Mickey, Minnie and the Gump

Randy Gumpert during his time in Philly (Charles Conlon photo)

Big game 73 years ago today at Chicago's Comiskey Park, where Mickey Mantle launches his first career homer for the Yankees and Minnie Minoso becomes the first Black player in White Sox history the day after being acquired from Cleveland.

Serving up the first of Mantle's 536 career homers is White Sox right-hander Randy Gumpert.

Historians note that Mantle’s homer — a two-run shot to deep right field — comes in the sixth inning, giving the Yankees a 5-3 lead in a game they eventually win 8-3 before a Tuesday afternoon crowd of 14,776 on the South Side.

The Yankees need to rally from an early 2-0 deficit that comes on Minoso’s two-run homer to center field in the bottom of the first inning off New York starter Vic Raschi.

As for Gumpert, he enters the game in the sixth inning, just in time to give up Mantle’s first homer.

Gumpert actually makes a habit of serving up homers only to the best.

During his time in the majors from 1935-52, Gumpert – photographed here with the Philadelphia A's in the late 1930s by the late, great Charles Conlon – gives up 92 homers in his career with 21 of them going to Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Mize, George Kell, Larry Doby, Hal Newhouser and, of course, Mickey Mantle.