This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 7/8/2004.
Mickey Mantle arrived in New York at the start of the 1951 season to great expectations. His play at early Yankee training camps and in spring training made headlines, with many predicting he would become the next DiMaggio. Fittingly, he was assigned the uniform number "6", a single digit identifier that is normally reserved for the very best members of a team. When his bat fizzled he was sent down to the minors for more prep work and a visit from his father inspired him to perform up to his potential. Upon his return to the Major Leagues, he was given a new number, "7", which he would go on to make famous. These pants were worn by Mantle in his earliest days of major league baseball when he was but a 19-year-old rookie still wearing that original number "6." In the waistband is written "Mantle 6-51" (the numbers denoting player number and year) in vintage black marker, with the ink showing a slight grey hue from age. Also present are the "A.G. Spalding" and "Dry Clean Only" labels. The pants show excellent use and are original in all respects. They entered the hobby as the result of the 1975 renovation of Yankee Stadium. Long-time team equipment manager Pete Sheehy gave the then-Yankee bat boy, who is now a well-known hobby dealer, a pair of original stadium lockers as well as a large box containing many vintage treasures. Among those items was this pair of pants, straight from storage where they had been hidden away since their use. The lockers were offered in our 1999 "Fall Classic" auction and now for the first time we present these to our clientele. They will be accompanied by a letter detailing all of the above mentioned history. An offering of museum quality and likely the only well documented pair of all original pinstripe pants worn by "The Mick" before he donned his ever famous number "7."