[1] He played in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers.

[5] Tettleton was born in Oklahoma City and was named after Baseball Hall of Fame member and fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle.

[6][7] He was also distinguished by the huge wad of chewing tobacco he kept in his cheek during games, as well as his claim that Froot Loops were the source of his hitting power.

[12] He began the 1984 season with the Double-A Albany A's but was promoted to the major leagues in June when Athletics catcher Jim Essian suffered a broken hand.

[1][15] By the end of the season, Athletics manager Tony La Russa had Tettleton platooning with the left-hand hitting catcher, Jerry Willard.

However, injuries and weak hitting limited him to 82 games, as newcomer Terry Steinbach began to make a positive impression.

[1] Tettleton started the season in Rochester but was soon called back to the major leagues, where he shared catching duties with Terry Kennedy in 1988, and improved his batting average significantly to .261.

[1][18] 1989 was a breakout year for Tettleton as he started the season hitting 13 home runs in April and May, setting a new major league record for catchers.

[19] He hit 20 home runs by midseason, earning him a place as a reserve player for the American League team in the 1989 All-Star Game.

[1] Although he struck out 160 times, setting a major league strikeout record for switch hitters, his on-base percentage increased from the previous year to .376, in part due to the 106 base on balls.

[26] At the end of the year, Tettleton opted for free agency, then surprised the Orioles by accepting their salary arbitration offer.

[38] Cito Gaston, the American League manager for the All-Star game, also received criticism for failing to name Tettleton as a reserve player.

[42] With Iván Rodríguez having a secure hold on the Rangers' catching job, Tettleton played mostly as a right fielder and designated hitter.

[1] In December 1995, he turned down a lucrative offer from the New York Yankees and chose to remain with the Rangers, signing a two-year contract worth $2.5 million.

But his selective style at the plate, combined with his power-hitting mentality, led to Tettleton's 1,307 career strike-outs, 105th on baseball's all-time list as of 2010.