The Story of Mickey Mantle

If you're an avid collector of baseball cards, you'll know that some of them are exceptionally valuable, and for Yankees fans, Mickey Mantle is by far one of the best examples, with his rookie card regularly fetching a six-figure sum at auction, even in the mid-90s. But who is he, and why is his card so valuable?

Mickey Mantle was born in Spavinaw, OK, in 1931. Named after the Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane by his father, Elvin "Mutt" Mantle, an amateur player, he seemed destined to take to the field from the moment he was born. Almost losing his leg to an injury while playing football (a sport he was so good at it guaranteed him a scholarship), he turned his sights to baseball, although his participation in the sport while claiming an inability to serve in the Korean war caused some controversy. However, whether you're watching archive footage of your own, or ones uploaded to YouTube in between online poker sessions, you'll all remember his first appearance for the Yankees. Appearing as #6 (he was later #7), his performance was so competent that, even at a young age, the legendary Joe DiMaggio remarked that Mantle was "the best prospect [he] could remember."

He soon became a big Yankees favourite, and was known for hitting some of the longest home runs in Major League history, once even out and over the roof of Detroit's Tiger Stadium. In 1956, he won the Hickock Belt for being the top professional athlete of the year, also appearing in a song by Teresa Brewer called "I love Mickey." His card, and his appearances at baseball card events as a star player, meant that the value of his merchandise went through the roof, and continues to rise even long after his death. He has always been a treasured part of Yankees history, and he continues to be so not only in name and in memory, but also as the face of one of the most valuable baseball cards in history.