Perfect Mickey Mantle Bat to be Auctioned by Memory Lane

TUSTIN, CA (PRNewswire) - Mickey Mantle game-used bats can sell for more than $100,000. So it's anybody's guess how much the perfect Mantle bat is worth.

Memory Lane Inc. offers the chance to find out with an auction that ends Aug. 12 and features a Mantle game-used bat from 1963 that is graded a perfect 10 by the two leading bat-grading companies (MEARS and PSA). While the exact games the bat was used in cannot be identified, the bat's heavy usage and the dates of its shipping to Mantle indicate it could be a World Series-used bat as well. Mantle hit a home run in the Series, though the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Yankees for the title that year.

The bat is part of the Summer 2006 Auction for Memory Lane, the fastest growing vintage sports card and memorabilia auction company. Its 124-page color auction catalog was printed by Sports Collectors Digest and shipped recently to 40,000 avid collectors. To register for the auction and/or view the auction lots online, go to http://www.memorylaneinc.com . You can order a free auction catalog by calling 1-877 -606 LANE (5263).

Joining the Mantle bat in the auction are hundreds of high-grade cards from the 1800s and early 1900s, including tobacco cards with some of the highest grades ever seen for cards of that era. Also in the auction are dozens of signed checks, a category of sports memorabilia that is exploding in value. Christy Mathewson, Mantle and Roberto Clemente each have signed checks available in the auction; Clemente's includes notations in Spanish on the back.

The auction event will be held online at http://www.memorylaneinc.com beginning Aug. 10 at 11 pm EDT. The auction software allows online bidders to place bids in real time. "These online auction events are growing in popularity with collectors everywhere," said Memory Lane auction director Roger Cameron. "They are so convenient for the bidders. And our Summer 2006 Auction is a dream come true for vintage card and memorabilia collectors."