Mickey Mantle's Scout Was Good Judge of Talent
By Bryce Martin
My grandfather, Noah Martin, always referred to him as his "Uncle Jess."
Baseball is often described as a game of statistics, a characterization that also applies to its history and facts. Many individuals are unaware of the scouts responsible for signing some of baseball's most renowned players. Tom Greenwade is notable for having signed a young and green Mickey Mantle, a feat that significantly contributed to his reputation as a scout. This brings to mind a relative of mine from Alba, Mo., Jess Martin, who served as the opening day pitcher for the Joplin Miners in their game against Springfield on April 24, 1928. A team photograph from that day features Jess standing alongside Greenwade. Prior to this revelation, I was only familiar with Greenwade in his capacity as a scout, unaware that he had also been a player. It is worth noting that Greenwade-signee Mantle, some 20 years later, played for Joplin, Mo. before advancing to the New York Yankees. My Little League baseball coach in Galena, Kan., Frank Bruce, coached Mickey in high school in Oklahoma.
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Excerpted below is the letter Greenwade sent to the editors of The Sporting News in October 1952, not long after his young discovery capped his breakthrough sophomore season in pinstripes by batting .345 with two home runs to lead the Yankees to World Series victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers:
To the best of my knowledge and memory, the first person to talk to me about Mantle was his manager, Barney Barnett, in the Ban Johnson League. All the Midwestern scouts know Barney and drop by to see him. This must have been in the early part of the 1948 season for I went to Alba, Mo., about August 1948 to see Mantle and other players that I had heard of on both clubs. Mantle, who at that time was referred to as "Little Mickey Mantle," was small and played shortstop. He pitched a couple of innings in this game. I wasn't overly impressed but bear in mind he was only sixteen.
The following spring an umpire in the B.J. League, Kenny Magness, told me about a game the night before in which Mantle played, and he was very high on him. I caught the Baxter club at Parsons to see Mantle again. This was early in May 1949. Mantle looked better and must have put on twenty pounds since the past August, and I became interested in a hurry for that was when I discovered he could really run but wasn't hitting too much. So, I inquired from other sources, probably Barney, when Mickey would graduate. It was to be the last Thursday in May 1949, from the Commerce, Okla. H.S.
On Friday I drove to Commerce, and this is the first time the Mantles ever knew there was such a person as Tom Greenwade. I found out the graduation exercises had been postponed till that night for some reason. Since I had no desire to violate the H.S. tampering rule, I was careful not to mention contract or pro ball either but had understood Mickey was to play in Coffeyville that night and I wanted to see him play and I didn't mention that I had seen him play before. Well, they talked things over with the coach and superintendent and decided to pass on the exercises since Mickey already had his diploma and go to Coffeyville instead.
Of course, I was there. Mickey looked better at bat, hitting left-handed. I still don't know he switches since the only pitching I have seen him against is right-handed. After the game Mr. Mantle tells me Mickey will play Sunday in Baxter Springs. I told him I would be at his house Sunday morning and go to the game with them. I was there about 11 A.M. I was scared to death for fear some scout had been there Saturday. I asked Mr. Mantle if anyone had been there. He said "no." I was relieved.
We all went to Baxter Springs, and for the first time I see Mickey hit right-handed. Mickey racked the pitcher for four "clothes lines," and I started looking all around for scouts, but none were there.
When the last out was made, Mr. Mantle, Mickey and I got in my car behind the grandstand and in fifteen minutes the contract was signed. We agreed on $1,500 for the remainder of the season and the contract (Independence of the K.O.M.) was drawn calling for a salary of $140 per month. Mickey reported to Harry Craft at Independence. He was slow to get started and as late as July 10th was hitting only .225 but finished the season over .300. The following year at Joplin he hit .383, I believe. You know the rest.
Yes, we do.
The lead mines of northeastern Oklahoma had produced a diamond unlike any that professional baseball had previously unearthed, a raw talent more multi-faceted than even the residents of the Yankee pantheon that had preceded him. Thunderous home run power from both sides of the plate. The foot speed of an Olympic sprinter. But not even Greenwade, as he coaxed the seventeen-year-old into a professional covenant in the back seat of his 1949 Chrysler, could have imagined that the young phenom would soon grasp the torch passed to him by Joe DiMaggio and light the way through the most dominant decade and a half in franchise history.
My take:
A Tale of a Miner's Son, Mickey Mantle
In the lead mines of northeastern Oklahoma,
A baseball prodigy has risen,
Whose talent eclipses even the famed Yankees of old.
This young star, a switch-hitter with power to spare,
And the speed of an Olympic sprinter,
Is a rare find indeed.
As Greenwade sealed a deal for a pro contract,
In the back of his 1949 Chrysler,
He could hardly imagine the journey ahead—
This seventeen-year-old would not just honor DiMaggio's legacy,
But flourish in the Yankees' golden age,
Shining bright for the next fifteen years.