Ep.273 w/ Steven Lane "Greatest Mantle Collection"

SPEAKER 1: What is up everybody? Episode 273 of Sports Card Nation got a terrific guest today. He is a super collector, an author, a lawyer, Mr Steven Lane, probably the pre imminent Mickey Mantle collector on the face of the planet and has some incredible pieces. I wanna talk about his inventory.

SPEAKER 1: Some of his stuff is at Yankee Stadium on display there and it's got like stuff before Mickey Mantle was Mickey Mantle as well as, as you know, after that too. So we're gonna, we're gonna talk all about that. And what's what's in the inventory? And is he missing anything? Is he looking for something he'll let you know? So, great conversation with, with Steven Lane.

SPEAKER 1: And we did have a w when we recorded this just full disclosure, I was having some internet issues and weather issues here in Syracuse, New York, New York affecting some of the internet. But I cleaned it up pretty good. I think it, it, it's came out fairly well considering the circumstances but did, did wanna preface that just to give a heads up there. So, now that the house cleaning is done, let's get the show underway.

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SPEAKER 1: All right. Real excited to talk to my next guest on the sports card shop guest line. He is probably the preeminence Mantle collector in the country, if not the world. And happy to have mine. He's also an author. We're gonna talk about that as well as, as his collection, Mr Steven Lane. Welcome to the show.

SPEAKER 3: Good afternoon John. It's a pleasure to be on.

SPEAKER 1: Oh, thank, thank you. I know you, you know, I know you're retired but you, you're busy and, and doing all sorts of fun stuff. So I, I mean, would you agree with that? Would you, you know, I, I know we, we tend to be modest and stuff.

SPEAKER 1: Would, you know, being the pre eminent Man will collect? I know there's some amazing collections out there but some of the pieces that you own are obviously one of a kind. So, I it's, would you agree with that opening statement?

SPEAKER 3: Yeah, I, I look, I've been very lucky over the last 65 or so years that I've been collecting, to have been given, been given the opportunity to own one of a kind Mantle items that basically trace his life for when he was a young child.

SPEAKER 3: All the way through his death. I know that there are a lot of people that collect Mantle items and some have items that might be more valuable than mine like the $12.6 million.19 52 tops car. But I'm not aware of anyone who's been able to over the last 65 or so years. Basically trace Mantle's life through memorabilia, which is what I did.

SPEAKER 1: In my book. Yeah, it's a, an excellent book. You were nice enough to sign one and, and send me to read which which I did. I wanna hold it up here. For those that are watching on video form, it's called Mickey Mickey Mantle, a Life in Memorabilia, the Stephen Lane collection. And it really highlights Manel obviously life and career.

SPEAKER 1: But also like you just said, you're, you're collecting some of those momentos collectibles and things from his personal life and just amazing some amazing pieces. What other than the obvious reasons were right? Wanting to share kind of your collection and your, your love of Mickey. You know what, what prompted you to, to write the book.

SPEAKER 3: Well, what happened was if you recall when COVID hit and everybody was stuck at home, you couldn't travel, you couldn't be around people. You couldn't go out to eat, you could get on an airplane and everybody started delving into their collections or finding their collections that they didn't even know they had or remember in their attic.

SPEAKER 3: And because I have several rooms full of Yankee and Mantle items, and I was trying to figure out what to do with it. And somebody suggested to me, well, you ought to do a book on your memorabilia collection. And that's what I did during COVID.

SPEAKER 3: And it took quite, it took me about a year, year and a half to figure out which items I was gonna use and then find a photographer and then take each piece and do good photography with it as this particular photograph did and then put it in chronological order and then write the actual copy of the book and write the book and get it into a position that it could be published.

SPEAKER 3: And, and that's how it came about. It's all due to COVID. And eventually, like most people, when you get to be around my age, unless you have children who want your collection, you gotta figure out what to do with them. So now I, I put it in a book and basically this book, the way I wrote it, I wanted it to be a museum in a book.

SPEAKER 3: You can literally go through this book as if you were going through a muse a museum and seeing once in a lifetime pieces that you can't find any place else. I mean, you could see 1952 tops baseball cards at a baseball card show. But the items that I have, you, you can't see unless you break into my house and you know, I don't.

SPEAKER 1: Shoot, yeah, don't don't try that and, and leave the collection alone just for, for your safety. But I gotta tell you the books, you don't need me to tell you this, but I will tell you that the book is just well put together, it's in chronicle logical in a sense order for, for years.

SPEAKER 1: I love how p 61 even deals with the 61 season that we're any ba any historical baseball fan that you don't have to be a Yankee fan. You know, the significance of that year in the home run. Chase with Morrison and Man Harrison time breaking the season single season record.

SPEAKER 1: I, I gotta imagine that was laid out like that. Like, you know, like that wasn't by accident.

SPEAKER 3: You right? But the, the problem was that when you do a book like this, you gotta draft it you gotta redraft it. I mean, I mean, through, went through dozens of drafts and redrafts taking out pictures, putting in pictures. I had this, the book edited on several occasions and believe me, it was difficult keeping the 1961 home run race, on page 61. But I was, but I was able, to do it.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, it was. I gotta ask, is this your first foray into authoring a book or have you written one a different kind of book? Well, I, I'm.

SPEAKER 3: A retired attorney and I practiced for 45 years and during that time I did write books on the law. So I had some experience in terms of books, but this is a completely different animal.

SPEAKER 3: And I wanted to make sure that it was done in a way that it was be enjoyed by the most fervent Mantle fan or baseball fan or Yankee fan. And so what I did at the outset before I published it when I was just outlining it, I passed it by Bob Costas who is, you know, renowned as one of the great Yankee fans and he knew Mickey very well and I passed it by both of Man's son, surviving sons, David and Danny.

SPEAKER 3: And if, if Dave and Danny had said they didn't like the book, they didn't want to publish, I wouldn't have done it, but they love the book. Bob Costas loved the book and once they told me that they enjoyed reading, what I had said that I knew I was on the right track that other people who either baseball fans or Yankee fans or in particular Mickey Mantle fans would enjoy the book. Yeah, excellent.

SPEAKER 1: Obviously just telling the story to y you know, I gathered from the book that yeah, I mean, you have some background, you and your family have some background with, with the Mantle family as well.

SPEAKER 1: So this is not just necessarily, you know, Mickey Mantle, great baseball player, obviously that that's a huge part of it, but there is a relationship. I know you, you, you attended like his fantasy camp but even even prior to that, if you can speak to you know, the Lane family and, and the Mantle family that connect.

SPEAKER 3: Yeah. Well, I was born in Rays in Brooklyn, New York and at the time that I was about six years old, my dad introduced me to baseball, which was 1961. I was six years old. Well, at that time, for those who aren't old enough to remember, that was the first time New York only had one baseball team going back to the 18 eighties. They always had the New York Giants, the Brooklyn Dodgers and, or the New York Yankees.

SPEAKER 3: Well, the Dodgers and the Giants left in the late fifties. So by the time it was time for me to become a baseball fan. There was only one team and not only was there only one team, they were the, the, the champions in 1961. And you had the Mantle Maris home run race. So it was even more exciting, you know, picking up the newspaper every day and reading what was going on. So I was a, a hooked Yankee fan from day one.

SPEAKER 3: And of course, it, it continues to the present day and o over time, after I graduated from law school, I was living in New Orleans. That's where I went to law school and I became friends with a gentleman.

SPEAKER 3: He just passed away actually, last week, Judge Eddie Saber, who was Billy Martin's attorney and agent and was the individual who helped negotiate all of Billy's contracts with the Yankees and go through those turbulent times in the seventies and the eighties when he was getting hired and fired and hired and fired. And so he would hook me up with other individuals, including Billy Martin Junior and David and Danny Mantle.

SPEAKER 3: And so through Judge Saber and then Billy Martin Junior and then becoming friends with the Mantel Brothers. That's how the book came about in terms of the Fantasy Camp.

SPEAKER 3: What happened there was it again, if you're not old enough to recall in nine, in the early 19 eighties, Commissioner Bie Kuhn kicked Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays out of baseball because they were working as greeters at casinos. Well, in March of 1985 when the new commissioner Peter U Broth came in, he decided to let Mantle and Mays back into baseball.

SPEAKER 3: And again, if you're old enough, you'll remember a speci a specific sports frustrated issue that had Ueberroth Man and Maze on the cover when they came back in, in March. At that time in March, I turned 30 at that same time, a gentleman by the name of Max Shapiro started the very first baseball fantasy camp in and he was gonna do it in May of 1985.

SPEAKER 3: And I was gonna be allowed in as the youngest member. You had to be 30 years old. If it, if it happened a few months, you know, earlier, I wouldn't have been able to get in and they advertised that Mantle was gonna be in the camp and I called them up. I said, look, I, I want to sign up for this camp.

SPEAKER 3: It was expensive at the time and I said, but I'm only coming if Mickey Mantle is there and he said Mickey is coming. This will be his first appearance since he got back into baseball. And so I signed up for this fantasy camp. It was Mantle and Ford Moose scouring, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks Yankees and Non Yankees.

SPEAKER 3: And I will, you know, just never forget meeting Mickey for the first time and this was really before the memorabilia industry became very big. And Mickey basically said, look, I'll sign anything except for bets. He was not signing bets, but, you know, foolishly brought like three or four items.

SPEAKER 3: If I brought 20 he would have signed 20 but he was there and he was great with the, with the other players and he would take us out for drinks and he was out on the field play as much as he could.

SPEAKER 3: And so that was in, in 1985 and in later years, I got to be with him again at several baseball card shows or one in 1994 I call in Saint Louis was actually his last show in August of 94 because he he died within a year after that and he came to New Orleans and I went to New York a few times. So I had the opportunity to get him to sign other items and or to ask him questions about some of the items that I had.

SPEAKER 3: So it was just a a great experience. And that, that also helped me write the book because I was able to put into the book, certain stories that nobody knows about and would only know if they had actually talked to Mantle or some of the other baseball players that I, I've talked to over the years.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, and incredible stuff. Getting to, to be, you know, that close to them and, you know, it's a different era too. Like, players aren't like that, anymore, like those old school, guys were, I, I know you collected cards as, as a kid. When did you, you're really focusing on, like, building a manual collection? When did that, like, really seriously start for you?

SPEAKER 3: Well, I, I mean, it seriously started when I was six years old in 1961. I was a, I was a huge Man fan. In fact, I still have the original cards that I bought for a nickel back in 60 1, 6263. Again, for those of you who are not old enough, you could not buy a whole set of cards in the 19 sixties at one time.

SPEAKER 3: Like you can, now you had to wait for each particular series to come out. They come out with a series every few weeks or month or so and you didn't know if you're gonna get Mantle at any point in time.

SPEAKER 3: But, you know, you get out of school and you go to the local candy store or baseball card shop and they have a vending machine there where you put in your nickel or your dime or your quarter and push it in and pull it out and then you get a wrapper, with 10 cards in it, or you go into the store and you would buy a wax pack for a nickel or 10 cents. And those wax packs are now going for thousands of dollars.

SPEAKER 3: And, and I tell a story in my book. At some point in time, my grandfather used to come over to the house for dinner on Sundays and he bring me a box of top baseball cards. Every time he came, that box would cost them about a dollar 25. And today it's going for 100 100 and $6200.

SPEAKER 3: Foolishly, what I used to do when I got the box was, I would make several stacks and pull out all the Yankees. I didn't care who it was. Mickey Mantle. Great if it was Hal Renne Great. And that went in one stack. The next, that was the gum that I would be eating as I opened it. And then the last stack was every other player and it didn't matter who it was.

SPEAKER 3: I didn't care if it was Kofax Mas Drysdale Clemente or Mike De La Hose. They all went into the third stack and what I did with my friends was the next day I would tell them, my grandfather, you know, brought me a box of cards guys. I'm gonna, I lived on the, we lived on the sixth floor, apartment in Brooklyn.

SPEAKER 3: I said come outside after school at four o'clock, I will be opening the window and getting, getting rid of some of my cars and what I would do foolishly in retrospect is throw out all the Non Yankees, the Mays, the Kofax, the Drysdale, the Clemente, all of them and my friends, some of whom were, were, were still giant fans and still, Dodger fans and some crazies who had become Met fans would be running around picking up these cards.

SPEAKER 3: So, you know, that was, that was the way it worked with me during the sixties. And that's how I, I started collecting. And of course, as I, after I graduated law school and financially able to buy the more expensive items, that's when I picked up a lot of the one of a kind items that I have now, I either got it through auctions or got it directly from relatives of the mantles or from others who were tied to the Mantle.

SPEAKER 1: Your collection too. Steven, besides cards includes awards and, and personal items. It's, it's an amazing collection. This is, this is probably one of the toughest question.

SPEAKER 1: Is, is there one item? I mean, when you have so many, I it's probably like asking a parent to pick their f favorite kid, right? Like, but is there one item to you that just stands out amongst over the, over the rest? I mean, they're all tremendous. But is, is there one item like that for you?

SPEAKER 3: It's difficult for me because I've got so many I could probably tell you two or three.

SPEAKER 3: I have the very first baseball that Mickey Man ever signed and just coincidentally I brought it with me and I hope it shows up on the camera for those of you who are watching.

SPEAKER 3: I don't know if you can, if you can, how well you could see it, but it says you can see it. It says my first pro win and then it signed Mickey Mantle and then it's dated July 1919 49 6 to 3. And he was at that time, se 18 years old, he was playing for the Independence Yankees.

SPEAKER 3: And the story behind it is his roommate was a pitcher by the name of Bob Mallon, Ma Llon and they were roommates and one day Mallon wins a game and after the game, Mantle and Mallon are in their room and in walks, their manager, Harry Kraft for those of you who, who aren't old enough. Harry Kraft was the manager of the Independence Yankees.

SPEAKER 3: He also was one of the first managers, if not the first manager of the Houston Colt 40 fives in the early sixties. He comes in with this baseball and he gives it to Bob Mallon because this was Bob Mallon's first pro win as a pitcher Mantle says to Mallon flip me the ball.

SPEAKER 3: Mallon flips Mantle the ball Mantle signs it with the date and my first pro win. And he signs the ball, he flips it back to Mallon and Malin says, you know, why are you signing my ball and Mantle goes because someday I'm gonna be famous. And I actually have the a disk with the video of the last interview that Bob Mallon gave in which he tells that exact story about the ball and how he got it.

SPEAKER 3: And this ball's been certified on several occasions and it is the first dated single signed baseball out there. There's no baseball that's dated in single sign or than this ball that I have. So that would be, that would be one of them.

SPEAKER 3: Now, if you go to the other end of Mantel's career, the end of Mantle's career, I have the actual 535th home run ball that he hit and again, for those that are watching, I don't know if you can make it out, but it says my 535th homer signed by Mickey Mantle.

SPEAKER 3: And again, for those who aren't old enough, the story behind that ball and this, I got directly from the Mantle family, this ball. But the story was that in September 1968 Mantle was at the end of his career.

SPEAKER 3: There were rumors that he was going to retire and he went to Detroit for the, the next to last series that he was gonna be in the season was about to end and Denny Mclean was pitching, for Detroit, Detroit had clinched the pennant Mclean was gonna win 30 games that year. He knew it was gonna be Mantle's last appearance in Detroit.

SPEAKER 3: And so he decided that he was gonna let Mantle hit a home run and at that time, Mantle was tied for third place with Jimmie Foxx. They both had 534 home runs. Babe Ruth was first, it was second Mclean calls the catcher and the catcher that day was Jim Price. He calls the catcher out to the mound and tells Price, let Mickey know I'm gonna let him hit. One.

SPEAKER 3: Price goes back behind home plate and Mantle could overhear what was going on and turns to the to Price and goes, did I hear him? Right? Did, did Den? He say he's gonna let me hit a home run and Price says, yeah, he's, he's not gonna work. He's not throwing curveballs just fastballs down the middle. Mclean throws the first pitch, fastball down the middle.

SPEAKER 3: Mantle doesn't swing mcclean, you know, looks at him like, what do you, what do you want? And Mantle again turns to the catcher and goes was he really serious? He was, he's gonna let me hit when Mantle didn't trust Mclean cause Mclean was a character had a reputation as a character and the catcher, he said, yeah, he's gonna let you hit it.

SPEAKER 3: The next pitch is a fastball down the middle. Mantle was over anxious. He fouls it off the third pitch again. Fastball down the middle. Mantle hits it for a home run. He's running around the bases. Laughing Mclean is on the mound. Laughing Mantle touches home plate. He goes in, he moved into third place right behind Ruth and MS.

SPEAKER 3: Now what happens next is Joe Pepitone comes up and Pepitone thinks that Mclean is gonna let him hit a home run. So Pepitone gets in the box and then signals to Mclean but Peptone puts his hands up around, you know, his neck area says this is where I want the pitch to be. And Mclean who had no intention of letting Pepitone hit a home run, basically goes for his head and knocks Pepitone down.

SPEAKER 3: So that was the, the story of homework number 5 35 5 35. Now, Mantle actually legitimately passed the home, you know, the home run record and we moved into third place. Actually, a few days later, he went into Boston against Jim Lonborg and hit five home run number 536. So that's the story behind that ball.

SPEAKER 3: Those are two items that are highly prized in my collection. And the third one that I would say is one of the top three is I own. Mickey Mantle's 1963 game used glove. He was the defending gold glove winner at the time. He was defending back to back champion at the time in the 63 season, he wore that glove in the 63 World Series. It was the last time he played center field in the World Series.

SPEAKER 3: And there were only maybe at most one or two other game used gloves from Mickey Mantle's prime, which I would consider from 1951 to 1964. That's his prime. I've got the 63 glove. So those would be the top three items. And that glove again came right out of Mantel's home in Dallas, Texas and it's been certified on, on several occasions.

SPEAKER 1: So literally, that ball is, is the first one that Mantle had ever signed. I mean, the historical significance of that. I don't need to tell you that I, I mean, just, you know, not that it's about value but I mean, you know, just talk about the significance of the ball and, and, and everything surrounding it.

SPEAKER 3: Well, I mean, just think, and again, the, the value to me is not the monetary value, although it does have significant monetary value. The value to me is the fact that it's the first ball you ever saw and it's something with his actual DNA on it and it, it's historical, it's a museum piece.

SPEAKER 3: It's one of a kind think of all the, I mean, the hundreds of thousands of baseballs that are out there that Mickey Mantle signed and this is the first one. So, you know, I don't know what it's worth. I have no clue.

SPEAKER 3: And, someday I guess it, it will go up for auction. But, for now it's, it's in a safe place and I'm just like, I'm the custodian. Bob Allen was the first custodian. I'm the second custodian. Somebody will be the third custodian.

SPEAKER 1: Now, you, you have an incredible collection. How often, I mean people do know, you know of, of things you are. How often does somebody try to obtain or, or purchase an item from you?

SPEAKER 3: All, all the time, all the time. I have several individuals whose names are Steve and they know I have stuff from Mantle sign to Steve as well as other items. I have Roger Marris items. I have Derek Jeter items, you know, signed to Steve and there are several people named Steve that contact me.

SPEAKER 3: I would say definitely on a monthly basis. Are you ready to sell? Are you thinking you're selling? Do you have anything to sell? And I just tell him at some point in time, I will, but just not now, there are other people who have, have my book and have found pieces in there that they want. I've had several people.

SPEAKER 3: I have a, a really unique Mickey, a Mantle Family Christmas card. It's in the book, it's a pop up home, it's Mantle's home and it's the card that they would send to people. And I also have, I don't know if it's one of a kind, but it's pretty rare, assigned piece from a Mantle to Santa Claus.

SPEAKER 3: We should give a Merry Christmas that kind of goes along with the house and I have people that have wanted that and there are other items that people want.

SPEAKER 3: But they're not necessarily at the point where they can pay the Price for the, for the stuff.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that's that's incredible. And they'll have to, they'll have to wait till till, till it's time.

SPEAKER 1: You know, you mentioned some autos. How, how many Man different manual autos are in the, the Stephen Lane collection. Do you have an exact number?

SPEAKER 3: No, I don't have that many. I made sure that anything I either purchased or that I got Mickey to sign was unique. You know, maybe I have a dozen to, to 20 on baseballs on some one of a kind photographs on some bats. And the one thing that is the most unique is I have a giant and when I say giant, I mean a giant for those of you who, who, who can't see that aren't watching this.

SPEAKER 3: They only doing the audio, I'd say 2 ft by 2 ft. A giant jockstrap that Mickey Mantle signed in the early 19 sixties that I obtained and Mantle. He came to a card show in New Orleans and I knew the promoter who was running the show. And I said, look, I've got to ask Mickey about this jockstrap.

SPEAKER 3: And number one, I wanted to know if it was his signature. And number two, what were the circumstances? I said, I don't want to embarrass him. I don't want to do it in front of other people. Just get me in the back room with him before or after the show so I can ask him and I got that opportunity.

SPEAKER 3: And I did, I showed, I opened up this giant jockstrap on one side of the jockstrap is the name, address and phone number of a New York City restaurant. And on the other side of the jockstrap was the menu with the prices now. So just to give you an example of how long ago this was and, and I don't recall the exact Price, but a steak cost like $5.25.

SPEAKER 3: Ok. So we're talking late fifties, early sixties and it was Al Shaq's restaurant again, for those who aren't old enough. Al Shaq was the original clown Prince of baseball. He would go from stadium to stadium dressed like a clown, put on a show.

SPEAKER 3: For those of you who have watched Bull Durham at the very beginning of that movie, you see Max Patin who was then the clown Prince baseball. Well, Al Shaq taught Max pack and what to do. So it was Al Shaq's restaurant has the menu on one side, the address, phone number on the other. And I said to, to Man, I said, Mickey, can you just tell me the circumstances?

SPEAKER 3: You know that you sign this jockstrap? And he says, II, I don't know if I could use all of the exact language, but the bottom line was that he felt the owner had substantial testicles to charge the prices that he was charging and that he needed to have a jockstrap that was big enough for those testing. Ok. And that, that was, that was Mickey's story.

SPEAKER 1: That's funny. And that goes to show you his, he, you know, he had a sense of humor, and knows that, you hear stories about him. He definitely, you know, had fun and, and had a sense of humor time for a quick break, but we'll be right back for nearly 50 years.

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SPEAKER 1: We, b I think I know the answer to this question. I gotta ask it every way, ask it anyway. You know, they're, they're still making like new versions of manual cards and some products, not so much recently, but in, in recent years I'm assuming that's probably not something, you necessarily go after or collect, you, you're, you're looking, you're, you're, you're more focused on his playing days. Would that be accurate? Right.

SPEAKER 3: And I, well, I've got every one of his cards, I've got them all from, from the, you know, 51 Burke Ross or 51 Bowman all the way to the end to the, to the 69 tops. And that's what I collected.

SPEAKER 3: And that's what I, like, I, I know now that people are collecting the ones with the uniform patches or a piece of the bat. And I understand that and, you know, if you can't pay $12 million for a 52 tops and you wanna have a piece of Mickey piece of his uniform, piece of his bat, that's fine.

SPEAKER 3: You know, the problem that I have as a collector is they're producing so many of these cards that my concern is that you're gonna get to a point where it's just gonna drop the, the, the, the bottom out of the market on some of the stuff, which is what happened in the past when they overproduced cards.

SPEAKER 3: And, you know, I know that there are collectors out there just trying to get into it. Some doing for investment purposes. I'm doing it because they get hooked on, on a young player immediately. And my concern for them again is not to spend too much money on a young player because you never know what's gonna happen.

SPEAKER 3: Whether it's an injury, whether it's drug use, whether it's something else that ruins their career or eliminates them from their Hall Of Fame chances and all of a sudden a card that you paid $500 for 1000 dollars for $10,000 for becomes worthless, which is what happened to guys like Dwight Gooden or Darryl Strawberry or, you know, those players in the, in the eighties and, and then in the nineties when people were, were sure that Gooden Strawberry would go to the Hall Of Fame and it just didn't happen.

SPEAKER 3: A lot of people lost money. So you just have to be careful in what you buy. And as regards Mickey, I mean, his cards are always gonna have, good value, one way or the other, but in terms of what I collect, I'm sticking with the, with the old stuff that I got, you know, from day one.

SPEAKER 1: You, you brought up something, a topic that I kinda wanna, segue to a question. I'm a Jackie Robinson, guy also from Brooklyn, he passed away a month before my birth, but my dad basically lived at Ebbets Field. So I got all the stories, through my dad and became, a Jackie Robinson fan, of the person, not just the player but the person.

SPEAKER 1: And, and, and the whole total package, you know, as someone who, you know, I do own, you mentioned memorabilia cards where they take a piece of a jersey or a piece of a bat and they make, a game, used a and they make a card of it. I own some of those, those Jackie Robinson type cards.

SPEAKER 1: And I'm sort of, it's, it's sort of bittersweet. I'm, I'm, it's like a tug of war in my mind while I'm, I'm glad I get to own AAA small piece of history. The other part of me says Steven, like they had to destroy an intact bat, they had to cut up a jersey to make these cards.

SPEAKER 1: And for that, I sort of feel bad. So it's a, a tug of war in my mind that this is a piece that could be on display, whether it be in a personal, someone's personal collection or at the Hall Of Fame itself.

SPEAKER 1: And to have the, the card that I do, you know, a piece of baseball history had to be basically in a sense destroyed in some form or fashion, you know, when it comes. And Man, o obviously has similar cards like that. What's your feeling as a, as a manual collector? When you see that? It does, it, does it, do you have any strong feelings like that?

SPEAKER 3: Well, I look at it, I look at it from three different perspectives, from the collector's perspective.

SPEAKER 3: You have those collectors, like I said, who, who can't afford a uniform, who can't afford a bat, which is probably, you know, 95 to 99% of the collectors out there. And at least it gives them an opportunity such as yourself to have a piece of Jackie Robinson or a piece of Mickey Mantle or a piece of Willie Mays or whoever and be able to look at that and know again that it, it Jackie touched it.

SPEAKER 3: It was, it was on him. It's got his DNA on it. So I understand that perspective. At the same time, I understand the perspective of the, the purist or somebody who could buy the uniform.

SPEAKER 3: But for the fact that it's been cut up and maybe it's frustrated now because once you cut up a uniform or a bat, it makes all the other uniforms and bats even more valuable or more expensive because there's less uniforms and less bats. So, you know, it cuts, it cuts both ways there. I don't think there's a right and a wrong. I think that there are multiple perspectives and I can respect both sides of of, of the argument.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah. No doubt, I'm gonna actually talk a little bit of AAA MAN item that I own.

SPEAKER 1: I'm, I'm assuming you're probably aware of it. You know, recently Rally, on Rally, a fractional company, purchased, Mantle's Boyhood Home in Commerce, Oklahoma. I know some folks, with the company.

SPEAKER 1: We, I did a little, piece on it. I wrote an article for Sports Collectors Digest and then they took a part of the barn, the metal, the, the sheet metal that fell off and they actually made cards. I happen to have one here, I'll kind of, I've, I've shared this before my Social Media.

SPEAKER 1: So this is, you know, a Man o card with part of the bar that him and his grandfather, you know, basically practiced baseball against. So two fold, I guess, you know, your thoughts on is, is that something that, that's of interest to you?

SPEAKER 1: And your thoughts on them now, you know, I own it. It, the funny story is I own seven shares of Mickey Mantle Boyhood Home. That's not by accident.

SPEAKER 1: You know, when you know the number seven, so I bought seven shares, they were nice enough just from knowing them and doing some work and, and highlighting them, they sent this particular piece your, your thoughts on, on those kind of things when you see them. Sure.

SPEAKER 3: Well, I've got a history with the, the Mantle home. Coincidentally, I've been to the home on several occasions.

SPEAKER 3: You will find my name inside the barn. On the date of my 60 65th birthday, I traveled to Commerce Oklahoma through Oklahoma City. Made the ride to the home. I tried to get into the home and I contacted them in advance but there, at the time there was only one person in all of Oklahoma who had the key to the home and she was out of town so I couldn't get into the home.

SPEAKER 3: But I did go around and get into the barn and that's where I spent my 65th birthday. People, friends. I think that absolutely crazy to be spending my 65th birthday in Congress Oklahoma. What was worth every second of it? That's number one. So I've got a history there. Number two.

SPEAKER 3: When they did come up with this arrangement to sell shares, I was contacted originally because somebody must have had my book and asked me if I would be interested in making a substantial purchase of shares from the home.

SPEAKER 3: And I thought about it and discussed it with my financial people, my CPA and I just couldn't figure out a way to rationalize it other than owning, you know, 10 or 20 whatever was percent of the home cause I don't know what to do with that, with that home. They've tried to move it.

SPEAKER 3: I know people who had, I know a gentleman. I don't know if you know him, gentleman by the name of Tom Kal Catal was actually Mantle's agent and friend who did his first baseball card show with him who wanted to own the home and uproot it and move it to Las Vegas and create a museum and they couldn't do it.

SPEAKER 3: I know the town tried to get up funds to turn it into a museum and I, and they may be trying to do that now. And in fact, the current already owners have contacted me in the past and asked me if there's a way to put some of my items in the home.

SPEAKER 3: And I said I might be willing to do that depending upon what the plan was and that it was insured and secured and whatever. So there's a possibility about that. And I have to admit I did try to get one of those cards, with the, with the piece, but by the time I tried to get them, they were all sold out.

SPEAKER 3: So, you know, if I, if I come across one at the, at the National or whatever, at a baseball card show, I might pick one of those up, that might be the one card that I try to pick up. But that's a good piece to have as well. As being able to say that you own a piece of Mickey's home. It's, it's, it's a great thing to say. Hopefully it'll go up in value.

SPEAKER 1: I remember when I bought the seven chairs, Steve and I went on my, my Facebook page in that, in, in the grant scope of things. That's 0.0014% of, of all the shares. It's, it's, it's a blip on, on the radar if, if even that. But I joked, you know, I went on my Social Media and I, I posted, you know, tongue in cheek, like you're looking at the new part owner of Mickey Mantle's Boyhood Home.

SPEAKER 1: You know, then I let people in on, on how small of a a percentage. But I fun, you know, initially, with it, there is talk, one of the nice things about owning even very little shares at, at seven is all the shareholders get to vote kinda on the future of the property.

SPEAKER 1: And you, you did touch on this and you, and you can, you sort of answered the question, but I'll, I'll bring it back up too. Is there's talk about making it a museum that would be if you, if it was left up to me, I think it should, I can't see anybody like just living in the house.

SPEAKER 1: You know, I think it should be turned into a museum. And then I was before you even mentioned that that was one of my questions. I was gonna ask you if that's the route they went, would you be willing to, you know, loan a few pieces from your own personal collection if it was becoming museum? You sort of answer that I agree with you.

SPEAKER 1: You definitely have to have security measures in place to, to protect, your property and things on, on loan and, and obviously insurance and, and the cover God forbid a loss or natural disaster even, you know, it is in the, the Midwest and we know, tornadoes and, and the likes can, can happen.

SPEAKER 1: So I, I mean, just if you want, I don't know if you want to elaborate any further, but that would be something I want to see the house turn into the museum and I think it would be awesome with your incredible collection. Obviously not the whole thing, but maybe, a few things could be on display there.

SPEAKER 3: Oh, yeah. No, I would, I would be interested in in that. I've loaned some of my items out to the New York Yankees.

SPEAKER 3: They've shown my items in the, in the Yankee Museum at Yankee Stadium and I'm always willing, to share, which is why I did the book because I just wanted to share, the things that I have with, with, with others to me though, you know, especially when you talk about real estate or something like this house, you know, it's the old lo what they say, location, location, location.

SPEAKER 3: If this house was located in a major city, whether you know, even if it was Oklahoma City, you would get the foot traffic from tourists or locals that you just can't get in Commerce for those who haven't been to Man's house. It is literally in the middle of nowhere when I went and visited the house and I had my Netscape Navigator on my phone.

SPEAKER 3: It still couldn't locate the home and the exact street that it was on. I had to drive around until I actually saw a house that I thought looked like it and then realized what it was because I saw the plaque on the outside.

SPEAKER 3: So, you know, it's gonna be you might have a tough time getting people to drive to Commerce.

SPEAKER 3: But if you're a Mantle fan, if you're a baseball historian, Yankee fan, it is worth the trip, you know, just for the photo opportunity because you do have the barn and you can see the marks where, where Mickey's father and grandfather was throwing the baseball one left-handed, one right-handed so he could learn how to switch it. You see the marks are still there along that bar and it's a piece of baseball history.

SPEAKER 3: He's the greatest switch hitter in baseball history. Some would say, you know, the greatest Yankee, some would say, but for his physical problems would have been the greatest all around player and, and I believe was the greatest all around player in his prime.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, no doubt. And, and you're right with the location, but like you made the track being a manual guy, I think it's sort of like field of dreams, right? If you build it, they will come, will they get the same? I mean, Coopers towns in the Cooperstown, the baseball Hall Of Fame Museum is in a very small town about 65 minutes from me here in Syracuse now.

SPEAKER 1: And people im, you know, millions of people have went. So I think, you know, it's, ideally it's not in the, the, you know, the central location, but I think some real baseball fans historians, like you said, and people sort of wanna honor and pay their respects to arguably, well, not arguably the greatest switch in and arguably one of the greatest baseball players of all time. I think people will find a way, to, to get there.

SPEAKER 1: I'd like to see it. Speaking of museum, I mean, that was another question that I had for you. Have you yourself, with, with, with the, the, the, the insane collection that you yourself have, have you ever thought about maybe starting a museum or where people can come through and sort of see it up close and personal as, as you know, we talk about end game, right? And, you know, has, has that thought ever crossed your mind.

SPEAKER 3: Now what I have done, I've like, I've, I've sent the Yankees various people on the Yankees, a free copy of my book. In fact, I went to high school and played junior high baseball with the current, with the president of the Yankees. Randy Levine. And I sent them my book and I just told him, I said, go through the book, whatever you want me to loan you. I'm happy to loan you. So all they have to do is call me.

SPEAKER 3: Because they have, you know, a million people going through Yankee Stadium, not a million, like two or 3 million going through Yankee Stadium in any given season. So I, if I wanted to share it with people that to me would be the, the way and the place, to share it. And I do agree with you.

SPEAKER 3: Listening to what you said because I've been to Cooperstown and what I've had to do is fly, I live in New Orleans. I had to fly into Kennedy Airport and then rent a car and drive from Kennedy Airport to Cooperstown, which is a horrendous drive where as if you fly into Oklahoma City, it's not that bad a drive going from Oklahoma City to com you just got to get, you know, go to Oklahoma City.

SPEAKER 3: So you are right in that respect. If you, if you want to see Mickey's home, you, you know, you can get there and you can go to Mickey Mantle's restaurant, which is also in Oklahoma City. Great steak restaurant that I was at when I visited Commerce. And see they have memorabilia of Mantle's there too.

SPEAKER 1: Well, I even think of, you know, you know, the, the Field Of Dreams House that was in the movie in the field in Dyersville, Iowa, I believe the people go there and that's, that's really off the beaten path and you can rent a house with a group of people and stay there overnight. You can play on the field and that's a, a fictional place. I mean, that was made for a movie, you know, that wasn't really shoot Joe.

SPEAKER 1: That was Red Leoda playing Shoeless Joe, you know, with, with the Manor House. This is the real mccoy. There's nothing fictional, about, it might feel fictional because it's just so amazing, but it's, it's a real place. So people, and I, and I don't mean disrespect to the field of the Dreams House, but if people are traveling there, I think they would find a way to get to Commerce. Oklahoma.

SPEAKER 1: In any way they could to sort of pay their respects to, to arguably one of the, the, the greats of, of not just baseball but of sports. An icon of, of sport.

SPEAKER 3: No, I agree with you. And I've seen, when I've been out to the house, I've seen, parents take their kids out there and have a catch or, you know, even hit against the bar. And as long as you're using, you know, a whiffle ball or something and that a hardball, it's gonna break a window.

SPEAKER 3: Which is, it's amazing that Mantle didn't, you know, in any of the books you read about or when you talk, when I talk to him, he never broke any windows. It was always going over the roof. So, but yeah, get out there and play with your kid right there where Vicky Mantle.

SPEAKER 1: Played, you know. Yeah, an incredible moment, right. Something that's probably on a lot of people's bucket list and, and, and that sort of thing. I gotta ask you, you, you, again, your, your collection is incredible.

SPEAKER 1: I don't know if you wanna share this, if it's if you have something and you wanna keep it on the down low. But one of the question, is there something that you don't have that you, you're in pursuit of at this point or, or no.

SPEAKER 3: You know, there's nothing.

SPEAKER 3: It's funny every year I go to the National and like everybody else or at least some of the big deal is you, you know, you bring significant amounts of cash with you and every year I go, I'm not really looking for anything but I always find something that I don't need but that I have to have and I'll tell you another story that's in the book, you know, I don't know if you know a gentleman by the name of John Toy, he's like the nationwide bat expert.

SPEAKER 3: He's the one that, that, that does all the reports on whether or not a bat is legitimately game used by a particular player. And it was through him that I obtained my, my 1963 Mickey Mantle game used glove, well, fast forward two or three years later. And he knows that I'm a Mantle collector and I was at the National not really looking for anything in particular.

SPEAKER 3: And he says, Steve, I have the 1962 all-star bat that Mickey Mantle used. Would you be interested? Because every year they would give the players two bats to use in the all-star games, somebody else owns the other one. In fact, it's up for sale.

SPEAKER 3: Now, I think it's up to like 100 and 50,000 or something is being auctioned off right now. And I said to him, well, how much? And he gave me a Price. I'm not gonna tell you the Price, but he gave me a Price. And I said, well, you know, that's a little high John.

SPEAKER 3: And he says, well, what if if you buy the bat, I will get the, the current owner of the bat to come to Cleveland, which is where the National was that you come to Cleveland take a picture of you with the bat and he'll sign the picture after the pictures developed and he'll send you a letter, you know, confirming how he got the bat, blah, blah, blah. I said, John, why would I care who the owner of the bat is?

SPEAKER 3: And he says, well, the owner of the bat is Reggie Jackson. And I said, oh, well, will that be cash or credit card? And, you know, I bought the bat. I wasn't looking for the bat. I didn't go to the National looking for a bat. I've got other ma I got Mantel's 1953 bat. I wasn't looking for a 62 bat.

SPEAKER 3: But once he said, you know, Reggie will hand it to you, Mantel gave it to Reggie and Reggie sell, sell it to you. I said, fine and you know, Reggie, came to Cleveland, took a photo with me, signed the photo, sent me a letter on Mr October stationary.

SPEAKER 3: And, you know, that's all part of the book, but that's an example of there's something out there that I don't have, I don't know what it is. I haven't seen it yet, but somebody will show it to me and I'll end up buying it. I'll tell you one more story because I have another item here. Again, I wasn't looking for.

SPEAKER 3: But again, somebody asked me if I was interested in this and if you're not watching, if you're just listening, this is the very first batting trophy that Mickey Mantle ever won. It says Mickey Mantle Western Association batting champion 1950. He won that a year before he was on the Yankees. What happened was he won the batting title for the Western Association at 383.

SPEAKER 3: And as a result of winning that title, the Yankees called him up to Yankee Stadium in September of 1950. He never played in a game. He won't, you know, see it listed any place that he was even on the team. He sat on the bench and it was as a result of that trophy, that he first got into Yankee Stadium.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, that's, that's an incredible piece. I, I remember reading about that, obviously, in the book, there's only gonna be one of those, right? When there a lo a lot of the, these things, Steven O obviously, you know, there's only one that's ever gonna exist.

SPEAKER 1: It, it's a true one of a kind item and, and just amazing kind of coming down the, the home stretch like you talked about eventually, maybe a lot. We, we'll the auction block for, to live on in, in someone else's collection. When do you determine like that time is how, how do you even know as, as the owner, as the current owner?

SPEAKER 3: Well, I mean, I've already been in talks with heritage auctions who sold the, the, the $12.6 million car tops card, 52 tops card. And I've known them for some period of time and I told them come up with a plan, come up with a plan.

SPEAKER 3: I would like to sell some items in memory of the 30th anniversary of Mickey's passing, which will be in 2025 he passed away in 1995. So the 30th anniversary to remember him, I'm certainly gonna be selling certain of the items and some of them may be the bigger items. Maybe the first sign, baseball, maybe his game used club.

SPEAKER 3: I've, I've got one of his most valuable player awards and another one of a kind items that, you know, can't take it with me, so might as well offer it to others. But I would say by starting by 1995 you're gonna be seeing some things coming up for auction.

SPEAKER 3: I, I would hope, you know, if, if, if my daughter had an interest, which is another story. My, my, my daughter is now 34 and I, I raised her to be a Yankee fan. We lived in New Orleans, but I raised her to be a Yankee fan.

SPEAKER 3: Well, she got into Boston University undergrad and has been living in Boston ever since, which is the last 10 or 15 years and I didn't expect her to show up at Fenway Park every game wearing Yankee paraphernalia and get beers poured on her and get into fights with people and on her own, she became a Red Sox fan.

SPEAKER 3: I have not disinherited her. I have not cut her off. I haven't blocked her on my Facebook account and when we go to games, she wears her Red Sox stuff. I wear my Yankee stuff and just thank God the Red Sox finished behind the Yankees last year.

SPEAKER 3: Otherwise I would have had to put up with a lot of grief if the Yankees finished this place. But she doesn't want my, she doesn't want my Yankee stuff. The only thing she does want, I have one piece. It is the original architect drawings from the original Yankee Stadium.

SPEAKER 3: That's a really nice big frame piece. It's, it's in the book. That's the only piece she has asked for. So that's the only piece I will not auction, which is a whole other story. I don't know if you have time for it or not, but it's a whole other story how I got that piece.

SPEAKER 1: Yeah, if you wanna kind of, we'll, we'll close with that. Yeah, I, I know the story from reading a book but it is, it is a, a tremendous story. Go ahead if you wanna, I was, I.

SPEAKER 3: I was a lawyer in a law firm in New Orleans. Somehow one of our clients was the president of the, of the demolition company that demolished the inside of Yankees Stadium in 1973 when they did the first renovation, when Steinbrenner took over, fast forward. I don't know, 20 years he was in the office and they introduced him to me and I told him I was a Yankee fan.

SPEAKER 3: In fact, I had some of my Mantle stuff in the office. He didn't know I was from New York and he said, look, if you're ever in New York, come by my warehouse, you could take whatever you want. Well, within about two months, I was back in New York. My mother, we drove out to the very tip of Suffolk County. If we had driven any further, we would have been in the Atlantic Ocean.

SPEAKER 3: He was right on the tip, this huge warehouse with all types of things that the Yankees just didn't care about. I mean, giant oil paintings of Dan Topping and Del Webb, who were the owners of the Yankees in the fifties and sixties. He had boxes and boxes of untouched year books from the nineties, seventies and all kinds of other stuff. He said, take what you want.

SPEAKER 3: So I saw these architect drawings and that was one of the things that I took. Unfortunately, my mother and I drove out to his warehouse in her Toyota Tercel and not in a U haul truck, which is what I should have brought if I hadn't been, you know, so naive, but I got enough stuff. It it was worth the trip. I got enough stuff and it's all in the book, but that's how I got the original architecture.

SPEAKER 1: An incredible piece of history there and, and in themselves and obviously, like you said, they'll, they'll live on with, with your daughter, with your daughter eventually having them in, in, in her possession.

SPEAKER 1: So, just incredible you know, for those listening get the book, whether you're a Yankee fan, not a Yankee fan, a Mickey Mantle fan or just a baseball, huge baseball fan. I tell you what I read it in like less than two days. I just couldn't put it down.

SPEAKER 1: I said I'm gonna read, you know, 10 pages and 10 pages became 30 pages and went right through it just because it was so enthralling and to see, you know, I mean, from even Mickey Mantle's stuff when he was in elementary school and a yearbook and, and, you know, to look at that young face and not know, you know what he the, the legend, he was gonna eventually become just stuff like that that you can't get just anywhere and it's in your book and you did a, an incredible job sharing your collection and, and Kudos for sharing, you know, sometimes people aren't so forthcoming with, you know, what they own or don't wanna share it or, or, or put it out there.

SPEAKER 1: So Kudos to you Steve and for, for being you know, so welcoming and, and sharing that collection, which is a time capsule of history in the sense of as, as well of sports. So not just baseball, but, but sports as well. So give out where people can, can acquire the book and any anywhere you want to kind of steer them to take as much time as you.

SPEAKER 3: Need for, for those of you watching. Like John said, here's the book, you can see it if you're not watching.

SPEAKER 3: You can get the book either two ways. I've, I've limited it.

SPEAKER 3: It's in, it's on, it's for sale at the National Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown. They're selling the book or you can get it from me directly. Just write to me at S Lane, that's Slane Mail Ma Il, all one word S Lane mail 77, the numbers 77 at gmail dot dot com. So S Lane mail 77 at gmail.com. It's going for $30 total that includes shipping and handling.

SPEAKER 3: And if you want me to inscribe it to you or you know, to your spouse or to your child or whatever, just let me know and I'll be happy to inscribe it.

SPEAKER 1: Awesome stuff. Steven, awesome collection. Thank you for sharing sharing some of that today on, on the podcast and on the YouTube.

SPEAKER 1: If you go to the Cleveland National, you mentioned the Cleveland National.

SPEAKER 1: If you, which is where it is this year here in 2024. If you're, if you're playing a new at 10, I hope to ob obviously meet you in person, shake your hand as well and I hope to see you there and.

SPEAKER 3: I look forward to that. I am going to Cleveland and also one other thing, heritage will be showing some of my items not for sale yet, but they will be showing some of my items. So people are interested in, Man. I just seeing them up close, they'll have some of this stuff in Cleveland.

SPEAKER 1: So you either you get the book, see it there and then come to Cleveland and see it live in, live in the flesh as, as they say, well, Steven, thank you. Take care and we'll I look again, I look forward to meeting you and good luck in the future as well.

SPEAKER 3: Thank you John. Thank you for having me on, on your show. I appreciate it. It was an honor to be asked to be on. Thank you.

SPEAKER 1: All right. Thank you to Steven Lane for being our guest today. Some great Mickey Mantle stories and, and anecdotes and amazing collection. Go and grab that book if you're a, a Mickey Mantle fan or just a, a sports card and memorabilia fan, just really, really cool to see what he has. If you get to the National in Cleveland.

SPEAKER 1: Some of his stuff as you mentioned during the interview will be at, at probably heritage, booth there as well. So, really enjoyed, talking about Man on and his collection and just, amazing stuff. All right. Time to hear from our hobby is the people announcer of the week. And we'll, after that we'll some closing thoughts and we'll wrap the show up.

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