In her biography of the pro baseball great Mickey Mantle, Jane Leavy recounts comments from Mantle's last press conference on July 11, 1995. Mantle had been an alcoholic.
It was a standing-room-only conference. His comic timing was still acute, but the robust physique, the popeye muscles, and the untroubled face of American plenty were gone. His tracksuit hung on his desiccated frame …. He looked like death.
"God gave me a great body and an ability to play baseball," he said. "God gave me everything, and I just … pffft!" What would be remembered most was the anguished plea to children: "I'd like to say to the kids out there, if you're looking for a role model, this is a role model. Don't be like me."
A reporter asked Mantle if he had signed a donor card. "Everything I've got is worn out," he said. "Although I've heard people say they'd like to have my heart … it's never been used."
