The career of Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle is legendary. Retiring after 18 seasons with the New York Yankees, The Mick achieved legendary status with baseball’s most storied franchise finishing his career with 536 home runs, three AL MVP seasons and the 1956 Triple Crown. By 1965, injuries and his partying lifestyle began to take a toll as his last four seasons saw him average 20 home runs and 53 RBI, compared to the 32 home runs and 93 RBI Mantle produced from 1951 to 1964.
1964 was the last great season for Mantle and the Yankees as he belted 35 home runs, drove in 111 and maintained a lofty .303 average – finishing second in the AL MVP vote to Baltimore Orioles third baseman and fellow Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson. This would also be the last season in which Mantle would reach the World Series and while the Yankees lost to the mighty St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, Mantle would set the record for most career World Series home runs, hitting three in the series – including a walk-off home run in Game 3. These three home runs pushed Mantle’s total to 18 and eclipsed Babe Ruth’s previous record of 15.
Goldin Auctions is proud to offer one of Mickey Mantle’s 1964-65 New York Yankees home jerseys. This visually attractive Spalding size 44 button-down flannel jersey with set-in sleeves displays an off-white color with the traditional Yankees’ pinstripes and has been photo matched to the 1965 Topps baseball card and images from 1965. Spalding was the manufacturer of Yankees’ home jersey during the 1964 season. The interlocking “NY” is sewn on in restored navy felt on the upper left chest. The jersey was sent to the minor leagues after Mantle’s use and still displays remnants of the “C” which would have been the Columbus (GA) Confederate Yankees. On the inside back collar is “Mantle” that has been embroidered in navy blue on a matching off-white ½ x 2-inch swatch, which matches other Mantle exemplars from other seasons in the 1960’s. This tag has been straight stitched only through one layer of the fabric, not showing the stitch marks on the outside which shows that this tag was sewn in place before the jersey placket was stitched together.
On the bottom of the front left tail is blue “Spalding” tag that is frayed on the left side with an adjacent white tag with “44” in red. Below the two tags is “64” that has been embroidered directly on the jersey, which match other exemplars from this period. The armpits have four manufactured holes for ventilation, while the back of the jersey has Mantle’s perfectly restored number “7” sewn on in navy blue felt. The minor league number that was applied was “57”, which can be seen under a light table. The jersey displays solid wear. There are seven buttons on this jersey and are all original to the jersey. There is an approximately one-inch L-shaped tear in the right front side about seven inches from the armpit and about three inches from the side seam. Due to the type of repair, this was most likely done post MLB use. The left sleeve also has remnants of the afore mentioned Columbus Yankees controversial Confederate flag patch that covered four pinstripes wide (approximately 3 7/8 inches). An incredible late-career gamer from Mickey Mantle during his last Hall of Fame caliber season. This jersey comes with a full LOA from Sports Investors Authentication (191206E1), who have authenticated this jersey for its game use and photo matched this jersey to the 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle card and an image from the 1965 season. Also included with this lot is a July 30, 1965 issue of Life Magazine with Mantle on the cover and likely matches to this jersey on pages 46 and 47. In addition, this lot will also have "The Story of Baseball In 100 Photographs" issue from Sports Illustrated with Mickey Mantle on the cover.