Opening Day Auction Closing May 9th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/10/2015
This is an historic September 13, 1968 New York Yankees original carbon copy of the lineup card used in the game in which Mickey Mantle had the last multiple RBI outing of his illustrious career. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators at D.C. Stadium, the Yankees won game number 77, with #7 Mickey Mantle knocking in 2 runs. This was the last time that “The Mick” would drive in more than one run in a game. The Yankees 4-2 win allowed Mel Stottlemyre to become the only Yankee pitcher to win 20 games in 1968. The 4.25 X 7 original lineup card with ground rules on the backside features Mantle playing first base, batting in the 3rd position filled in with the remaining order by Yankee coaches Frank Crosetti and Jim Turner. Few people perhaps other than Mantle himself knew that this game was near the last of his remarkable career with the finale taking place on September 28 on the road at Fenway Park playing against the Boston Red Sox. During that game Mantle exited the field in a pre-arranged defensive player switch at the bottom of the 1st inning. Although rumors had persisted that 1968 would be Mantle’s final season, public conjecture on the part of the Yankees was that he would return to play in 1969 up until he refused a $100,000 contract on March 1, 1969 saying he could no longer hit and retired from baseball. This is a rare opportunity to acquire such an historic “Mantle transcript” from nearly his last day on the field as an active Yankee at the conclusion of his 18-year career with the New York Yankees. Mantle started as a rookie with the Yankees in 1951 and led them to seven World Series before the end of that decade with the Yankee dynasty claiming five World Championship titles. Mantle's personal accomplishments were exceptional; winning the American League MVP in 1956, 1957 and again in 1962 and being awarded the 1956 Triple Crown award. Mantle's eighteen World Series homeruns is still the record today.