Mantle Reality

[rats60]

Originally Posted by jason.1969

Los Angeles back then. Definitely a big premium on Mantle cards. And someone here must have that first Beckett/Eckes price guide. I think I got it for my birthday when I was 10 around 1980. It would be a good way to test our memories.

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I have it

1956 Mantle 11 Mays 10
1957 Mantle 12 Mays 11
1958 Mantle 9.5 Mays 9
1959 Mantle 7 Mays 7
1960 Mantle 6 Mays 6
1961 Mantle 6 Mays 6
1962 Mantle 6 Mays 6
1963 Mantle 6 Mays 6

There also could be a regional bias. I am in more of National League area, so Mays was held high regard. I remember people questioning why Mays cards weren't worth more, you still hear that today. As time went by a small gap developed between the two, but it was definitely an overnight explosion in Mantle that created a larger difference that seems to grow larger every year.

WAR by year
Year. Mays Mantle
1954 10.6. 6.9
1955. 9.1. 9.6
1956. 7.6. 11.3
1957. 8.3. 11.3
1958. 10.3. 8.7
1959. 7.8. 6.6
1960. 9.5. 6.3
1961. 8.7. 10.5
1962. 10.5. 5.9
1963. 10.6. 2.9
1964. 11.0. 4.8
1965. 11.2. 1.8
1966. 9.0. 3.6

I think this really explains a lot. If you were following baseball in 1955-58, you would probably feel Mantle was slightly better than Mays. If you were following baseball in 1959 and after, you would think Mays was a lot better Mantle. In our neighborhood there were enough 1959 Topps cards available that both my brother and I were able to put together complete sets, but a lot less 1958s and very few 1957s or earlier. I just grew up in an era when Mantle was after his peak and even the oldest kids in our area never saw Mantle in his prime. There definitely seems to be a mystique associated with him playing for the Yankees. It certainly isn't in his numbers.