Just came across an interesting note on the "This Day in Baseball" FB page. I'm actually quite surprised to learn that when he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974, Mickey Mantle had played more games for the Yankees than any other player, including Lou Gehrig. You always think of Mantle losing significant parts of his career to injuries.
EDIT: I got curious and compared Mantle's games played stats to Wilie Mays. Both first played MLB in 1951. Through Mantle's last year of 1968 he and Mays played in a very similar number of sames over 17 seasons: Mantle 2,401 and Mays 2,446. Mays hung around for five more mostly mediocre years and ended up with 500 more games played. But through the last year either played a full season they were well matched in games played.
On January 16 1974 — The Baseball Writers Association of America elects former New York Yankees teammates Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford to the Hall of Fame. Mantle becomes only the seventh player to make it in his first try. His 536 home runs with the Yankees rank second only to Babe Ruth, and he played in more games (2,401) than any other pinstriper, including Lou Gehrig. Ford was arguably the greatest Yankees pitcher of all time, retiring with more wins (236), innings pitched (3,171), strikeouts (1,956), and shutouts (45) than anyone in club history.