What is it about Mickey Mantle?
doubledragon
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in Sports Talk
I don't think I've ever seen a player so popular and idolized as him.
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Mantle is popular and idolized because his baseball cards are worth a lot of money.
Wow; I didn't know there was that much picture from the one that his 1952 Topps card came from. As for what you said about "I don't think I've ever seen a player so popular and idolized as him."...that's certainly true as far as the baseball card hobby goes but for the sport in general, all that is small potatoes compared to how idolized Babe Ruth was! Seriously doesn't almost everyone in the US at least know who he is?
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Playing in the large New York media market helped.
So did the Marilyn Monroe stuff
Missouri 14 OSU 3
Monroe was associated with DiMaggio. Don't believe Marilyn had that much extra time to spend with Mantle.
https://lelands.com/bids/mickey-mantle-i-fucked-monroe-single-signed-baseball
There were always rumors swirling that they had hooked up
Missouri 14 OSU 3
There are actually three known original type 1 photos of that image that are known to exist, one sold for $375,000 back in 2019.
An original photograph of Mickey Mantle featuring the iconic image which was utilized for his 1952 Topps baseball card has been sold privately through Hunt Auctions for a record-setting $375,000. It’s the most ever paid for a PSA/DNA authenticated Type I unsigned post-War baseball image.
The photo is one of only three Type I examples known to exist. It had previously been owned by a private collector.
The black and white 7” x 9” photograph was taken in 1951 and originally issued by International News Service, which later merged with United Press to form United Press International. The photo carries period stamping on the back.
Vintage original photographs featuring images used on trading cards have escalated in both price and popularity in recent years, with the early images of Mantle that are identical to those used by Topps and Bowman high on collector want lists.
“The 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card remains to date one of the most recognizable American sports and popular culture items of the last 100 years,” said David Hunt President of Hunt Auctions. “The incredible price attained for this original photograph further attests to the immeasurable popularity of the Mickey Mantle rookie card as coveted by millions of American youth during the 1950s period. This record amount is sure to reset the standards for vintage baseball photography of its type.”
The Mantle photograph was authenticated by Henry Yee of PSA/DNA.
“It’s an extremely rare photo because it was only originally issued regionally by International News as a minor news story for the locals and not a national press release. (It was) taken on March 5, 1951 in Phoenix, Arizona,” Yee stated. “This was a 19-year old Oklahoma kid that the nation have never heard of and not Mickey Mantle circa-1956 when he was a megastar and cameras followed him everywhere.”
According to Hunt Auctions, Yee and dealer Charlie Barokas assisted with the private sale to the buyer who is a private collector and asking to remain anonymous.
A photo of Mantle identical to the one used to produce his 1951 Bowman rookie card sold in 2015 for $71,700. The all-time record for a baseball photograph was set earlier this year by a Carl Horner studio portrait of Ty Cobb, an image used to create his T206 cards more than a century ago. It sold this summer for $396,000.
What is it about Mickey Mantle? ask @1951WheatiesPremium
Wonder if Joe ever knew.
Also wonder if MM wife Merlin ever got wind of it.
https://auction.lelands.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=112036
Given that Mantle said in a questionnaire that his favorite Yankee stadium memory was getting oral sex during a game by the bullpen under the right field bleachers, I would assume his wife probably knew what she was getting into.
Missouri 14 OSU 3
Marilyn Monroe had an absolutely horrible childhood. Even though she became a famous actress and a global icon, I would not want to see any girl/woman experience what she experienced. She was treated awfully by persons around her for most, if not all, of her life.
I also wonder what it is about Mickey Mantle that makes him as popular as he is. His fame is enduring, as is the fame of Babe Ruth, Elvis Pressley, Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson. I wonder if these individuals will continue as global icons 100 years from now when everyone who was alive during their lives is dead.
They both have the same initials, MM.
I think that could be a clue that something was going on. 🤔
Mickey was a Yankee, good looking and was in the World Series and the public eye often. Imagine how great he would have been if his knees were good. Or if they had the doctors and procedures they have today. If they had outfields like today. He blew his knee out on a sprinkler head.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
...
https://youtu.be/Hm_Ybn4JMxM?feature=shared
This is a great interview. I know I linked one already. I've watched different ones, and this particular clip is great.
As long as we continue to have places like YouTube where we can relive all these great historical moments and such with a simple point and click of a mouse...I don't see why not! As opposed to the olden days where they might get buried in some old books or microfilm reels...
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
I appreciate you taking the time to post those interviews, I've never seen that side of him before. He's such a larger than life icon, a hero to many, but he was also human just like the rest of us. He really cared a lot about his fans too, never got tired of signing autographs for them, great stuff. I've learned a lot about him today, and I'm definitely a Mickey Mantle fan. 🖒
One more quick thing here, my favorite card of Mickey Mantle is his 1962 Topps, it was the first card I ever saw of his back when I was a kid, and I love the wood frame design. Feast your eyes on this puppy, I wish I owned this beauty!
Mick was the face of the Golden Age of baseball. He hit legendary thunderous home runs and ran like a gazelle. He was a country boy with an awe shucks perosna in the bustling metropolis...charm. They won more than anyone else and he was the absolute best player in the league in his prime. And he did this all as TV was just beginning its reign on dominating the minds of people.
The World Series was first televised in 1947 and he came just at the right time. It was first televised in color in 1955 during his prime. This was really the first era in history where a player in another city could be viewed in live action via television and it was the World Series that was shown across the county...featuring Mick and the Yanks with Mick setting the record for World Series home runs.
Baseball cards were now coming out consistently on a yearly basis just as Mick was starting his career and kids of this era loved those cards.
In short he was both the best and most popular player in the league and during the most romanticized era.
Mickey's childhood was pretty bad as well.
He had a great name that floated off the lips. He played in New York City where the media idealized him. That is HUGE. He was a great player who had some great seasons. He would have put up better numbers if he had taken care of himself.
I’d appreciate you not posting my cards without permission!
J/k. I wish it was mine. My only Mantle’s are part of my ‘61 set in PSA 5 and a raw example in the binder.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.