Acce s the Mets beat like never before Dont mi s Mike Pumas text me sages from Queens and beyond hes giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Mets. The best-case template was cast in iron in a small hotel room on Aug. 11, 1951. A man named Elven Mantle Mutt to everybody drove the 163 miles from Dakota Mathias Jersey Commerce, Okla., to Kansas City, Mo., to join his son, Mickey, for Father-Son Day at Municipal Stadium. But it wasnt exactly a happy occasion. Mantle whom Casey Stengel had called the best ballplayer Ive ever seen, and Stengel had been around pro ballplayers since 1910 had started hot his rookie season with the Yankees, but by July hed fallen into an irreversible funk. Stengel sent him down to Triple-A. At first, Mantles slump became even worse: he started 3-for-18. Even as he caught fire on a three-week road trip, when the Blues returned home, Mickey was deeply depre sed. He told his father he wanted to quit. Hal Greer Jersey