Why Did the Red Sox Give Up on Felix Mantilla Prior to the 1966 Season?

Former MLB player Felix Mantilla passed away yesterday at the age of 90.

The Puerto Rican born utility player signed with the Boston Braves prior to the 1952 season. When he reached the majors in 1956, the Braves had moved to Milwaukee.

In 1957, Mantilla would earn a World Series ring as the Braves bested the New York Yankees in seven games. Mantilla also played in the Yankees-Braves World Series rematch the following year although this time the Yankees would prevail in seven games.

Mantilla established a reputation as a "good field, no hit" player who could play all infield and outfield positions during his six seasons in Milwaukee. However, the Braves would leave Mantilla unprotected and the New York Mets would select him in the 1962 expansion draft. Here is where Mantilla's career began to really get interesting.

Although the 1962 Mets are regarded as among the worst teams in MLB history (that is until the 2024 Chicago White Sox came along), Mantilla acquitted himself quite well primarily playing third base. Appearing in 141 games, Mantilla hit .275 with 11 HR and 59 RBI. While those numbers aren't Earth shattering, his 59 RBI were second best on the team with Frank Thomas leading the club with 94. 

Following the 1962 season, the Mets traded Mantilla to the Boston Red Sox for Pumpsie Green, Tracy Stallard and Al Moran. Green, of course, was the first African-American player to suit up for the Red Sox while Stallard is best remembered for surrendering Roger Maris' then AL single-season record 61st HR in 1961. During the 1963 season, Mantilla was again relegated to being a utility player. However, he hit .315 in 66 games. 

Yet no one would be prepared for what Mantilla did with the Red Sox in 1964. Mantilla, who had hit 35 career homeruns between 1956 and 1963, blasted a career high 30 HR. Only first baseman Dick Stuart hit more (33) for the Bosox in 1964, but Mantilla hit his 30 HR with 180 fewer plate appearances. Mantilla finished 9th in the AL in HR in 1964. 

No one (and I mean no one) had Felix Mantilla slugging 30 HR on their AL bingo card that season. However, Mantilla loved hitting at Fenway Park where pop flies in other parks would end up in the Green Monster in Fenway. Mantilla hit 19 of his 30 HR that year at the friendly confines. He also hit .330 at Fenway as opposed to .245 on the road.

In 1965, Mantilla's HR total fell from 30 to 18. However, his RBI total jumped from 64 to a team leading 92. In fact, Mantilla's 92 RBIs in 1965 were 4th in the AL behind only Tony Oliva, Willie Horton and the recently departed Rocky Colavito. Mantilla would also be selected to his first and only All-Star Team in 1965.

Yet during spring training in 1966, the Red Sox abruptly traded Mantilla to the Houston Astros for Eddie Kasko. The official explanation for the trade was that the team wanted youth. But Eddie Kasko was a young player who was three years older than Mantilla.

Kasko only played 58 games for the Red Sox, but would become a fixture with their organization becoming a minor league manager between 1967 and 1969 before being named Red Sox skipper in 1970 in a tenure which lasted through the 1973 season. Kasko then spent the next 20 years with the Red Sox in various capacities in their scouting department most notably signing Roger Clemens.

As for Mantilla, he was relegated to being a utility player with the Astros and asked for his release after hitting only .219 in 1966. Mantilla would sign with the Chicago Cubs in 1967 but would sustain a career ending Achilles tendon injury. 

Had the Red Sox held onto Mantilla and assuming he did not sustain the career ending injury, he would have been part of the 1967 Impossible Dream Team which won the AL pennant. Would Mantilla's presence have been the difference in Game 7 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals? Well, perhaps not. Mantilla fared no better against Bob Gibson than anyone else in the '67 Red Sox lineup outside of Yaz hitting a career .125 against the future Hall of Fame pitcher. But outside of Elston Howard, hardly anyone on the 1967 Red Sox knew what it was like to play in a World Series. In any case, Mantilla was productive for his three seasons in a Red Sox uniform, and they just cast him away like he had never done anything for them. 

In 11 MLB seasons, Mantilla played in 969 games collecting 707 hits for a lifetime batting average of .261 with 89 HR and 330 RBI. After his playing career, Mantilla returned to Milwaukee where he became instrumental in promoting little league baseball in the city. R.I.P.