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1956 World Series Mickey Mantle Home Run Ball

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The 5th game of the 1956 World Series at Yankee Stadium was one of the most, if not the most, memorable baseball games of all time. Not only were the New York Yankees battling their cross-town rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, at home for the World Series, but the game ended up being Don Larsen's perfect game. While there have been other perfect games, there has never been another one during post-season play or in World Series history. The final score of the game was 2-0 in favor of the Yankees.The game was well into the fourth inning and scoreless when Mickey Mantle finally got good wood on a ball and sent it soaring into the right field stands. A crowd of eager fans struggled for the ball, and the winner of that contest was Robert Barbieri, a New Jersey dairy owner. He came home bubbling with the news to his wife, Lucy, who remembered him repeatedly saying, "I caught Mickey's home run ball!" His excitement lasted for weeks afterwards. In his excitement, Mr. Barbieri signed his trophy game-ball with the following: "MANTLES HOMER '56 5th GAME" and elsewhere on the ball: "This BALL WINS—1956 WORLD SERIES Oct. 7th 1956" and "10/7/56 DON LARSEN"S 2-0 PERFECT GAME MAGLIE LOST" and last: "MICKEY MANTLE'S 4th INNING HOME RUN HIT OCT 7, 1956". With a consistent but erring enthusiasm, Mr. Barbieri miswrote the date of the game, not once but several times. The actual date of the landmark game was October 8th.The ball comes with a thorough appraisal report from Richard Galasso, one of the foremost professional appraisers of historic American baseball memorabilia and a prominent professional forensic document examiner. The appraisal includes a review of the extensive research into the history of the ball, including efforts to identify the ball catcher from old television film coverage of the game. William Barbieri, Robert and Lucy Barbieri's son and a New Jersey policeman, also contributed to the search. In addition, there is an assortment of corroborating provenance from the Barbieri family, including an affidavit from Lucy Barbieri and many contemporary samples of Robert Barbieri's handwriting. The appraised value of the ball is $200,000. Official American League baseball, William Harridge, President (1931 to 1959). Reach brand ball. Bearing inscribed statements with dates by Robert Barbieri.

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