I bought Mickey Mantle’s boyhood home (sort of) … Neato!

When I bought my home in 2006 I didn't think I'd buy another one in less than 20 years, but last month I did just that with the purchase of Mickey Mantle’s childhood home in Commerce, Okla.

Clearly, I jest … sort of.

Also See: All Things Mickey Mantle 

I received an email from Rally, an alternative asset investment company, with an early offering of the aforementioned Mantle boyhood home. They were offering 47,000 shares with an IPO market cap of $329,000 — at $7 per share, of course.

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Let's talk about the significance of the house itself, located at 319 South Quincy Street. It was purchased by the Mantle family in 1938 when Mickey was 7 years old. The town is a small one with a population of just 3,000.

Mickey spent his formative baseball years practicing with his father “Mutt,” with the tin barn on the property serving as a pitching back stop. 

He then starred for Commerce High School, where he became known as the “Commerce Comet.” The Yankees soon came calling and, as we all know, the rest is history.

Rally has reserved some of the shares, which will be gifted to longstanding residents of Commerce, a great gesture for a community that raised one of the greatest players in baseball history and a star in the sports collectibles hobby.

Rally purchased the two-bedroom home in 2022 via auction for $175,000. It replaced the roof, which was in need of repair. 

Also See: Meet the collector who sold the record-setting $12.6M Mickey Mantle card 

The $7 share price is obviously a nod to Mantle’s jersey number and the number of World Series rings he won as a member of the pinstripes.

So how many shares did I buy? Seven, or course.

I immediately announced on social media that I was the new owner of the home. In the spirit of accuracy, I'm actually a 0.015 percent owner, but it is a heck of a conversation starter.

All joking aside, it is kind of neat owning even a small piece of such a historic site. As a shareholder, I do have a vote and say in future decisions pertaining to the property. I also get a percentage of any profits, but I obviously didn't do it for such reasons.

If you would have told me as 7-year-old kid growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y. that I would one day own part of Mickey Mantle's boyhood home, I would’ve thought, “Neato.” Well, guess what the 51-year-old me thinks 44 years later?

Neato!

— John Newman is a collector, dealer and the host of the Sports Card Nation podcast. Catch his Hobby Quick Hits on Monday and his guest interviews on Friday on your favorite podcast plat­form. You can reach him at sportscard­nationpc@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ sportscardnati1

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