Whether you are a Mantle or Yankees fan, or perhaps neither, you simply cannot ignore what is being offered in this lot. On April 25th, 1965 during a nippy New York afternoon, a young boy would experience something few others could only dream of - fielding a homerun ball in Yankees stadium. Not just any homerun ball, but one hit by one of the greatest players of all time, Mickey Mantle. I'll allow our consignor to take you back to that very day. An excerpt from his notarized Letter of Provenance which comes with this ball is below:

"The baseball before you is from a game I went to between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels on April 25th, 1965. I was 13 years old and attended the game with my mom, dad, and brother. We were sitting in left field, the lower level. The pitcher for the Angels was lefty Rudy May..." [continued] "I can still remember in the bottom of the 4th when Mickey came up and hit the ball, it seemed like a mile high and then when I saw it coming down in our area I felt my heart in my throat. It landed a few rows in front of me and I raced other people for it. I was fortunate to get there first, after the game we brought the ball to the players' exit outside the stadium and my dad asked the usher if Mickey could sign the ball. The usher went down and brought it back up with Best Wishes Mickey Mantle H.R. #458. It was a great day in my life...I am the owner of the ball and have had it in my possession since April 25th, 1965."

You may also note that the final score of this game was 1-0 in favor of the Yankees. Therefore, this ball represents the game-winning run! From our research, this is only the third documented and autographed Mantle Homerun ball to hit the market over the last decade. Our consignor was told as a young boy (like many) to put a coating on the ball for preservation purposes. This Official American League ball (Cronin) is in good condition overall with some surface abrasions. The signature bestows wonderful contrast and is a strong '8-9' in clarity. Not enough can be said as to the rarity of such an item as this. We are extremely proud to offer this autographed Mantle game-used homerun ball, courtesy of our consignor, for your consideration.

Accompanied by a full Letter of Authenticity from PSA/DNA. Also accompanied by a full Letter of Authenticity from James Spence Authentication(JSA) which notates the Joseph Cronin A.L. Stamp designation. Additionally, a notarized Letter of Provenance from our consignor will come with this item, stating how he obtained the ball at Yankee stadium and subsequently receiving Mickey Mantle's signature.