The 1952 Mickey Mantle Topps baseball card holds mystical powers for baby boomers.
It’s a piece of cardboard that marks a generational turning point. It divides baby boom kids from the rest of the world. Before the world knew about rock and roll, Elvis and “The Mickey Mouse Club” – the Mantle rookie card was a part of baby boomers’ lives.
Like Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans,” the ’52 Mantle has evolved into a priceless piece of pop art.
This month, however, we found out there is a price on the head of a ’52 Mantle – a cool $2.88 million.
Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?
When it comes to baseball cards, Joe D can’t match The Mick.
Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) reported that a ‘52 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 baseball card — graded Mint 9 on a PSA scale of 1 to 10 –sold for a record of $2.88 million.
It happened during a Heritage Auction on April 19. Twenty-one bids came in for the card. The previous record for a ’52 Mantle was $1.3 million in 2016. But that card was graded Near Mint 8.5. The last PSA Mint 9, ’52 Mantle sold in 2006 for $282,588.
The ’52 Mantles are rising faster in value than housing stock in The Villages.
Why?
“Because there are so few in existence, especially those with a high (Mint) grade,” said Stu Sachs, of The Villages Sports Cards and Collectors Club. “Grading is very important in pricing cards.
“It’s so rare to find a card from so long ago (66 years) in perfect condition and perfectly centered and colored. True card collectors go for the highest grade they can get.”
There’s another reason for the inflated value.
“It’s Mickey Mantle,” Sachs said.
Mantle, who died in 1995, is a true cultural icon. He played for the New York Yankees from 1951-68. He hit 596 homers and batted .298 for his Baseball Hall of Fame career.
The impact of Mantle went beyond numbers. He was the biggest star in the biggest city for the biggest game in America. Those coming of age in the ‘50s and ‘60s not only worshipped Mickey – the kids grew up with him.
In 1961, he and Roger Maris dominated sports news when they chased Babe Ruth’s then record of 60 home runs. Mantle was injured late in the season, and hit 54. Maris hit 61.
Mantle played in 12 World Series with the Yankees. He was more than a player; Mantle was symbol of a time and a sport and a generation.
But the private man had difficulty living up to the public image. Mantle had a self-proclaimed drinking problem. He was known for his wild and undisciplined off-the-filed antics.
During the mid ‘90s, Mantle suffered liver cancer. The bout with mortality changed him. He gave up drinking. He became a Christian. Shortly before his death, he urged his fans not to follow his “role model” lifestyle. “Don’t be like me,” he said, marking one of the most courageous moments of his life.
Sportscaster Bob Costas was a baby boomer lifetime fan. At Mantle’s funeral service, Costas said Mantle was “a fragile hero to whom we had an emotional attachment so strong and lasting that it defied logic.
“In the last year of his life, Mickey Mantle, always so hard on himself, finally came to accept and appreciate the distinction between a role model and a hero. The first, he often was not. The second, he always will be. And, in the end, people got it.”
It’s not the highest amount ever paid for a baseball card. That distinction goes to a 1909 T206 Honus Wagner, which sold for $3.12 million.
But few baby boomers know Honus Wagner.
Mickey Mantle was different. He was a part of us.
And that’s why, this month someone paid $2.88 million to own a piece of Mickey Mantle cardboard. Back in the day, we used to put baseball cards on our bicycle wheels, to make a motor sound.
We flipped cards on the street, against a wall. And when we got older, we stuffed our cards in a box under the bed and forgot about them until Mom tossed them out.
Little did we know that one of those cards would one day be worth millions.
Such is the high cost of growing up.
Villager Tony Violanti is a correspondent for Villages-News.com
