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Mickey Mantle was the original king of bat flips (Video)

By Dave Stevenson

Jul 24, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; New York Yankees hat and glove sit on the dugout steps during the game against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Texas won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 24, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; New York Yankees hat and glove sit on the dugout steps during the game against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Texas won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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Before Jose Bautista and Yoenis Cespedes, Mickey Mantle was the king of bat flips 

There has been a recent increase in the amount of bat flips in the MLB in today’s game. That can be credited to players like Jose Bautista, Yoenis Cespedes, and Yasiel Puig. All of those players have embraced the bat flip and aren’t afraid to bust it out at any given moment. What most people might not know is that bat flips have been around for quite some time. In fact, New York Yankees Hall of Fame outfielder Mickey Mantle was flipping bats before any current MLB player was even born.

Mickey Mantle didn’t even need to homer to bust out a bat flip. He’d do it out of frustration when he struck out or when he popped up a pitch that he knew that he should have crushed into next week. It would be interesting to hear what people would have thought about Mantle partaking in the flipping of bats considering how polarizing bat flips can be.

Mantle could have been arguably the best outfielder of all-time had he not been cursed with injuries and alcoholism. He had 536 career home runs with a .298 career batting average in 2,401 games over 18 seasons.

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