#33: Known For His Sense of Humor

His humor was one of his most enduring personal traits. He had a quick wit and loved pranks, especially in the clubhouse. One of his most infamous jokes came when the Yankees asked him to contribute a memory for a booklet honoring Monument Park.

Mantle wrote a hilarious and raunchy anecdote about a drunken night with Whitey Ford that caused an uproar—and earned him a call from Yankees management. Even in his final years, he used humor to cope with pain. “If I knew I was going to live this long,” he once quipped, “I’d have taken better care of myself.”