Baby boomers hungry for a Mantle on their mantle scored big time yesterday, as about $3 million worth of mementos from The Mick hit the auction block.
Scores of Mickey Mantle fans and collectors – vying for a slice of the one-of-a-kind stuff that Yankee lore is made of – scooped up everything, from the super slugger’s feathered Stetson hat, for $2,500, to his 1957 American League MVP award, for $275,000, the highest amount of the night.
“This is crazy!” said Brandon Steiner, a memorabilia dealer from New Rochelle.
Steiner watched as even one of Mantle’s most weathered golf bags, expected to fetch $1,000, garnered more than seven times that – $7,500 – from the rabid crowd at the Expo Center in Madison Square Garden.
“It’s Mickey, and people just love him,” Steiner shrugged. “Everything he’s touched has turned to gold.”
That included The Mick’s American Express gold card, which netted $6,500.
Pete Siegal, who owns a memorabilia business on 57th Street, happily plunked down a tad more for Mantle’s 1956 Batting Champion of the Year silver bat.
“I think it’s very undervalued,” Siegal said after paying $270,000. “I’ll hold on to it, at least for a little while.”
Tom Salva, a 50-year-old beer distributor from New Brunswick, N.J., called himself one of the “crazy” ones willing to pay thousands for even a small piece of The Mick.
Salva laid out $3,250 for a Mantle National League courtesy pass from 1971, then promptly tucked it into his jacket pocket, beaming.
“I may be crazy, but I’ll carry it around,” Salva said, opening his wallet to reveal another choice collectible: Elvis’ Mobil credit card.
Steve Meeds, a 55-year-old retired oil exec who flew in with a buddy from Houston just to attend the auction, said Mantle mania was easy to explain:
“He’s probably the most loved player in the history of the game.”
Meeds’ pal Randall Swearingen, who runs a Mantle Web site, said he hoped to land pieces for a planned museum devoted to the slugger in Commerce, Okla., where The Mick grew up.
Swearingen said he’s already paid personal homage to the baseball giant: His 3-year-old son is named Mickey, and his 1-year-old boy is Charles, Mantle’s middle name.
Two of Mantle’s own sons, Danny and David, turned up for the event, but remained out of sight. Mantle’s widow didn’t attend because of the weather.
Mantle died in 1995, and his family has said proceeds from the auction would go to his grandkids.
The auction was impressive as much for the money shelled out for Mantle’s mundane personal items as for the historic baseball items.
Bigger-ticket items included Mick’s other American League MVP Award, from 1962, which netted $270,000.