11 players in MLB baseball history are/were named “Mickey”.
8 of those 11 players were born before 1928. Why is this significant? Mickey Mouse was created by Disney and made his debut in May of 1928.
My argument in this thread is that Mickey subsequently became unpopular as a given name after 1928. Who in their right mind would name their son after a mouse?
The first post-mouse Mickey was born in 1931. It seems plausible that the 1931 Mickey could have been named after Mickey Mouse. And who was the 1931 Mickey? Mickey Mantle.
The Mickey stigma as a first name however was honored by parents everywhere for another 30 years, when the second post mouse Mickey was born in 1961. The third and last Mickey was born in 1974.
Mickey Mantle was an icon in 1961 hitting 54 home runs, so it seems reasonable that the second Mickey was named after Mantle and not the Disney character.
By 1974 Mickey’s playing days were over, but his legacy was growing and by that year the Mickey Mouse club had largely faded into obscurity. It seems more likely that the last Mickey in 1974 was named after Mantle rather than Mr. Mouse.
The overwhelming majority of all ballplayers were born after 1928. The overwhelming majority, 8 out of 11, of all Mickey ballplayers were born before 1928.
Did Mantle’s parents see any of the early Disney cartoons in the theater before Mickey’s, the ballplayers, birth? Sounds plausible to me.
Conclusions made by this argument.
The curse of Mickey Mouse led to a stigma that prevented all subsequent male offsprings to be named something other than Mickey, the mouse, except one.
Mickey Mantle was likely or at least plausibly named after a cartoon mouse.
The timing of the two subsequent Mickey’s strongly suggest that they were named after Mantle and not the mouse.
Therefore Mickey Mantle could be the only major league player in history to be named after a mouse. Prove me wrong. I rest my case.
