This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/12/2021
In the days before instant replay, electronic measuring devices, and landmark distances carved into outfield concourses, no player’s home runs generated more stories, controversy, myth, and legend than those hit by Mickey Mantle. It had gone all the way back to the day that Tom Greenwade discovered him in 1948. Mantle’s most colossal home run came in his third season, on April 17, 1953, off Chuck Stobbs of the Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium. The Senators’ home park was decidedly pitcher-friendly. The left-field foul pole was 405 feet down the line. Behind that wall was a grandstand that extended 65 feet until it reached a massive sign advertising National Bohemian Beer, which prominently featured the one-eyed, mustachioed face of “Mr. Boh,” who was the mascot for the brew. Batting right-handed, Mantle drove Stobbs’ second pitch high and long and incredibly fast. The sphere easily cleared the left-center fence and blew past the 55-foot-high Mr. Boh sign, clipping off his mustache and continuing its flight over the rooftops of houses across neighboring Fifth Street. Estimates of the length were between 540 and 565 feet. The offered example is a top flight copy of the always popular 1957 Topps card that has been graded NM/MT 8 by PSA. Exceptionally well centered with immense eye appeal and four stellar high-end NM/MT corners.