The 1949 class D Independence Yankees team posted an impressive 71-53 record under manager Harry Craft and captured the Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League (K. O. M.) championship, an impressive feat considering the top two hitters were both just 17-years old. Third baseman Lou Skizas led the team with 12 home runs and shortstop Mickey Mantle chipped in seven more while topping the squad with a .313 batting average. Skizas enjoyed a four-year stint in the majors. Mantle, even more. The featured baseball contains 19 signatures from that '49 Independence Yankees squad on an Official K. O. M. (E. L. Dale) baseball, including the autograph of "Mick" Mantle. The signature of the up and coming "Commerce Comet" bears little semblance to his major-league level signings but matches the single-signed ball featured in this auction, also from that 1949 season. The Mantle signature is clean and bold, penned to the left of the K. O. M. stamp just above another future major leaguer, Bob Wiesler. This ball, as well as the other signed Mantle balls in this auction from that minor-league season, originate from the family of Robert Mallon, who also signed the ball, played on that team and was Mantle's roommate. A light layer of shellac covers the ball and has given it a slight browning tone but most of the signatures and specifically Mantle's are easy to read. A one of a kind piece. Full LOA from PSA/DNA as well as James Spence Authentication (JSA).
VIDEO: Kevin Keating PSA Authenticator Discussing Early Mantle Collection