Mantle Merchandise Values Jump Legendary Ballplayer’s Illness Boosts Demand For Memorabilia

Doug Stein went rummaging through his basement after he heard that Mickey Mantle was sick.

“I had a Mantle jersey and I needed to know after like 25 years, whether I still had it buried in a box,” said the 47-year-old Philadelphia resident. “I was also thinking it could be worth something.”

His search for the replica proved fruitless, but the former Brooklynite bought another reproduction of Mantle’s No. 7 jersey at the New York Yankees store in Manhattan.

Mantle was given a liver transplant Thursday after being diagnosed with progressive liver failure. Since news of Mantle’s illness, sales of merchandise clad with the former Yankee slugger’s name and number have regained popularity.

“When athletes make big news, it serves as kind of a catalyst,” said Michael May, a spokesman for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, a trade organization in North Palm Beach, Fla.

Mantle began his career with the Yankees in 1951 and fans have not stopped admiring him since. Through the years, hundreds, if not thousands, of sporting goods have been made with his name, from batting helmets to posters to copies of his uniform.

In the last week though, sales of the products have jumped and are expected to continue to rise.

At the New York Yankees Club House in Manhattan, the hub of Yankee nostalgia, Mantle merchandise and memorabilia have long been the top seller. But recently those sales have moved even higher, said store manager John Camillieri.

“Mickey is as popular today as he was in the ‘60s,” he said. “Everyone wants something to hold on to.”

And while merchandise sales are thriving, so is the demand for collectables, like baseball cards and autographs of the Hall of Famer.

In 1991, Mantle’s rookie baseball card fetched $49,500 at a Sotheby’s auction, said Matthew Weigman, a spokesman for the auction house.

With Mantle’s current health condition, Weigman predicted that Mantle memorabilia will appreciate.

“Lots of people idolize Mickey Mantle,” said Thomas Doyle, spokesman for the National Sporting Goods Association, a trade group in Mt. Prospect, Ill. “As long as he’s looked at as a hero, his stuff will keep selling.”