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Félix Mantilla
Infielder / Outfielder
Born: (1934-07-29) July 29, 1934 (age 90) Isabela, Puerto Rico
Batted: RightThrew: Right
MLB debut
June 21, 1956, for the Milwaukee Braves
Last MLB appearance
October 2, 1966, for the Houston Astros
MLB statistics
Batting average	.261
Home runs	89
Runs batted in	330
Stats at Baseball Reference
Teams
Milwaukee Braves (1956–1961) New York Mets (1962) Boston Red Sox (1963–1965) Houston Astros (1966)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (1965) World Series champion (1957)

Félix Mantilla Lamela (born July 29, 1934) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball utility player, who appeared mostly as an infielder. In his 11-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Mantilla played for the Milwaukee Braves (1956–61), New York Mets (1962), Boston Red Sox (1963–65), and Houston Astros (1966). He played second base the majority of his big league career (326 games), but also adeptly played shortstop (180), third base (143), outfield (156) and (in the latter part of his career), first base (16). Mantilla batted and threw right-handed.

In 1953, Mantilla (along with Hank Aaron and career minor league outfielder Horace Garner) joined the Class-A Minor League Baseball (MiLB) Jacksonville Braves, of the South Atlantic League — which was (at that time) one of the first two integrated baseball teams in the Southern United States. (Mantilla was Aaron’s roommate; in 1954, Aaron joined the MLB Milwaukee Braves, with Mantilla following, two seasons later.) Both were on the team when Milwaukee won the 1957 World Series title.

Mantilla was selected by the New York Mets in the expansion draft and became their most regular third baseman (113 games started), in 1962, establishing career highs in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in (RBI) (.275/11/59). At the end of the season, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for three players, two of whom were Pumpsie Green and Tracy Stallard.

Mantilla's numbers improved dramatically in the hitter-friendly Fenway Park: he hit .315 in 66 games in 1963, hit .289 with 30 home runs in 1964 (five fewer than he had hit in his career prior to that season), and set a career high with 92 RBIs in 1965. That season, he was also named to the American League (AL) All-Star team for the only time in his career.

Prior to the start of the Y season, the Red Sox traded Mantilla to the Houston Astros for Eddie Kasko. He spent that year as a utility player before being released on November 28. The Chicago Cubs signed Mantilla as a free agent before the start of the 1967 season; however, during spring training he suffered an Achilles tendon injury that required surgery. Mantilla never played a game for them and was released on July 6. He went to spring training with the Cubs in 1968 as a non-roster player; at the end of camp the Cubs signed him to a minor league contract, but he never appeared in another professional game.

A lifetime .261 hitter, Mantilla compiled 89 home runs with 330 runs batted in.

On May 26, 1959, in the 13th inning of a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Milwaukee County Stadium, Mantilla ruined Harvey Haddix's bid for a perfect game. Leading off the inning, he hit a ground ball to third baseman Don Hoak, whose throw to first pulled Rocky Nelson off the bag for an error. (Mantilla had not even been in the starting lineup; he entered the game in the 11th after Del Rice had pinch-hit for Johnny O'Brien.) Mantilla was sacrificed to second by Eddie Mathews, followed by an intentional walk to Hank Aaron. The following batter, Joe Adcock, hit one over the right-center field wall, just beyond the reach of right fielder Joe Christopher (who was making his Major League debut), for an apparent 3–0 victory. Mantilla scored the winning run, but Aaron, thinking the ball was still in play and that the game ended when Mantilla scored the winning run, rounded second and then headed for the dugout. Adcock, running out his home run, passed Aaron on the bases; as a result, the ruling from National League (NL) president Warren Giles was that Adcock's hit was a double (not a home run), only Mantilla's run counted and the final score was 1–0.

Mantilla's Topps 1962 baseball card was featured in the 2000 film Skipped Parts as the top card in a stack being thrown into a fire as part of a right of passage/growing up event between a stern grandfather (R. Lee Ermey) and his grandson (Bug Hall).

See also

• List of Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico

References

1. Johnson, Bill (July 31, 2014). "Hank Aaron SABR BioProject". SABR.org. Society for Baseball Research. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
2. "Horace Garner Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
3. Red Sox trade Felix Mantilla
4. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1967/04/19/page/63/article/mantilla-has-leg-surgery-out-3-months
5. Cubs lose in wind
6. Banks, Kerry (2010). Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records. Vancouver, BC: Greystone Books. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7.
7. https://www.si.com/vault/2009/06/01/105819842/the-greatest-game-ever-pitched
8. Mark Armour (April 19, 2017). "Skipped Parts". sabrbaseballcards.blog. Society of American Baseball Research. Retrieved April 19, 2017.

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference

• 1934 births
• Living people
• Major League Baseball infielders
• Major League Baseball outfielders
• Boston Red Sox players
• Houston Astros players
• Jacksonville Braves players
• Milwaukee Braves players
• New York Mets players
• Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico
• American League All-Stars
• Caribbean Series players
• People from Isabela, Puerto Rico