Mickey Mantle

There were a couple of days last week when "Fat Jack's" place in Easton, Pa., more closely resembled the legendary TV bar "Cheers" than just another sports hangout in small-town America.Thrust into the role of Sam Malone, as portrayed by Ted Danson so ably on the tube, was the owner of the establishment, Jack Fisher.First, ESPN's cameras were there reminiscing about the last days of Roger Maris' charge to supplant Babe Ruth as the all-time, one-season home run king, and Fisher played a significant role.

THIS WEEK I begin a process of anticipatory grief. The actual death will come later in the year, Oct. 6, to be exact. On that Sunday, if all goes well, the Baltimore Orioles will retire the Detroit Tigers in the top of the ninth, and Memorial Stadium will have hosted its last Orioles game.For a while longer, the infield grass will continue to grow, like the fingernails and hair of the dead, but then the building will change ontologically: A wrecking ball will magically relegate concrete and steel to the province of memory, the only paradise from which we are never fully evicted.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, whose classic swing and classy persona made him one of the most revered sports figures of the 20th century, died early yesterday after a five-month battle with lung cancer. He was 84.Mr. DiMaggio passed away at his Hollywood, Fla., home from complications after the removal of a cancerous tumor from his lung last October. His funeral will be Thursday in Northern California, with burial in the San Francisco area, where he grew up and began his professional baseball career.

As the years had passed, they had all scattered to some degree. They owned restaurants, they ran companies and small businesses, they sold products, marketed products, produced products, and one in particular - whom Calvert Hall's class of 1992 will never forget - served as a paramedic for the state police. But there they were, drawn together by unexpected phone calls, jarring e-mails and news reports that just didn't make sense. Did you hear? They were coming home from vacations. Enjoying the weekend.

In 1968, his final year in baseball, an enveloping warmth greeted Mickey Mantle in all the ballparks he visited. As he hobbled to the plate on legs whose resemblance to tree trunks belied a notorious fragility, fans rose to their feet as though choreographed. I remember the singular absence of cheers or chants on those occasions. Just the sound of thousands of pairs of hands clapping. It gave me chills. The Yankees were uncharacteristically toothless in those days, which did nothing to diminish a lusty hostility toward the pinstripes that prevailed across the land.

Residents of Taneytown expressed mixed reactions yesterday to news that the home of an African-American woman had been marred by pornographic and racial graffiti, in an incident the FBI is investigating as a hate crime.In dozens of interviews yesterday, ministers and merchants, police officers and longtime residents insisted this town of about 4,700 has no racial problems, though many said they are aware of recent Ku Klux Klan activity in the area."In our congregation, we have people who are African-American and Hispanic, and nothing's happened to them," said the Rev. Martin P. Feild, pastor of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church.

May 13, 1967: Orioles reliever Stu Miller gave up the game-winning home run to Yankees great Mickey Mantle. It was the 500th of Mantle’s career.

"Sure, it would've been cool to have won another Heisman, but it's not like they're taking away the one I won." Matt Leinart Southern California quarterback (above) "Best was soccer's Mickey Mantle, its forever-young, self-destructive natural. ... Best frittered away years of greatness, which only made him more of a celebrity idol." Filip Bondy New York Daily News, on the late soccer star George Best

When Joltin' Joe DiMaggio retired as center fielder, the Yankees knew nobody could fill his shoes. They tried a kid named Mickey Mantle. Just goes to show.Members of United We Stand America met in Dallas to try to decide how much longer they can stand the funny little guy with the big mouth and ears.More fans watch the Orioles than any other American League team. They go to suffer and feel pain to distract them from the heat.

Eddie Murray has six homers since rejoining the Orioles last month, and is three short of 500 for his career. The all-time list:1. Hank Aaron.. .. .. .. .. .. .7552. Babe Ruth .. .. .. .. .. .. .7143. Willie Mays.. .. .. .. .. ...6604. Frank Robinson.. .. .. .. ...5865. Harmon Killebrew.. .. .. .. .5736. Reggie Jackson.. .. .. .. ...5637. Mike Schmidt.. .. .. .. .. ..5488. Mickey Mantle.. .. .. .. .. .5369. Jimmie Foxx.. .. .. .. .. ...53410. Willie McCovey.. .. .. .. ...521.. .Ted Williams.