Mickey Mantle was called up to the New York Yankees with two weeks remaining in the 1950 season at the age of 18. Though he did not register an official at-bat he practiced and remained with the club throughout the playoffs and World Series that season. H&B factory records show that Mantle ordered his first two signature model bats from the company on September 29th 1950 coinciding with his first joining the Yankees. This is one of those bats. The whereabouts of the other bat from this order is unknown. In an accompanying LOA from John Taube of PSA/DNA he states "The significance of the September 29th 1950 order is that it represents Mantles first order of signature model batsIt is quite possible that this first signature order two bats were produced for Mantle for his call-up to the Yankees." Of further significance is the fact that Mantle's next bat order did not occur until 4/20/51. No order was placed during Spring Training of 1951 and Mantle made his Yankees debut on 4/17/51. By the date of this second order Mantle had appeared in his first 4 games as a Yankee and made 17 plate appearances. Furthermore the bat is pounded on all sides of the barrel (as you expect from a switch hitter with Mantle's power). It remains uncracked which means there is no telling how deep into the 1951 season he used it.

When Mickey Mantle made his debut with the Yankees writer Leonard Schecter said of him He has a face as open as the part of America that he came from. So there he was a teenager from small-town Oklahoma already heralded as the second coming of Babe Ruth or at the very least the legitimate successor to Joe DiMaggio. When he hits the ball it even sounds different they said about him. Hes got it in his body to be great added grizzled manager Casey Stengel who had been around long enough to qualify as an expert. So convinced of this were the Yankees that they assigned their young prodigy uniform number 6" the next in a sequence that included Ruth (#3) Gehrig (#4) and Joltin Joe (#5). Such expectations are hard to measure up to but Mantle did and then some. At the time he received this bat however Mantles future was uncertain. Nonetheless imaging the excitement he must have felt in receiving his first pro-model lumber and seeing his name branded on the barrel. Mantle started slow with the Yankees even finding himself farmed to Kansas City for fine tuning at one point. However by the mid-1950s when the tape-measure homers boomed off his bat and the RBI and runs scored accumulated Mantles destiny took shape.

Mickey Mantles immense talent blended with humility and an affable everyman nature made him equally adored by both fans and peers. His drive and love for the game pushed him past the injuries he was plagued with and into the record books. Over an 18-year career played entirely with the New York Yankees Mantle established himself as the greatest switch-hitter to play the game and one of the games greatest and most decorated players ever.

The offered bat one of the first Mantle ever held in his grasp as a newly minted New York Yankee easily ranks among the finest game used baseball treasures in the world.

Includes a LOA from John Taube of PSA/DNA (GU8).