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Growing Up Mantle

Aired June 13, 2003 - 11:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Sunday is Father's Day. But for the sons of Mickey Mantle, that can be a rather bittersweet occasion, believe it or not. Baseball fans back then in the '60s typically had an idolized view of life in the Mantle household. An article in "Men's Journal," though, exposes some of the frayed edges of Mantle's relationships with his sons. Danny and David Mantle join us now. They are in Dallas now, joining us to talk about what it was like growing up with a sports legend who just happens to be your dad.
Gentlemen, thanks for coming in. Appreciate your time. Glad to see you.

I read this piece and I was very surprised. I'm guessing because the media nowadays, they dig so much deeper into private lives of athletes more so and publish information much more so than they used to.

But I'm guessing people would be surprised to know that you guys didn't spend much time or get to know your dad that much.

DANNY MANTLE, MICKEY MANTLE'S SON: No, we really didn't. You know, I mean, baseball players, they play every day. You know, and we realize that. He was traveling nine months out of the year. On his off time, he wanted to relax. He didn't stay home a lot. He loved golf, and so he played a lot of golf when he was here.

HARRIS: So every kid your age was growing up wishing that was my dad. You know, and Father's Day would be a very special day, a day where they were wish they would have a dad like your dad in their homes.

Tell us, Danny, what was the best and what was the worst part about being Mickey Mantle's son?

MANTLE: Well, the best thing of it was, you know, when you traveled, you know, it was fun being with him, because everybody recognized him. He was tired of that, you know. The worst part of it was, you know, when we were growing up, he couldn't come to any of our games or anything, because people would bug him. So that was hard on us. We didn't really have a father to be able to come out and see us play our games because of the people, you know.

HARRIS: So, David, what was that like for you? Did Father's Day take on, I guess, a more different or poignant meaning to you at all because of that?

DAVID MANTLE, MICKEY MANTLE'S SON: I think so, you know, because it's always good. Of course, it's always in the summer, too. The one Father's Day I remember the most is after Danny and dad had gotten sober, and we did the interview with Joan Lunden up there at dad's restaurant. That was June 19th, and after they had gone and I was going in August, and I had not done my turn yet.

But I think that was one Father's Day I remember the most, because that's when we were all on our road to recovery, but you know, another bad thing was growing up, you would always have to watch out who you thought your friends were. You would think they were being friends, and then the next thing you know, you were waiting that question, when am I going meet your dad, when are you going to get me his autograph? You know, stuff like that. So that was, I guess kind of disheartening; you thought someone liked you for yourself.

HARRIS: Well, let me ask both of you this, starting with you, Danny -- how did kind of like, growing up like that shape the kind of father you ended up becoming, shape the kind of man you grew up to be.

DANNY MANTLE: Well, I hope I'm a good father. I've got two children of my own now, and I spend a lot of time with them, and obviously, I'm able to go to my son's baseball games and things.

So, you know, I learned a lot in the sense that, you know, being with my children is the best thing to me, you know, and I think that everybody that has kids knows that.

HEMMER: How about that, David? And do you do things the way you do now as a father because of or in spite of the way you came up?

DAVID MANTLE: I don't know. I think it's not in spite of. But I think that one thing that's bad with me is that I have one daughter, and I'm very, very protective of her. I think that probably I might be doing too much for her or watching out for her too much, and that it's probably not going to help her out later on in her life as she gets older. She's trying to become independent now or whatever, and I'm still like hovering over her like the mother hawk or whatever.

But you know, I think we have all become -- we are real protective of our children. I think mom and dad were that way with us. You have to be careful. Of course when they were getting those threats of kidnapping us, and you know, like...

HEMMER: Did that happen a lot?

DAVID MANTLE: It happened not a whole lot, but every now and then. And then, of course, mom would get threats to divorce dad, and you know, dad got his threats to not go out into center field in Boston.

HEMMER: I read your mom slept with a gun, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She did.

HEMMER: Is that true?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's true. HEMMER: My goodness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seemed like every bed in the house had a gun under it.

HEMMER: No kidding. And everybody on the outside looking in thinks you guys had the dream life, the perfect life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

HEMMER: If you had a chance to go through it back all again, would you do it differently, change it? Would you not want to have him as a dad?

DAVID MANTLE: Oh, no, I wouldn't trade my parents for anything. But I think one thing, now since we are, you know, in recovery and stuff, I would change the alcohol part of it, because that seems like it was one of the biggest mistakes, the biggest waste of all of our lives. It was just, you know, meaningless.

HEMMER: You know what I think is great, is the fact you all learned from it and are out telling the story. That as well as talking about getting folks more aware of cancer as well.

DAVID MANTLE: Right.

HEMMER: Because of the experience your family has had with your two brothers and your dad. All of the best to you. Good luck, and happy Father's Day to both of you. Glad to have you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 13, 2003 - 11:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Sunday is Father's Day. But for the sons of Mickey Mantle, that can be a rather bittersweet occasion, believe it or not. Baseball fans back then in the '60s typically had an idolized view of life in the Mantle household. An article in "Men's Journal," though, exposes some of the frayed edges of Mantle's relationships with his sons. Danny and David Mantle join us now. They are in Dallas now, joining us to talk about what it was like growing up with a sports legend who just happens to be your dad.
Gentlemen, thanks for coming in. Appreciate your time. Glad to see you.

I read this piece and I was very surprised. I'm guessing because the media nowadays, they dig so much deeper into private lives of athletes more so and publish information much more so than they used to.

But I'm guessing people would be surprised to know that you guys didn't spend much time or get to know your dad that much.

DANNY MANTLE, MICKEY MANTLE'S SON: No, we really didn't. You know, I mean, baseball players, they play every day. You know, and we realize that. He was traveling nine months out of the year. On his off time, he wanted to relax. He didn't stay home a lot. He loved golf, and so he played a lot of golf when he was here.

HARRIS: So every kid your age was growing up wishing that was my dad. You know, and Father's Day would be a very special day, a day where they were wish they would have a dad like your dad in their homes.

Tell us, Danny, what was the best and what was the worst part about being Mickey Mantle's son?

MANTLE: Well, the best thing of it was, you know, when you traveled, you know, it was fun being with him, because everybody recognized him. He was tired of that, you know. The worst part of it was, you know, when we were growing up, he couldn't come to any of our games or anything, because people would bug him. So that was hard on us. We didn't really have a father to be able to come out and see us play our games because of the people, you know.

HARRIS: So, David, what was that like for you? Did Father's Day take on, I guess, a more different or poignant meaning to you at all because of that?

DAVID MANTLE, MICKEY MANTLE'S SON: I think so, you know, because it's always good. Of course, it's always in the summer, too. The one Father's Day I remember the most is after Danny and dad had gotten sober, and we did the interview with Joan Lunden up there at dad's restaurant. That was June 19th, and after they had gone and I was going in August, and I had not done my turn yet.

But I think that was one Father's Day I remember the most, because that's when we were all on our road to recovery, but you know, another bad thing was growing up, you would always have to watch out who you thought your friends were. You would think they were being friends, and then the next thing you know, you were waiting that question, when am I going meet your dad, when are you going to get me his autograph? You know, stuff like that. So that was, I guess kind of disheartening; you thought someone liked you for yourself.

HARRIS: Well, let me ask both of you this, starting with you, Danny -- how did kind of like, growing up like that shape the kind of father you ended up becoming, shape the kind of man you grew up to be.

DANNY MANTLE: Well, I hope I'm a good father. I've got two children of my own now, and I spend a lot of time with them, and obviously, I'm able to go to my son's baseball games and things.

So, you know, I learned a lot in the sense that, you know, being with my children is the best thing to me, you know, and I think that everybody that has kids knows that.

HEMMER: How about that, David? And do you do things the way you do now as a father because of or in spite of the way you came up?

DAVID MANTLE: I don't know. I think it's not in spite of. But I think that one thing that's bad with me is that I have one daughter, and I'm very, very protective of her. I think that probably I might be doing too much for her or watching out for her too much, and that it's probably not going to help her out later on in her life as she gets older. She's trying to become independent now or whatever, and I'm still like hovering over her like the mother hawk or whatever.

But you know, I think we have all become -- we are real protective of our children. I think mom and dad were that way with us. You have to be careful. Of course when they were getting those threats of kidnapping us, and you know, like...

HEMMER: Did that happen a lot?

DAVID MANTLE: It happened not a whole lot, but every now and then. And then, of course, mom would get threats to divorce dad, and you know, dad got his threats to not go out into center field in Boston.

HEMMER: I read your mom slept with a gun, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She did.

HEMMER: Is that true?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's true. HEMMER: My goodness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seemed like every bed in the house had a gun under it.

HEMMER: No kidding. And everybody on the outside looking in thinks you guys had the dream life, the perfect life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

HEMMER: If you had a chance to go through it back all again, would you do it differently, change it? Would you not want to have him as a dad?

DAVID MANTLE: Oh, no, I wouldn't trade my parents for anything. But I think one thing, now since we are, you know, in recovery and stuff, I would change the alcohol part of it, because that seems like it was one of the biggest mistakes, the biggest waste of all of our lives. It was just, you know, meaningless.

HEMMER: You know what I think is great, is the fact you all learned from it and are out telling the story. That as well as talking about getting folks more aware of cancer as well.

DAVID MANTLE: Right.

HEMMER: Because of the experience your family has had with your two brothers and your dad. All of the best to you. Good luck, and happy Father's Day to both of you. Glad to have you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com