The date was May 14, 1967 – exactly 48 years ago today. It was a Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium and the Baltimore Orioles were getting out the brooms in hopes of a three-game sweep.

The Yankees were in third place when the day started.The Yankees weren’t a very good team. Under manager Ralph Houk, they would, in fact, finish the season in ninth place with a record of 72-and-90 and finish a full 20 games behind the Boston Red Sox.

Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle were still Yankees, but they were nearing the end of the line. Mantle would finish the season with 22 home runs and 55 RBIs while batting .245 and striking out 113 times. But for the 18,872 fans in attendance that day, the Mick would provide them with a touch of baseball history.

I already mentioned that the Yankees weren’t a very good team. But, to me, they were an interesting team.

• To begin with, Jake Gibbs was the regular catcher. He was forgettable during his ten seasons with the Yankees when he batted .238 in 538 games. But I remember him as a 1960 All-American quarterback at Ole Miss where he started for three years and led the SEC in passing and total offense.

• The shortstop was former Phillie Ruben Amaro – who was my favorite player during the early 1960s and who is also the father of current Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr.

• The second baseman was Horace Clarke. Hoss was from Fredericksted, St, Croix, and he was someone I got to know during the late-1980s when I was a sports reporter f or the Daily News on St. Croix and Hoss was very active in youth sports development on the island.

And now back to the game on May 14, 1967 . . .

It was Mel Stottlemyre (3-2) for the Yanks versus Steve Barber (2-3) for the O’s. But Barber didn’t make it thru the first inning.

• Horace Clarke drew a walk to start the inning.

• Dick Howser singled to center with Clarke reaching second.

• Mickey Mantle hit a ground ball to third that Brooks Robinson booted – and the bases were loaded with nobody out.

• Barber struck out Elston Howard swinging for the first out, but then he plunked Tom Tresh to force in a run and keep the bases loaded.

• Steve Whitaker lined a two-run single to right to make it 3-0 Yankees and sent Barber to an early shower.

The Orioles rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. Houk pulled Stottlemyre and replaced him with Dooley Womack (2-2).

Joe Pepitone put the Yankees back on top 5-4 with a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth. And that’s the way the game stood as the Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the seventh.

• Horace Clarke grounded out Boog Powell to Stu Miller covering.

• Dick Howser struck out.

• And then Mickey Mantle stepped to the plate – watch the video below to see what happened.

When you watch Mantle limp around the bases, you get a feel for why his brilliant career was short-changed by bad knees.

That home run upped the Yankees lead to 6-4. More significantly, it was the 500th home run of Mantle’s career. Prior to that historic drive, there were only five players who hit 500 home runs in the big leagues – Babe Ruth, Jimmy Foxx, Mel Ott, Ted Williams, and Willie Mays. So that put Mantle in exclusive company.Since then, 26 more players have reached the 500 mark.

The Yankees went on to win an otherwise meaningless game that day. Dooley Womack (3-2) picked up the win and Stu Miller (0-4) took the loss.

But the game was anything but meaningless to Mickey Mantle and baseball fans everywhere as Mickey Mantle hits 500th home run.

Barry Bowe is the author of Born to Be Wild, 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant, and 12 Best Eagles QBs.