How did the Yankees discover Mickey?
When Mickey was in high school he played baseball with a team called the Baxter Springs Whiz Kids. Yankees’ scout Tom Greenwade was sent to see a teammate of Mickey’s named Billy Johnson. In that game Mickey hit two long home runs into a river that ran behind the ballpark’s outfield fence. Greenwade was so impressed he wanted to sign Mickey with the Yankees on the spot. Upon finding out that Mickey was still in high school, he told Mickey that he would come back and sign him right after he graduated from high school, which is exactly what he did.
