Mickey Mantle was a great ballplayer. I think his position as face of the modern hobby comes from a few factors beyond his on field play. First, as a member of the Yankees, he was in the World Series virtually every year between 1950 and 1964, the years when baby boomers grew up. At that time, there was very little national baseball coverage. You saw your local team, the all star game, and the World Series. Mickey got to be seen all around the country, not just his local market(albeit the biggest in the country and the media center). The color barrier in baseball had just been broken. Many teams early in Mantle’s career had not yet been integrated. In fact, the Yankees did not bring up Elston Howard until 1955. I think Mantle’s popularity at that time over Mays reflected racial views more so than talent. Also, Mantle got a pass from the press on his off field activities. This pass lasted throughout most of his life, decades after he stopped playing. He was an alcoholic and a philanderer, yet the press portrayed him as an All American boy.
Why have his cards become the face of the post war hobby? I think it is boomer memories and a concerted effort, initially by dealers and now by collectors with vested interests, to hype his cards. What mystifies me the most is how, years after Mantle and DiMaggio have retired, that suddenly Mantle is viewed as the better of the two. When I was growing up in the 1950s and early 1960s, DiMaggio was always thought of as the superior player. Even in 1999, when the fans chose the all century team, DiMaggio received more votes than Mantle. They were comparable hitters, but DiMaggio was a much superior fielder.
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