Mickey Mantle 1963 New York Yankees Game-Worn Home Jersey ... Baseball Collectibles: Uniforms

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Lot: 19659
Auction: 701

Mickey Mantle 1963 New York Yankees Game-Worn Home Jersey ...

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Sold for:	$143,400.00 (includes BP ) Bid Source: Live: Phone
Ended:	Sep 10, 2004

Printable Version of Prices Realized for this Auction

Buyer's Premium:

19.5% of the successful bid (minimum $9.00 per lot)

Description

Mickey Mantle 1963 New York Yankees Game-Worn Home Jersey Imagine it is May 22, 1963. You are sitting in the grandstand at Yankee Stadium, rather dismayed that the masterful 7-0 shutout the Bombers had been dominating has degraded into a tie ballgame. The ninth inning ends. Inning 10 goes by. The Yankees retire Kansas City. Bottom of the 11th. Mickey Mantle steps up to the plate. The count reaches 2-2. Your hopes of The Mick crushing one are beginning to fade. And then, something magical happens -- with perfect form, Mantle connects. Both teams rise at the crack of the bat. The white orb rockets upward. Yogi Berra shouts, "That's it!" You wait for it to peak and fall, but it doesn't stop. It is still heading for the clouds when it meets with the gothic facade hanging from the roof of the right field upper deck, 370 feet from home plate and 118 feet above the ground directly below. Deflected from its initial trajectory, the baseball is knocked back into the infield from whence it came. You are so in awe of the feat just witnessed, the thought to cheer for the Yankee victory takes a moment. Had the ball's flight path been unobstructed, it would have soared a minimum of 620 feet. It would have easily cleared the highest seat in Yankee Stadium, and surely the buildings across the street. Geometry has shown that it is not unreasonable to think that the ball could have traveled over 700 feet if air was its only obstacle. Such was the greatness of the man who wore number 7 on his back.

The offered flannel is "The Mick's" Yankees home jersey is from that 1963 season, and may very well be the one Mantle wore on May 22nd. The creme flannel jersey has the famous Yankee pinstripes with navy wool "NY" crest along the left breast and the original "7" on the reverse. It bears the Spalding manufacturer's and size "44" tag with "63" chain stitched below. "Mantle" is chain stitched into a swatch sewn in the collar and the dry clean tags on the interior of the left tail read "Set 1 - 1963". The jersey is original and unaltered, displaying moderate game wear throughout, including several small holes and light, scattered stains on the tails. In the 21st century, many top players wear each uniform only once -- that way they can sell it off to a dealer, or present it to a lucky collector. Sometimes, such pieces are given away to dignitaries or special fans. The latter was the case with this jersey, except that back in 1963, each player received only two uniforms of each style for an entire season, obviously making this an extremely rare piece. It was given by the Yankees organization to a man who was, at one time, a professional baseball player and still had ties to the game. This man was our consignors grandfather, who made the request on behalf of his wife, a great Mantle fan. Clearly, the request was fulfilled, and the jersey stayed in the collection of the husband and wife, both of whom passed away several years ago. The jersey has been consigned to us by the couple's family, it includes a detailed notarized letter which describes the provenance and it has received the coveted A-10 designation from SCD Authentic.This phenomenal item has never before been available to the public and as most enthusiasts know, it has been quite some time since a completely unaltered and authentic example has made its way into the hobby. LOA from Dan Knoll & Dave Bushing/SCD Authentic.

Auction Name:	*2004 September (HSC) Signature Auction #701*
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Item Activity:	16 Internet/mail bidders, 2,953 page views