Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995)

Former New York Yankees star Mickey Mantle dies of liver cancer
at the age of 63. While “The Mick” patrolled center field and batted
clean-up between 1951 and 1968, the Yankees won 12 American
League pennants and seven World Series championships.

Hall of Fame plaque

1983 Topps 1952 Reprints #311 Mickey Mantle BGS
Authentic Auto RARE LOW POP

Jimmie Johnson was among the racing legends who were elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Wednesday along
with crew chief Chad Knaus and Donnie Allison.

Johnson won seven NASCAR Cup Championships during his
career, which is tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for
the most all time. Johnson’s first five came consecutively.

He is also the all-time winningest driver at five tracks. In
addition to that, he won Driver of the Year five times and
was the first racing driver to win The Associated Press
Male Athlete of the Year in the U.S. He had 83 total Cup
wins. Johnson will be 47 in September.

Cooperstown philanthropist Stephen C. Clark – seeking a way
to celebrate and protect the National Pastime as well as an
economic engine for Cooperstown – asked National League
president Ford C. Frick if he would support the establishment
of a Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

The idea was welcomed, and in 1936 the inaugural Hall of Fame
class of Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe
Ruth and Honus Wagner was elected.

Stephen Carlton Clark
(August 29, 1882 – September 17, 1960)

Fans gather in front of the Hall of Fame on June 12, 1939 for
the first induction ceremony.

COOPERSTOWN, NY – JULY, 1939. The first inductees to
the Baseball Hall of Fame pose for a group portrait in Cooperstown in July of 1939. They are: top row left to
right Honus Wagner, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Tris
Speaker, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, and Walter Johnson.
Front row Eddie Collins, Babe Ruth, Connie Mack, and
Cy Young.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist and Pro Football Hall of Fame
member James Francis "Jim" Thorpe came into this world on
this day in history, May 28, 1888.

Born in a one-room cabin in the geographical area that is now
Oklahoma, Thorpe was raised by Hiram and Charlotte Vieux
Thorpe on the Sac and Fox reservation, according to the
Oklahoma Historical Society.

Thorpe was given the Native American name "Wa-tho-huck,"
meaning "Bright Path" in Sac and Fox language.

This name would quickly turn prophetic, as Thorpe would
establish himself as one of the athletic superstars of the
20th century.         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         

On January 29, 1936, the U.S. Baseball Hall of Fame elected its
first members in Cooperstown, New York: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth,
Honus Wagner, Christy Matthewson and Walter Johnson.