Sports -> Baseball Memorabilia

When asked to list some of baseball’s greatest players, many people would list Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb, but no list would be complete without Mickey Mantle. The Oklahoma native was born to a father who was already a huge baseball fan and actually named his son after Mickey Cochrane, a Hall of Fame catcher in the sport.

Mickey Mantle was an athlete through high school and college, and because of his college football career he developed osteomyelitis, a potentially fatal condition that had only recently been researched enough to find that penicillin could stop its progress. The disease was a crippling disease that could have cost him his leg, if not for proper, quick treatment. Because of this condition he couldn’t serve in the military and some baseball fans looked down on him for not serving in the Korean War instead of playing baseball professionally, as he did.

He was spotted by a Yankees scout when he was just in high school. The scout came back on the day Mantle graduated high school and signed him to the minor league team. He played for the Yankees in 1951 in his first World Series game, then replaced Jo DiMaggio in 1952 after his retirement. Mickey Mantle held the record for the most runs scored and the most runs batted in during the World Series, as well as the most World Series home runs.

Mickey Mantle also was known for hitting the longest home runs, with some estimated at having traveled between 550 and 650 feet. Though Ruth, DiMaggio and two other ball players had been paid more during their careers, in 1961 Mantle became the highest paid active player, with a contract for $75,000.

Mickey Mantle often battled injury during his career, with knee problems and frequent pain. He hit his last home run in 1968 and retired in 1969. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974, and the Yankees retired #7 in his honor. Mantle admitted alcoholism late in life and underwent treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic in 1994. In 1995 after the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal building he worked to raise money for the victims and their families. Soon after, he received a liver transplant to replace the one ravaged by alcoholism and hepatitis. This caused controversy because of how quickly and easily he received an organ when others had been on a waiting list for months and years.

He also created the Mickey Mantle foundation to raise awareness about the need for organ donation and to help families struggling while waiting for an organ for a loved one. Despite the transplant, he died about two months later because the liver cancer had spread before the transplant.
Mickey Mantle memorabilia can be found in shops dedicated to sports memorabilia or in online auctions, where a huge variety is available. There is usually a lot of competition for these items, so be sure to research what’s most valuable at the time before placing your maximum bid.

Originally posted 2008-12-13 05:00:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Types of Sports Memorabilia Items to Buy There are a number of different forms that sports memorabilia items can take, including both modern memorabilia and vintage memorabilia. Some of the sports memorabilia items that you can purchase and add to your collection include: - Autographed sports memorabilia items, including balls, gloves, bats, cards and anything else that......
• Soccer Memorabilia Sports Memorabilia -> Autographs Original -> Soccer While the United States may not share the same love for soccer as the rest of the world, it is clear that everywhere else soccer and soccer memorabilia is big business. During the last World Cup a cumulative 4 billion people turned into......
• Lance Armstrong h4>Sports-Memorabilia -> Sports-Collectibles -> Fan-Apparel-and-Souvenirs Lance Armstrong is one of today's most well-known names, both in professional cycling and professional sports in general. Born in 1971, he went on to win the Tour de France 7 years in a row from 1999 to 2005, a record-breaking run that guaranteed......
• Lou Gehrig Sports Memorabilia -> Fan Apparel & Souvenirs -> New York Yankees Lou Gehrig, whose full name was actually Henry Louis Gehrig, is one of the most well-known names, not just in the history of baseball, but in the history of sports. He's distinguished because of his remarkable career as......
• Baseball Pennants Sports Memorabilia -> Vintage-Sports Memorabilia -> Pennants-Flags Collecting baseball pennants can be a fun hobby for a sports memorabilia fan, or a fan of a particular baseball team. A collector can choose to collect pennants that were made during a certain year, a certain era, or pennants spanning the entire......

• ATP World Tour: Robby Ginepri The $519,000 ATP World Tour 250 in Indianapolis, United States of America, running from the 19th of July, 2009 until the 26th of July, 2009 on hard court surfaces. More information can be obtained through http://www.atpworldtour.com. Results for Sunday, the 26th of July, 2009: Singles Final, R Ginepri of the......
• Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates Played First World Series in 1903 Boston and Pittsburgh played the first World Series in 1903 with Boston winning 5 games to 3. A proposal for a World Series was made in 1894 but did not materialize until a reconciliation from both leagues in 1903. In game one, Deacon Phillippe  pitched a 6 hitter and right......
• What Players Earn for Winning Baseball World Series This doesn’t really have much to do with personal finance, other than it includes a few numbers, but I figured since we were knee deep in the baseball post-season, why not do something fun? Ever wonder what players get for winning the World Series? Winning the World Series is prize......
• Baseball Preference Rankings I hit some news stories in Saturday's article, so I'm taking a bit of a break today, with a fun article. I am a huge baseball fan.  I am a big Rockies fan, of course, but I am also a bit fan of the sport, in general.  If I flip......
• Tennis Profile for Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal was born on June 3, 1986. He is a Spanish tennis player that has been regarded as the No. 1 ranked men's tennis player in the world since August 18 of 2008. He has already won five Grand Slam Singles titles and won the 2008 Olympic gold in......

• Shirts New York Yankees Baseball-MLB Fan Apparel Souvenirs Sports Collectibles
• Keychains New York Yankees Baseball-MLB Fan Apparel Souvenirs Sports Collectibles
• World Series Baseball-MLB Fan Apparel Souvenirs Sports Collectibles
• High School Romance Books
• Jackets New York Yankees Baseball-MLB Fan Apparel Souvenirs Sports Collectibles