A new mural that pays tribute to Route 66 and former Joplin baseball figures Joe Becker and Mickey Mantle went up a few days ago at the refurbished Joe Becker Stadium in Joplin, Missouri.
The mural was funded by Leadership Joplin and created by several Missouri Southern State University students, according to KOAM-TV.
The mural, appropriately enough, hangs on the back side of the stadium by the Route 66 Cafe. If you want to see the mural next time you’re in town, you can see it from High Street.
In 1950, Mantle hit .383 with 26 homers and a .638 slugging average in 137 games with the Joplin Miners, an affiliate of the New York Yankees. Mantle grew up in the nearby Route 66 town of Commerce, Oklahoma, and played baseball as a 15-year-old on a semipro team in nearby Baxter Springs, Kansas — also on Route 66 — before going to a Baseball Hall of Fame career.
Becker played just 40 games for the Cleveland Indians during the 1930s but gained acclaim as a pitching coach for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. Becker also was a business manager for the Miners.
It should be noted the Miners had a second future Hall-of-Famer — Whitey Herzog, who gained fame as manager of the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals.
Joe Becker Memorial Stadium is home to the Joplin Blasters, an independent professional baseball team that’s finishing up its first season in Joplin this week. The Blasters are members of the 14-team American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.
Although it looks all nice and shiny, Joe Becker Stadium has been a part of Joplin for more than 100 years. The grandstands have burned down twice over the years, but the field remains original.
(Screen capture of the mural from the KOAM video)