Color! This card, the first of the 1950s section of the set, is the first one in color. It is also the first card in the set that follows the Sportflics tradition of multiple cards of the same swing, enabling the holder to flick their wrist to see the batter swing. When I saw this card on Julie's post I instantly wanted it and the set, and felt very lucky to get it.
The player: Mickey Mantle overcame the immense pressure of replacing Joe DiMaggio as center fielder of the Yankees, and lived up to it, becoming one of the greatest hitters of all time. He achieved some remarkable numbers given his numerous injuries, most notably an injured knee in his rookie season which is now believed to be a torn ACL that was never properly treated. Winner of a Triple Crown in 1956, Mantle hit 536 career home runs, plus another 18 in 65 World Series games. He won four home run crowns, and his 13 career walk off home runs are a record (later tied by Jim Thome). But he was more than just a slugger. He walked more times than he struck out, and in an era known for few stolen bases, he stole 153 against just 38 times caught. That 80% record was the record at the time of his retirement. An unselfish teammate, he was unafraid to eschew the longball to get on by any means necessary. He had 148 bunt singles with nobody on base, 10th most all time and by far the most for a power hitter (Brett Butler is the all-time leader; most of the top 10 are noted speedsters like Wills and Lofton.)
The man: Like DiMaggio before him, Mantle became a cultural icon in New York and around the country. Mantle was much more social and approachable than DiMaggio, known for his raucous friendship with Whitey Ford and Billy Martin. After his career he worked in a casino and owned restaurants in New York and Joplin, MO. He became one of the stars of the baseball memorabilia circuit, and to this day his baseball cards demand prices far in excess of those of other stars of his era. Mantle died of liver problems after a lifetime of alcoholism in 1995.
My collection: I don't own any playing-days cards of Mantle. His final Topps card was 1969 Topps #500.
So happy you like the set, and love this card! You've put a lot of time into sharing these. I'm enjoying the posts.
ReplyDeleteI know that it's become rather trendy to bash him in recent years, but given what we now know about some of his injuries, it really is remarkable what he was able to accomplish while dealing with them. And of course, one cannot help but wonder how much more he would've been able to do if hadn't been for all of those injuries.
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