Before the monuments, the Triple Crown and the seven World Series rings, there was the spring of 1951, when a 19-year-old switch-hitter from Commerce, Oklahoma, arrived at Yankees camp and announced himself to the baseball world. Offered here is a rare original photograph capturing Mickey Mantle during his first spring training a few weeks before his official Major League debut.

The 1951 Yankees trained in Phoenix, and Mantle’s performance there became the stuff of legend. This capture in particular is from March 22, 1951, before a spring training game in Sacramento, CA. The Yankees were victorious against the Sacramento Solons at Edmonds Field  by a score of 11-0. The raw prospect, still learning the outfield after coming up as a shortstop, hit well over .400 that spring and showed tape-measure power that drew comparisons to Ruth, DiMaggio and Foxx. Casey Stengel had seen enough. Mantle went north with the club, taking the field at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day and starting one of the most celebrated careers in the game’s history.

Images from this formative window are far scarcer than those from his prime, when photographers trailed his every move. The $3 million sale of his 1952 Topps original photo was also taken at the 1951 spring training so this copy could very well have been taken on the same day! This is the only known authenticated copy of this photo according to PSA experts.This photograph, a landscape shot of the Oklahoma Kid bending down to field a ball, remains in excellent shape with just some minor spotting in the background and a bum top right corner. It has been encapsulated by PSA/DNA as a Type 1. A remarkable pre-rookie debut artifact of the Commerce Comet and a centerpiece for any serious Yankees or vintage photography collection.