=eq}}), with a $1,500 signing bonus ({{Inflation|US|1500|1949|r=-2|fmt=eq}}).<ref>[[#Castro|Castro]], pp. 31–33.</ref>

Mantle was assigned to the Yankees' Class-D [[Independence Yankees]] of the [[Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League]], where he played [[shortstop]] and hit .313.<ref name=brminors>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=mantle001mic|title=Mickey Mantle Minor League Statistics|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> He hit his first professional home run on June 30, 1949, at [[Shulthis Stadium Grandstand|Shulthis Stadium]] in [[Independence, Kansas]]. The ball went over the center field fence, which was 460 feet from home plate.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sumner|first1=Jan|title=Independence, Mantle, and Miss Able |pages=47–63|year=2015|publisher=Jadan Publishing|isbn=978-0-9703197-1-5|url=https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/independence-mantle-and-miss-able-jan-sumner/1122188876}}</ref> In 1950, Mantle was promoted to the Class-C [[Joplin Miners]] of the [[Western Association]], where he won the Western Association batting title with a .383 average. He hit 26 home runs and recorded 136 RBIs, but struggled defensively at shortstop.<ref name=brminors/>

In July 1950, after the start of the [[Korean War]], Mantle was [[Selective Service System|drafted]] for military service. The draft board rejected him as physically unqualified for military service due the osteomyelitic condition of his left leg and gave him a [[Selective Service System#Classifications|4-F deferment]], the first of three times he was rejected for military service.<ref>[[#Castro|Castro]], pp. 61–63.</ref>