Monthly Auction #6

This is a cool lot that marries several iconic magazines with great 8/10 to 9/10 autographs, headlined by two marvelous Mickey Mantle signatures and a wonderful copy of Baseball Illustrated 1966 with nifty blue Sharpie autographs from Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale on the cover. That magazine is probably Ex-Mt; the second Drysdale signature appears in meticulous gold Sharpie on a 1962 issue of Life magazine (magazine presents Ex-Mt, but some tearing along the spine). Mantle signed an Ex condition copy of Sport magazine from 1969, the one with a retiring Mantle on the cover and a "Farewell to Mickey Mantle" article inside by the acerbic "chipmunk" sportswriter Dick Young. A similarly tidy Mantle autograph appears pm a Nr-Mt condition copy of Baseball Cards magazine (with pristine condition insert reprints of Mantle's 1951 and 1952 Bowman cards and his 1952 Topps card inside). Mantle's rival Willie Mays penned his signature to an Ex-Mt copy of the 1988 San Francisco Examiner Image magazine and Rod Carew signed a Nr-Mt example of Angels View magazine in 1982. The most fascinating of all the autographs comes from Reggie Jackson, who signed a Japanese version of Major League Review with his name and number inscription over an image of Reggeroo as the Statue of Liberty, holding a bat in this instance rather than the customary torch. Reggie, no doubt, would have been comfortable with the conflation of his magisterial Yankeeness with the enduring symbol of our nation's commitment to liberty.

Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.