60 Years Later: How The Mick's Homer Is Remembered
March 24, 2011 | Baseball
March 24, 2011
Scorecard from New York Yankees-USC Trojans game on March 26, 1951 
Read the Los Angeles Times article on this event by Baxter Holmes
On March 26, 1951, Rod Dedeaux and his USC Trojan squad played an exhibition at Bovard Field against the New York Yankees. This Saturday's home baseball game at 6 p.m. between USC and UCLA marks the 60th anniversary of that legendary performance by future Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle.
Mantle, who was a 19-year-old rookie ready to fill the shoes of another legend Joe DiMaggio, put on a one-man show at the Trojans' old stomping grounds. In the Yankees' 15-1 rout of the Trojans, Mantle went 4-for-5 with a bases-loaded triple, two towering two-run home runs and seven RBI. One of his home runs that went over the 344 mark in right center has been part of baseball lore as one of the longest home runs hit in Mantle's storied career. Some websites have claimed that his longest home run went 656 feet.
Link on The Mick.com about Mantle's home runs at Bovard Field
According to the article in the Los Angeles Times, a capacity crowd of 3,000 people witnessed a Yankees lineup that featured the likes of Mantle, DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto and future San Diego Padres broadcaster Jerry Coleman.
Another interesting side note from the game was New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel, a close friend of USC head coach Rod Dedeaux. Dedeaux, who would lead USC to 11 national championships, was signed by Stengel as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1935 and would end up playing two games in the major leagues.
The USC Baseball Hall of Fame, located at Dedeaux Field, features an overhead picture of Bovard Field with Mantle's autograph to commemorate his home runs.
