Mickey Mantle and two of his greatest teammates have signed this Lee MacPhail Official American League baseball. The signature of the great Joe DiMaggio graces the sweet spot of this ball, while Roger Maris’ appears to the left, and Mantle’s signature on the south panel. Mantle debuted during DiMaggio’s final Major League season, in 1951. The two Hall of Fame center fielders finished the season with nearly identical statistics, while leading the Yankees to a first place finish in the American League. The Yankees defeated the New York Giants in a six game World Series, sending DiMaggio off into the sunset with his ninth World Series title.

     Mantle and Maris are best known together as the “M&M Boys”, thanks to their magical summer of 1961. The two sluggers battled back and forth over the 1961 season in an attempt to break Babe Ruth’s long-standing single-season home run record. In the end, the record belonged to Maris, as one of Mantle’s chronic injuries prevented him from making a proper run at the ghost of the Babe. Both players would have reason to celebrate, as the Yankees won an easy five game World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. The three Yankee legends used black pens to write their signatures on this extraordinarily rare ball. The signatures are clear, although this ball is toned slightly due to its venerable age. This red-stitched baseball comes with a LOA from PSA/DNA.

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