Mickey Mantle’s
Mantle
legacy continues to grow by leaps and bounds – more than a half-century after he retired from baseball.
All things Mantle continue to wrack up record prices at auctions of baseball memorabilia, including cards, photographs, and uniforms.
Earlier this month, Heritage Auctions sold a Mantle photo for $843,750 – a record for a picture but not even close to the 1951 Bowman Mantle baseball card that netted $3,192,000 two years ago.
Now a game-worn Mantle jersey is headlining the online Goldin 100 auction that opened April 19 and lasts until June 1.
The jersey, expected to sell for seven figures, was worn by the switch-hitting center-fielder of the New York Yankees on July 23, 1957, when he hit for the only cycle of his career (single, double, triple, and home run in the same game).
The home run he hit that day traveled an estimated 465 feet and earned a Herald Tribune headline that read, “Almost Out of the Stadium.”
The uniform top features traditional Yankees pinstripes, the intertwined NY logo on the right chest, the slugger’s number 7 on the back, and Mantle’s name written in script along with the numbers 7 and 57 to highlight the year the jersey was worn.
Mantle was voted American League Most Valuable Player that season, when he led the Yankees to the pennant but just missed winning a world championship as well.
The first switch-hitter to hit for the cycle, Mantle hit 536 home runs during an illustrious career that stretched from 1951-68 and was spent exclusively with the Yankees. His best year was 1956, when the Yankees won a pennant and World Series and Mantle won a Triple Crown: league leadership in batting (.353), home runs (52), and runs batted in (130).
“Original 1950s jerseys are extremely rare,” explained Goldin’s founder and CEO Ken Goldin, “let-alone game-worn jerseys by one of baseball’s most famous players.
“Not only is this jersey straight from the back of Mickey Mantle but it was worn during one of the most significant moments in his career.”
The jersey is part of the Goldin 100, showcasing 50 of the most rare and desirable baseball cards, comic books, and memorabilia in sports, film, and pop culture. The official auction partner of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association and the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, Goldin is an international leader in auctions of collectibles, memorabilia, and trading cards.
The company has made more than $1.2 billion in sales since its founding in 2012, while its founder is responsible for more than $1.2 billion during his career. A press preview of items from Part 1 of the Goldin 100 auction will be held on May 7.
The Mantle photo sold at the Heritage Auction earlier in April was used in three baseball cards of the iconic slugger, including his rare 1951 Bowman rookie. The previous record for a photograph was a Ty Cobb picture used in a 1914-15 Cracker Jack card set. It was auctioned for $516,000.
“I’m thrilled collectors see Type 1 photos for what they are: artwork to be collected, cherished, and coveted,” said Heritage executive vice president Joe Maddalena.
“What I love most about the Type 1 photos is their proximity to history. This isn’t just any Mickey Mantle photo: it’s the one that has become emblematic of his ascension from rookie to legend – when he was just a fresh-faced kid from Oklahoma who wasn’t yet The Mick.”
According to Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA), a Type 1 photo is a first-generation photograph developed from the original negative within two years of being taken.
The Mantle Type 1 was sealed in a brown envelope encased in a Ziploc bag and stored in a cedar chest. It has never gone up for auction before.
In the photo, Mantle is wearing No. 6, which he wore only as a rookie before switching to No. 7. It came from the collection of former St. Louis Browns pitcher Jack Kramer, who won the third game of the 1944 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals but finished his career as a Mantle teammate with the 1951 Yankees.
After Kramer died, the photo was found in a plain brown envelope marked “Pictures of the 1952 New York Yankees, all individuals.”
Yankees team photographer Bob Olen took the Mantle shot, along with others that depicted Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, and Kramer himself.
Another photo from the Kramer collection, a headshot of Mantle during his 1951 rookie season, netted $20,615 at auction.
The world’s largest collectibles auctioneer, Heritage has offices in New York, Chicago, Dallas, and several other major cities. According to SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report, it has the highest online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house.
