Commerce, Oklahoma : The Hometown of the Greatest Switch-Hitter in History
- Makio Mukai
- Nov 7
- 5 min read
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-time in MLB, but first among switch-hitters. It's unlikely that any other switch-hitter will ever surpass this record. In 1956, he won the Triple Crown. Mickey Mantle is the only switch-hitter in MLB history to win the Triple Crown. Furthermore, his 52 home runs that year are the most ever for a Triple Crown winner (he is the only player to reach 50 home runs while winning the Triple Crown).
In 1961, Mickey Mantle's 54 home runs were the most ever for a switch-hitter in a single season, a record that stood for 64 years until Cal Raleigh broke it in 2025 with 60.
Incidentally, Mickey Mantle was on the Yankees team that visited Japan in 1955. I was 8 years old and saw him play live at the stadium. I still remember being amazed and impressed by his power.
Anyway, I drove along the roads of Oklahoma, surrounded by flat land.
I arrived in Commerce in the evening. I was exhausted and just wanted to relax, so I checked into a motel immediately. The next morning, I started by taking a leisurely drive around Commerce to get a general idea of what the town was like. I had assumed Mickey Mantle's hometown would be a small town, but I was surprised to find it quite large. You really can't know the truth until you actually visit a place.
Just as I was about to start exploring more thoroughly, I noticed something. The main street (or rather, what seemed to be the main street, since I wasn't entirely sure which one it was) was named "Mickey Mantle." I wanted to take a photo of the road name "Mickey Mantle." Since the street name was clearly marked at the intersection, I figured standing in the middle of the intersection would be the best way to take the picture. So, I made up my mind. I was ready to risk my life, even if a car might come and end it all. ...That's a complete lie. There were so few cars on the road that taking the picture was incredibly easy and effortless.
Now, the real sightseeing began. First, I wanted to see the house where Mickey Mantle spent his childhood. It should be well preserved. But I didn't know where it was. In such cases, it's best to ask a police officer in a patrol car. However, I couldn't find a patrol car. So, I decided to ask at a gas station.
When I introduced myself to the white woman working at the gas station, she looked surprised and asked, "You came all the way from Japan just to see Mickey Mantle's house?" She even drew a very clear map for me.
While driving slowly along the map, I noticed something. There was a small baseball field by the side of the road, and I thought I saw the word "Mantle" on a shed next to it. Maybe it was a baseball field named after Mickey Mantle. I had to check it out. I immediately stopped the car.
It was a Little League baseball field. Built in 1955, the baseball field was renamed "Mutt Mantle Field" in 1994 to commemorate Mickey Mantle's father (known as Mutt). I was a little surprised to find out that the baseball field was named after Mickey Mantle's father, not Mickey Mantle himself. But that surprise quickly faded. I remembered the famous story about the Mantle family. Mutt, a coal miner, would come home from work every day and diligently teach his son Mickey baseball until it got dark. …I think it's wonderful that a Little League baseball field is named after a father like that.
I drove again, heading towards the house where Mickey Mantle spent his childhood. While driving, I noticed something. It wasn't a neat, suburban neighborhood with rows of middle-class American homes, but rather a somewhat gloomy-looking area. The roads were narrow and the pavement was rough
The house was located a little further back from the road. A small, one-story wooden house. The house where Mantle lived with his parents and four siblings for ten years, from age three to thirteen. The door was locked, and I couldn't go inside. But I could see inside through the windows as I walked around the house. All the rooms I could see were small.
A plaque was attached to the locked door. It described a story that every baseball fan knows. ...When Mickey was five or six years old, his father Mutt would come home from work and have Mickey practice batting in the backyard every day, until it got dark. Sometimes his grandfather would join in the practice. His father threw the ball to Mickey with his right hand, while his grandfather threw it with his left hand (this would later lead to the creation of the greatest switch-hitter in MLB history). His father's dream was to make Mickey a top-class baseball player. That dream came true, and Mickey Mantle, “The Oklahoma Comet," played brilliantly for the Yankees and became a great American icon.
Next, I visited "Mickey Mantle Field," named in Mickey Mantle's honor.
It was well-maintained, with a neat fence surrounding the field and the grass and dirt in good condition. When I visited, there was no game, and no one was around. I took some photos, walking around the stadium to capture it from different angles. Then, behind the backstop, I made an unexpected discovery: a statue of Mickey Mantle. I had no idea it existed! ...It's always important to look behind things.
When I saw the statue, I thought, "Is this really all they could do for a statue of Mickey Mantle?" Mickey Mantle was the greatest switch-hitter in MLB history, yet the statue only showed him batting right-handed. "If I could pose next to the statue batting left-handed, that would be perfect," I thought. "And if someone could take a picture, that would be even better!"
I spotted an older white man walking nearby and asked him to take a picture. I posed next to the statue, and he took a picture with my digital camera. The man took a photo with my digital camera. I immediately looked at the photo and saw that it was backlit and the statue and I looked too small. But I couldn't complain since someone else took the photo for me.
When I look at this photo now, I can't help but feel overwhelmed with emotion. It shows me swinging a bat next to Mickey Mantle, the man I was so moved to see at the baseball stadium when I was eight years old. It's a wonderful, memorable photo for me.
( If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)