1950 Joplin Miners Mickey Mantle Autograph Team Photo 2 Years Before 1952 Topps

  

Extremely rare 1950 Joplin Miners Framed Photograph featuring Mickey Mantle and autographed by Mantle when he was just 18 years old! In fact, its signed by the entire team and its the only one known to exist! Joplin was the pivotal turning point in Mickey Mantle's meteoric rise to superstardom. The 18-year-old prospect had left the 1949 Class D Independence Yankees as a scrawny 160-pound boy, and he joined the 1950 Class C Joplin Miners as a filled-out, 180-pound manall rippling muscles and lightning reflexes.

At Independence, Mantle hit just 7 home runs. In Joplin, he exploded for 26 round-trippers to go along with his. 383 batting average, 199 hits, 136 RBIs, 141 runs, 30 doubles and 12 triples.

No wonder his smile is as big as Oklahoma! As author Allen Barra has described the change, Now, instead of merely hitting the ball ten or twelve feet over the fence, Mantle was smashing the drives into the light towers beyond the fences. The young Mick was too talented to hang around Joplin long.

Soon Casey Stengel came calling and brought the phenom up to the majors with DiMaggio, Berra and company for the last few weeks of the Yankees' 1950 championship campaign. The Mick had blossomed in Joplin. Now he was ready to go make his mark in the House That Ruth Built. Presented here is perhaps the ultimate display piece from that crucial steppingstone season: A 1950 Joplin Miners original team photograph (valuable in its own right) that is fully signed by the 18 featured players. Orchestrated and previously owned by Joplin manager Harry Craft himself, the 8" x 10" autographed photo carries Mantle's seminal signing style and ranks among the Mick's very earliest team-signed photos.

The blue-ink script reflects "7" quality and includes: Harry Craft, Lyle Westrum, Carl Lombardi, Al Billingsley sig. "8", Lou Skizas, Steve Kraly, Cromer Smotherman, Len Weisner, Dave Waters, Cal Neeman, Mickey Mantle, Tom Gott, Jerry Buchanan, Bob Wiesler, Frank Simanovsky, Dick Fiedler, Dan Ferber and Joe Crowder. Appearance quality is EX to EX/MT with a clean image area, and there's a reverse-side vintage notation reading, 1950 -'Joplin Miners' - Joplin, Mo. Full LOA (Letter of Authenticity) from PSA/DNA. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add an absolutely amazing and historic Mickey Mantle autographed photo to even the most advanced collection. Comes professionally framed and ready to hang on the wall in your home or office. It will be carefully packed with great pride.

The item "1950 JOPLIN MINERS MICKEY MANTLE AUTOGRAPH TEAM PHOTO 2 YEARS BEFORE 1952 TOPPS" is in sale since Thursday, April 11, 2019. This item is in the category "Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop\Sports Trading Cards\Baseball Cards".

The seller is "zenbaseball" and is located in New York, New York. This item can be shipped to United States.