Winter Auction 2016 Closing January 30th
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/31/2016
While individual players placed and received bat orders from Hillerich & Bradsby for their personal use, their parent ball club also placed orders for extra bats. Often these were the signature models of their best players and were used for batting practice. This allowed players to try out different weights and models. The New York Yankees were no different and what better signature model to have on hand for the rest of the team to try out than the one swung by Mickey Mantle. While this was not ordered by Number 7 himself, it was likely used by one or more of his teammates during the 1951-1960 seasons. The Hillerich & Bradsby model K55 bat displays heavy use with many ball marks and stitch impressions visible. There is an 8" crack in the handle and there is some checking from repeated ball contact on the barrel. Model number "K55" is stamped into the knob end which has several chips taken out of it. Letter of Authenticity (310022) from MEARS who have graded this bat A5.