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Like Dustin, I was turned on to Mantle when I was a young collector mainly due to the prices he commanded. It was a dream of a 10 year old to one day have a real Mantle card. I've since acquired several but I'll always remember getting that first one. A 1966 Topps. I couldn't believe it when I got it in hand. I was thrilled to have one. I was shocked that I pulled the trigger on it since at the time my card budget was even smaller than it is now. I'll always have that Mantle.
AndyH |
I was born in 78
I wasn't that fortunate to have seen him play or even recollect a time i should have went to a signing. I really started to collect Mantle around 2008 when i re-entered the hobby. I was stationed in Alaska at the time and it pretty much helped me get through that 3 year tour. My baseball guy growing up was Ryno. When i started back up again (wanted to collect an icon) so i basically picked him and the rest is history. I've read and have seen almost anything he's been in or on. I guess what led me more into him was his history with alcohol and what not. Growing up with an alcoholic father i could relate to his story and past. Call it weird or what not. Cool thread. Nothing like seeing these sorts of threads about a great guy. PS: cool stories so far from everyone who has shared. |
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Boooooo!!!!! |
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Very telling. Agree. |
I was born in 1964, too young to ever see him play but cannot remember a time in my life that I didn't know the name "Mickey Mantle." When I started collecting as a kid in the 1970s, Mantle cards were definitely sought-after, but seen -- at least among my circle of friends -- as on par with Aaron, Mays, Koufax. (I was and remain a huge Clemente fan but I don't recall Clemente cards taking off in the first few years after his death.)
I became aware of the Mantle mystique in 1985 when one of his several autobiographies came out, "The Mick," and I heard he'd be signing books at a store in Washington, D.C. I figured it'd be cool to stop by and get his autograph, but remember showing up to find a line of middle-aged men extending out the store and around the block. It's these guys and their disposable income that drove the Mantle card and memorabilia market into the stratosphere. I re-entered the collecting world about 10 years ago and started finishing off pre-1968 sets. As any collector knows, Mantle cards are always the toughest to find at reasonable prices. I know it's not Mick's fault and I have much respect for the law of supply and demand, but I'm just not a fan of the guy because of the prices of his cards. I now have all the Topps sets back to 1956. I'm thinking about going after 1955 Topps or Bowman set next. I like the Bowmans better, but the idea of finding a Mantle causes me dread. And there's no Mantle in the 1955 Topps set. |
Mantle will always outshine Mays for collectors because:
--Mantle played for the premiere team in the sport and spent his entire career in the media capital of the USA; Mays played for the least successful NY team and they left partway through his career for a secondary city. --Mantle was spectacular, good and bad. Mays was steadier. Mantle was better than Mays at his peak but had a much shorter peak. It's better to burn out than fade away... --Mantle had a peak era as his team won. Mays did not put together a streak like that until he was already in SF, and they didn't win. --Context counts. Mays had the bad luck to have his peak streak during the strongest era for pitching, so his raw stats (other than the 1965 totals) didn't look that spectacular even though they were elite in context. --Mays never had a 1961 Roger Maris teammate. Mantle was fortunate enough to have Maris in 61 and for that year to end up being the last legendary Yankees team. --WS results head to head: Yankees 2, Giants 0. 1951 and 1962. --Mantle was handsome and white in an era where few black athletes would be chosen for endorsements not aimed at the black community. His marketability and awareness of Mantle were greater than for Mays. --Mays was overshadowed towards the end of his career by Aaron's home run chase. http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...3%20HRLDRS.jpg And last but not least, Mantle has a card in the 1952 Topps high series; Mays is in the semis. |
Mickey Mantle
Mantle was my favorite player from the late '50's until he retired. I saw him play a couple of times in KC in the early '60's. I grew up in Cardinal country, so Musial and Boyer were my next favorite players. Got my first Mantle card from a pack in 1959. I have no idea what happened to it. I got my first Mantle in-person signed baseball in Overland Park, KS in the mid-80's. I still have it.
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I started collecting cards at age 9 in 1986. At the time in the hobby, Mantle was the single most popular thing on the planet, despite the fact that he had already been retired for nearly 2 decades. Kids of my generation knew way more about Mickey Mantle than they did Babe Ruth, I can tell you that much. My first Mantle card was his '58 with Hank Aaron, which I picked up at a shop no doubt with my mother's help along about '88. I will agree as others have said, there is something unique about him and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I think it has to do with the fact that Mantle, unlike any other player - existed at the absolute climax of baseball, time and place in history - New York city in the 1950's. Had he been a Cleveland Indian in 1945 or a New York Met in the 1970's, I think we would view him today much as we do any other superstar. For kids everywhere 60 years ago, and doubly so for kids in random areas of the south or the midwest where there was as of yet no major league baseball - Mantle was the guy you followed. I will agree that the hype and prices for his cards and other memorabilia is disproportionate in comparison to others of his generation, but the intangible is part of that magic.
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Saw him play a few times in the old Cleveland Muni stadium. He was not only the enemy, but the embodiment of all things feared and hated by Indians fans, even though I don't recall him doing a lot of great hitting there. Maybe the tough pitching the Indians enjoyed during most of the 50's figured into that. I remember one game in 1958, must have been very late in the season because there were white chalk lines on the outfield grass from a Browns game and between innings, Mantle kidded around with the bleacher fans, getting down into a three-point stance, as if about to run a football play. That bit of playfullness stuck in my mind for some reason.
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I was born in 1963 and never got to see Mantle play in person (I just missed him). He was my Dad's favorite player so I can vaguely remember him playing on TV. I attended my first actual MLB game Saturday May 24th at the Old Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis when the Twins beat the Yankees (2-1). Even though I was only 6 years old I do remember most of the game. Their was lots of chatter about Mickey Mantle retiring during spring training because he said he couldn't hit anymore. I remember my Dad talking about it. His replacement I believe was Bobby Murcer, he got two hits that day. Harmon Killebrew was my favorite player and he got one hit in the game. Jim Kaat on the other hand pitched what I thought was a sensational game. He quickly became my favorite pitcher.
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