Presented is a pre-New York Yankees signature by Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle in a 1949 souvenir book of the Independence Yankees of the Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri (K-O-M) Baseball League. Mantle’s pre-rookie signature is in blue pen in the upper right-hand corner of page 11 of the 16-page (plus green paper covers) 6 x 9-inch paper program, above a posed photo of him fielding a ground ball. An incredible rare to have an authenticated pre-rookie Mantle signature and this outstanding exemplar has been signed boldly by “The Mick”.

In the caption, Mantle is described as a “fleet-footed shortstop…he is only 17 years old…”  Each interior page features photos of the Independence Yankees players with their respective signatures, all in blue pen, as well as team officials and a feature on the history of the K-O-M League on page 3. Interestingly, his Independence Yankees’ roommate Bob Mallon’s picture and signature are on the previous page, further dating this Mantle signature to 1949. The bottom of each page has tears, including on the front cover, in the lower center of each page, but no signatures or copy are affected.

In 1949, Mickey Mantle began his professional baseball career with Independence as a 17-year-old. Mantle hit .313 with 7 home runs for the Independence Yankees, helping the team to a 71-53 record and the league championship. In 1950 Mantle was promoted to the Class-C Joplin Miners of the Western Association. Mantle won the Western Association batting title, with a .383 average. He also hit 26 home runs and recorded 136 runs batted in. However, Mantle struggled defensively at shortstop. Mantle was invited to the New York Yankees instructional camp before the 1951 season. After an impressive spring training, Yankees manager Casey Stengel decided to promote Mantle to the majors as a right fielder instead of sending him to the minors. This item comes with a full LOA from JSA (BB11510).

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