Even if you don’t like baseball and have never watched a game in your life, you’ve probably heard of Mickey Mantle. Could be you saw a TV show about the man, or maybe overheard a conversation your parents had about “the good old days.” For those of you who don’t know the name at all, Mickey Mantle (1931 – 1995) was one of the greatest baseball players that ever lived. He played a total of 2,401 games, exclusively with the New York Yankees from 1951 to 1968, and his most common position was centerfielder. He was known as the greatest switch-hitter of all time, scoring an impressive 536 home runs, 372 with him batting left-handed and 164 with him batting right-handed. His lifetime average was .298.
Mantle suffered from a recurring osteomyelitic (bone infection) condition in his leg, and had repeated injuries to his knees and leg muscles. He overcame these problems to lead the American League six times in runs scored, four times in home runs, and once in batting. He was named MVP in 1956, 1957, and 1962. Mantle retired from the game in 1969, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Truly an impressive athlete.
Today’s remarkable listings happen to be a couple of baseball trading cards that made it to the top of our internal most watched lists. The first is this 1952 TOPPS #311 MICKEY MANTLE PSA 1:
Although the card does not appear to be in great condition, it has garnered great interest from eBay shoppers, who have bid the card up to more than $2,025. The seller has not included much information about the card other than the picture, so it might be best to contact the seller before bidding.
Our second remarkable baseball card set is this 1953 Topps Baseball Christmas Rack Pack with Mickey Mantle On Top:
This card is part of a Christmas Rack Pack that was popular from 1952 to 1962. The seller tells us about this type of display:
“This is one of the real and authentic, old baseball card rack packs. The real deal racks were made only from 1952 through 1962, by an unknown 3rd party. They used Topps overstock for these rack packs and were sold in stores like Woolworth’s, Kroger’s, etc around Christmas time as stocking stuffers. The real racks can be seen with old staples (not bright, silver, shiny staples like you see on the new ones), candy cane design on both ends of the rack that extends right to the ends, and wreath/bow/Season’s Greetings on the back. In 1952, kids would get 1952 cards; in 1953 they’d get 1953 cards and so on up to 1962. These came from a find many, many years ago. All cards are authentic Topps cards.”
The seller points out that the packs contained a total of 12 cards: six cards showing, and six cards hidden. So, aside from the visible Mickey Mantle, Luke Easter, and Bill Miller cards on the front and #108, Richard Willams, and #112 on the back, who knows what other players are featured on the hidden cards…
We’ll leave you with a quote by Mickey Mantle that embodies the way we feel professional baseball players should think about the game:
“When I’m hitting, I’d play for nothing. When I’m not, any kind of money I receive
makes me feel as if I’m stealing.”
Finally some baseball on eBay stories!
A bit modern for my taste, but I’ll take it…
As a twitter follower too, all I can say is: Keep ‘em coming!
@TheNYClipper: I hadn’t realized they were in demand! From now on, I will keep a close eye on the baseball items up for sale to see what else there is to write about.
I’m new to Ebay I collect both 1952 and the53 topps cards, I live in Canada and even here Mantle is king, I’m not rich but the 1952 Mantle is a cloud any Yankees child could reach. Reading your caption brings the child out in all of us.
Wonder why the seller of the Christmas Rack Pack ended the auction early? Lame.
True Ball Players of yesteryear the guys these days are for the most part BUMS always exceptions.Today’s players cry CRY if they don’t get that extra 5 mil. How society has changed for the worse! Wish I lived in the 50′s or 60′s when Men were REAL men,not these crying for attention spoiled little BRATS called Ball Players……………
Mantle =CLASS ACT and so many others I’d have to sit here for hours writing the list. I could write today’s list in under 5 min….No more Chevrolet and Apple pie gone is a great era!!!! Throw in some Yogi-isms.
The Christmas Rack is an aftermarket rack…in other words, it was put together long after the cards were originally issued…you can be sure the cards in the middle are commons. The cards are real, of course, but this was not a topps issued product.
These are put together and people pay outrageous prices for cards that are not in too good of condition….a huge scam that goes on all the time on ebay