1954 Bowman Mickey Mantle #65 PSA Mint 9....

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1954 Bowman Mickey Mantle #65 PSA Mint 9. It was Groundhog's Day, 1954. While an expectant nation awaited the forecast on the arrival of Spring from a rodent in Pennsylvania, Mickey Mantle was making his own preparations for the coming thaw, hoping that the operation to remove a cyst from behind his right knee might do something to lessen the pain that had plagued him since his injury in Game Two of the 1951 World Series. The Yankees had posted their fifth consecutive World Series victory four months earlier and there seemed to be no end in sight for the team's winning ways. But the twenty-two year old Mick knew he was instrumental to his ballclub's chances, and if he could finally get that knee working the way it was supposed to, there would be no stopping the Yankees.

In the end, the surgery ended up being a limited success, but Mantle was of tough Midwestern stock and fought through the pain bravely, as he would continue to do for his entire career. And the Hall of Fame numbers continued to mount. In 1954, Mickey improved upon all of his batting stats from the previous season, posting an even .300 average with twenty-seven home runs. His 102 runs batted in marked the first season in which he would reach the triple-digit mark, a feat he would accomplish just four times in his storied career. And his 129 runs scored led the league by a considerable margin, with Minnie Minoso taking the silver with ten fewer. Injured or not, Mantle was still one of the game's biggest stars in 1954.

Here we find him with the confident smile of a man who had known only World Championship glory in his first three seasons of Major League service, his image perfectly registered and flawlessly centered between white borders and sharp corners. Surfaces are clean of common flaws of wax and gum stains. In nearly 4,000 submissions to PSA, no representation has soared higher. This is as good as it gets.