This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2001.
Mickey Mantle, it was often said, could hit the cover off a baseball, and for those who always believed that was sheer hyperbole, we give you (if you're fortunate enough) this awesome piece of lumber with which the Mick detonated more than one errant pitch during the mid 1960s. If you look closely at the barrel of the golden brown Hillerich & Bradsby, you can actually see or rub your finger over stitch marks blasted into the grain by the ferocious Mantle swing that generated so much power when wood met horsehide. We can't be certain if any of those markings are distant echoes of any of Mantle's 536 career home runs, but we'd bet they weren't put there by pop flies. Given this characteristic as well as the handwritten "7" on the knob and the perfect placement of the pine tar area on the handle that immediately pegs it as a no-doubt Mantle bat, we believe the bat may be the finest available Mantle bat in existence. A stunner by itself, the Louisville Slugger also has been autographed by Mantle on the barrel above the engraved facsimile signature. The signature is in black marker and has held up well, rating a five. We do know that while the bat has the labeling period from 1965 to 1968, the factory ordering records pinpoint that stick was manufactured and delivered to Mantle specifically in 1966. Another clue is that above the model number P104 on the knob is a handwritten "32." Mantle used a 32 oz. P104 bat that season and the current weight of the 35" bat is 31.8 oz. What makes Mantle game-used bats so rare is that he guarded them so zealously, even to the point of using other player's bats when he was photographed. Clearly, this beauty showing incredible game-use is as near to perfection as a Mantle bat can get.