The Search for the Next Mickey Mantle: From Tom Tresh to Bryce Harper. Este artículo no está disponible.The Search for the Next Mickey Mantle: From Tom Tresh to Bryce Harper

“The worst curse in life is unlimited potential.” - Ken Brett

High expectations come with being labeled “the next Mickey Mantle.”

But once the media or an organization utters that phrase, it becomes an albatross.

The expectation is that the player will become one of the greatest players of all time—not a good player, not even a star—a superstar of the brightest magnitude.

Every player, however, feels the pressure of high expectations. Author Barry Sparks gives the readers a close look into the dynamic challenges some players had trying to meet goals and expectations of others. The physical and psychological struggles that these players faced is an aspect of the game we don’t hear enough about.

Some of the players featured in this book went on to have solid careers, others were mediocre, some were disappointments or complete busts. One or two may even be headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Most of them, unfortunately, never had the benefit of a sports psychologist to help.

Even though Mickey Mantle was the gold standard for superstars, it took him five frustrating years to reach that level. In this book, find out which players who were tabbed “the next Mickey Mantle” could overcome what sportswriter Bob Hertzel called “the curse of talent and the burden of potential.”

Barry Sparks has written about baseball for more than 50 years. His first article was published in the July 1970 Baseball Digest. He has written for more than 70 national and regional publications, including the Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Wall Street Journal, National Pastime, Sports Collectors Digest, Sports Parade, Phillies Report, 50 Plug Life, and many others. He is the author of Frank "Home Run" Baker: World Series Hero and Hall of Fame.He is a longtime member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and a regular contributor to The Baltimore Chop, the quarterly newsletter for SABR's Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter. Sparks also has made presentations at Bob Davids and Connie Mack SABR chapters. He wrote a weekly baseball column for several years for The York (PA) Sunday News.Sparks is a member of the Eastern Shore (MD) Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted in the sportswriter category.