Okay, so I was digging around the internet, trying to find out about how much money baseball players used to make way back when. You know, like in the olden days. And I stumbled upon some stuff about Mickey Mantle, who was a pretty big deal back in the 50s and 60s.
First, I wanted to know what his salary was like, especially towards the end of his time with the Yankees. Turns out, I found this one source that said that in his last contract with them, back in 1963, he was making a cool $100,000 a year. Which, if you think about it, is a lot of money, right? But get this, they said if you adjust that for inflation, it would be like $800,000 today! Can you believe that?
Then, I started getting curious about how his salary changed over the years. So I did some more digging. Turns out, he had this one season in 1959 where he didn’t do so hot, at least not by his usual standards. I read that he only hit .285 with 31 home runs. And the Yankees, they actually wanted to cut his pay because of that! They wanted to reduce his salary by 7 bucks or something like that, which seems crazy to me.
- I found this website that talked about old-time baseball salaries.
- It mentioned Mickey Mantle’s last contract being $100,000 in 1963.
- It also mentioned that the Yankees wanted to reduce his pay after a not-so-good season.
I kept going down this rabbit hole, and I found out that when he first started in the big leagues, back in 1951, he was only making $7. Yeah, just 7 bucks! Imagine going from that to $100,000. It’s a huge jump, right?
And it wasn’t just his baseball salary he was living on. He did endorsements and stuff, you know, like commercials and things. When he passed away in 1995, apparently he was worth about $10 million. That’s a good chunk of change, right? But I guess that’s what happens when you’re a legend like Mickey Mantle. It got me thinking about other famous baseball players like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron, and what their salaries were like back then.
Anyway, that’s what I found out about Mickey Mantle’s salary today. It was a fun little trip down memory lane, that’s for sure.
Mickey Mantle’s Salary Journey
- 1951: Started at $7.
- 1959: Faced a potential salary cut after a less impressive season.
- 1963: Earned $100,000 per year (equivalent to $800,000 today).
- 1995: Had an estimated net worth of $10 million at the time of his passing.
It was a wild ride going through all this information, to be honest. It was like piecing together a puzzle, and I was just an average person trying to make sense of it all.
