This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/12/2019
Excepted to take the reins and lead the New York Yankees dynasty for the next generation, teenage Mickey Mantle sits dejectedly on the dugout bench, contemplating his fate and wondering if he has the right stuff to place his name among Ruth, Gehrig and DiMaggio in the annuls of baseball history. The New York faithful sure expected as much, having become jaded after decades of championships and never gave thought to the notion that some day, the party may end. With 11 homers, 50 RBI and a .361 batting average in just 40 games at AAA Kansas City, it certainly wasn't a stretch to think that "the next big thing" was on its way. Compounding the already immense pressure being placed on this 19-year old kid from the tiny Oklahoma town of Commerce, Mantle was originally given jersey #6 to send a message that anything less than being a legend wouldn't fly in the bright lights of "The Big Apple." After a less than spectacular start, Mantle went back to the minors, returning with a new attitude and a new jersey number, indeed taking the pinstripers into a new generation of greatness and confirming his status as a true baseball legend. The featured magazine page properly captures "The Commerce Comet" in a moment of self-doubt with the expectations of a city of millions bearing down on him. Written across his likeness is a time period autograph, perhaps one of the first he signed as a major league ballplayer. The picture is approximately 5 3/4" square with cut-rounded corners and a slight fold through the center. The Mantle autograph is virtually perfect, a clean penning of his signature at the very start of his career: no crescent shapes, no looping letters, just the simple clean design Mantle offered when he first step foot in the Bronx. This is a truly one of a kind item of Mickey Mantle that appears as though it came into existence minutes after Mantle stepped off of the airplane in New York and the beginning of his journey into immortality. PSA/DNA authenticated.