Babe Ruth 100th Anniversary Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/12/2014
From the two tremendous home runs on Opening Day, one could feel that 1956 would be Mickey Mantle's year. Through the first 2 months of the season he punished American League pitching at a .400 clip and one of his homers just missed sailing completely out of Yankee Stadium. It's Mickey himself who gave the perfect title to his Triple Crown, MVP year of 1956, calling it his "favorite summer". How could it not be - Mantle hit a tremendous 52 homers, drove in 130 runs and hit the ball at a .353 clip - earning him the coveted Triple Crown. When it came time to select the American League Most Valuable Player, the vote was just a formality. Finally Mantle had the validation he sought ever since he joined the Yankees in 1951. While he was the undisputed star of the American League, no matter what Mantle did he still seemed to always be though of as "not living up to his potential". His 1956 Triple Crown/MVP season put all that to rest. AL President Will Harridge declared the 23 year-old the rival of Ruth for the biggest attraction in the league's 55 year history.
No wonder it was his "favorite summer".
There's only 2 known bats that can be dated to Mantle's "favorite summer" and this is one - the other sold earlier this year for $430,000. How can this bat be dated to '56? Records show that Mantle ordered 9 bats from Adirondack bats in 1956 & 1957 with 1956 being the first year he received bats from Adirondack that match the model 113A with 35" length and 32.4 ounce weight. Six of those were ordered on April 10, 1956 and the other 3 were ordered specifically the 1957 World Series and as such were stamped with "1957 World Series" on the barrel. This is one of those 6 ordered by Mantle in April of 1956. What's more, this bat was originally obtained by the Washington Senators' 1956 bat boy.
The model 113A shows excellent use and its cracked handle has been secured. Several ball marks with stitch impressions can be seen on the barrel as well as cleat impressions. There are blue bat rack paint streaks along the barrel and the model number "113A" is stamped into the knob end. "MANTLE" is stamped on the bat's barrel and like the other stamping on the bat is filled with white paint, making it a highly attractive, as well historically important piece of lumber. As stated above, in the entire hobby there are only two authenticated bats that date to Mantle's greatest year - to hold this gorgeous bat in your hands and realize that it was used by Mickey as he slugged his way to the Triple Crown and MVP in the summer of '56 is simply awe-inspiring.
As stated above, the bat comes with the letter of provenance from the original collector who received it from the Senators' 1956 bat boy . It also comes with two personal letters from the ultimate bat expert and bat authentication pioneer, Vince Malta himself! PSA/DNA has thoroughly examined this bat, and information regarding Mantle’s orders of 1956 and 1957 Adirondack bats has been obtained from the Rawlings/ Adirondack archive. With this information and a review of the bat’s provenance this amazing piece of history has been graded GU 9.5.