Early one morning in early autumn 2013, I was visiting the United States and leisurely driving north on State Route 99 in the Oklahoma countryside, heading for the house of a great man who had lived a turbulent life. After about an hour of driving, I came to a four-way intersection, turned left, and entered State Route 51. After driving for a while, I came across a large sign announcing that the road had a nickname: Jim Thorpe, the name of the man who lived in the house I wa

During the summer of 2010, I took a road trip across the United States. On that trip, I visited a place I had always wanted to see: the town of Commerce, located in northeastern Oklahoma. Baseball fans will immediately recognize this name. Yes, it's famous as the hometown of Mickey Mantle. Mickey Mantle played for the New York Yankees in the 1950s and 60s and is considered the greatest switch-hitter in Major League Baseball history. His 536 career home runs rank 18th all-tim