Mickey Mantle may surpass Babe Ruth for most expensive baseball jersey at auction
Credit: Heritage Auctions
Mickey Mantle died in 1995, but he still is setting records.
Last August, one of Mantle’s 1952 Topps baseball cards fetched $12.6 million – including buyer’s premium – to set an auction record for any sports item.
This August, one of his 1958 pinstriped home Yankees jerseys is on the market and could threaten Babe Ruth’s mark for most expensive baseball jersey ever.
It already has set a record for a Mantle jersey, with a bid as of Friday at Heritage Auctions of $3.25 million – $3.9 million with the buyer’s premium – and the live portion of Heritage’s current summer auction is not until next weekend.
The previous mark for a game-worn Mantle jersey was around $2.2 million for one from 1968.
It is a testament to Mantle’s enduring appeal, and to the fact that unlike Ruth – the other gold standard of baseball memorabilia – there are many people still living who saw him play and have the resources to play this high-stakes game.
“There’s still a direct connection,” Mike Provenzale, sports operations supervisor for Heritage, told Newsday. “Ruth has kind of passed into folklore, which does of course have value. But when you're thinking about making a huge purchase like this, it's that personal attachment that can increase a few more bids.”
A Ruth jersey from 1928-30 went for $5.64 million in 2019, the current record-holder for baseball, beating the mark of $4.4 million for a 1920 Ruth jersey.
(A Michael Jordan Bulls jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals last year sold for more than $10 million, a record for any sports jersey.)
So Mantle’s No. 7 has a shot surpassing his fellow Yankee.
“We fully expect numerous records to be broken,” Chris Ivy, Heritage director of sports auctions, said in a news release about the current sports auction, which has many items for bid.
What makes the Mantle jersey so special, beyond the appeal of the man himself?
Provenzale said there are few unaltered, pinstriped, game-worn Mantle jerseys available, in part because in his era players typically were given two home and two road shirts a year, and after that they were repurposed for minor league use.
That explains why Mantle jerseys are nearly as desirable as Ruth’s. “Even though it's a little easier to get a Mantle jersey, only a handful survived,” Provenzale said.
Also, the evolution of sophisticated photo matching to authenticate memorabilia has given collectors more confidence in their purchases.
So we know that Mantle wore the shirt at various points in 1958, in spring training in ’59 and for the TV show “Home Run Derby,” which aired in 1960.
“Luckily, Yankees pinstripe jerseys are the easiest to match,” Provenzale said. “The manufacturing process and the pinstripes make essentially every jersey like a snowflake – how the pinstripes match up with the seams, the logos, the buttons. It makes it very easy to identify them.”
The 1958 Mantle has been in a private collector’s hands for two decades or so, a period during which the value of uniforms has risen dramatically relative to that of a collecting mainstay such as trading cards.
“It took a while for the memorabilia side to really catch up, and especially game-worn material,” Provenzale said. “It's just a little harder to become an expert in it. It's a little bit more gray. There's a lot more knowledge you have to acquire.
“And things weren't as certain decades ago as far as authenticity. A lot of it was based on provenance and word of mouth. But technology has increased to the point where it's easier to authenticate such things.
“The more certain collectors and bidders are in the authenticity, the higher prices will be. So the current owner was kind of ahead of the curve and had a great item and sat on it for a while and now is taking advantage of the authentication processes that can really add layers of value to it.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
