This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 5/11/2001.
A Mickey Mantle bat is a symbol of unbridled power not unlike an antique cannon or a sledgehammer. Mantle's bat conveys the feeling that, in the Mick's hands, it could rip the stitching right off a baseball. With bats such as this one, Mantle crushed some shots that may still be up in the ionosphere waiting to come down. Four times he came within a foot and a half of clearing the Yankee Stadium roof. Being trusted with manufacturing Mantle's bats was no small honor, and in 1961 the Adirondack Bat Company made this bat specially for that season's All-Star Games (two Midsummer Classics were played each season from 1959-62) in San Francisco's Candlestick Park and Boston's Fenway Park, both of which Mantle started and hit cleanup in centerfield. 1961 was the year he and his New York Yankee teammate Roger Maris mounted a dual challenge on Babe Ruth's single-season home run record of 60. Injuries kept Mantle from possibly matching Maris' 61, but he still finished with a career-high 54 dingers to go with 128 RBIs and a .317 average. The Adirondack bat is a 35 1/4", 34 oz. 113A model, It shows light but definite game use and is uncracked.