This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/23/2018
A rookie named Willie Mays joined the New York Giants in 1951 and immediately made a huge impact, bashing 20 home runs and driving in 68 more on his way to establishing himself as a legitimate five-tool player. He can be seen in the offered 1947-66 Exhibits card, honoring the New York Giants and their 1951 National League championship. The championship, of course, is the stuff of legend, as they finished the regular season in a tie with crosstown rivals Brooklyn Dodgers, who they would of course beat in dramatic fashion in the last of a three-game wildcard playoff with Bobby Thomson's walk-off home run, immortalized in American history as the "Shot Heard 'Round the World." This card, graded NM/MT 8 by PSA, is far and away the highest graded on record, perhaps even deserving of a review for a loftier assessment, and should certainly be regarded as the rookie appearance of Willie Mays.