In the Mick's and others' tellings, the last few seasons in pinstripes passed unceremoniously. The team just wasn't winning, all of his old friends were hanging up their spikes, and when he himself retired after the 1968 campaign, he didn't know what to do with himself. The effects, as he put it, of 'living in a fishbowl with no way out' caught up with him.
Countless teammates attested to his lack of the expected self-centeredness and gave many examples. The only person he was hard on was himself on and off the field. When new acquisition Bob Turley walked into the locker room, he found a tongue-in-cheek, but also sincere, gift of a soda and a flower waiting by his locker, courtesy of Mickey. It wasn't uncommon to see Yankees' minor leaguers using a new pair of Mantle's spikes, gifted to them in spring training - especially outfielders.
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