Shares in Mantle boyhood home to sell for $7
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Sara Coello
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Sara Coello
ESPN
- Sara Coello is a writer in ESPN’s investigative and enterprise unit. Before joining, they wrote about legal issues and crime for The Charlotte Observer, The Post and Courier and The Dallas Morning News. Coello studied sociology, journalism and Spanish at The University of Dallas.
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Dan Hajducky
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Dan Hajducky
ESPN
- Hajducky is an associate editor for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities.
COMMERCE, Okla. — Fans who could never afford a $12.6 million 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card will soon be able to buy a share of the Commerce Comet’s boyhood home for $7.
Rally, a collectibles company that sells shares in wine, vintage watches, sports cars and other memorabilia, will offer up to 47,000 shares in the house for $7 each while valuing the property in Commerce, Oklahoma, at $329,000, according to a statement from the company Thursday.
The offering opens to the public Oct. 27. Mantle famously wore No. 7 for the New York Yankees and also led them to seven World Series titles.
Rally is betting that the most lucrative name in sports memorabilia will carry a so-called fractional ownership deal for a real estate asset, something the company has never tried before. Rally has said in a regulatory filing that it plans to convert the house, which it bought for $175,000 in 2022, into a museum.
Company officials also see potential for Airbnb-style short-term rentals, a market for trading cards with pieces of the property embedded in them, and the construction of a little league field on the property.
“If we could do something like they’ve done in places like Graceland or in parts of Motown, where you have this place that a lot of people who care about the game and about Mantle will visit given the opportunity,” Rally co-founder and chief product officer Rob Petrozzo told ESPN. “We really believe that it’s just that they don’t know what exists.”
Petrozzo says shareholders will ultimately decide on the direction of the property, though Rally said in a September regulatory filing that it can “in its sole discretion determine when it is in the best interests of investors to sell” the house. According to the filing, Rally intends to distribute cash to interest-holders after covering operating expenses for a minimum of one year.
Rally plans to keep between 1% and 5% ownership in the house. Since purchasing the property, the company has spent about $50,000 on refurbishments and maintenance and expects monthly operating costs going forward.
Petrozzo didn’t have details regarding shareholders’ responsibilities when it comes to paying taxes, insurance, repairs and improvements to the property, or any operational costs of running a museum, but estimated that costs would be cushioned by Rally’s own cash reserves for three to five years.
Rally also intends to offer free shares in the property to city residents. The company has set aside about 2,200 shares for residents, which Rally is paying for to avoid diluting the value of other shares.
The home sits on a small street in Commerce, a city of about 2,200 people in the far northeastern corner of Oklahoma. Some houses near the Mantle home have been long abandoned, and some residents interviewed by ESPN responded with raised eyebrows to Rally’s valuation of the property. City administrator and former mayor Michael Hart estimated a similar home in the city would generally sell for about $10,000.
Mantle, widely considered the best switch-hitter in baseball history, lived in a few different homes within walking distance of the lead and zinc mines where Mantle’s father worked. But the property on the corner of C Street and South Quincy Street — a two-bedroom bungalow near the edge of town — is where Mantle learned to hit.
Mantle would take at-bats by the rusted tin-covered shed in the home’s yard, which leaned precariously to the east even during his time living there. With his right-handed father and left-handed grandfather trading off pitches, Mantle learned early how to hit balls coming from many angles. Eventually, they devised a game to keep track of his progress: any balls hit over the home’s short roof and toward Main Street counted as home runs, according to Mantle’s memories repeated on a plaque mounted next to the front door.
Apart from the shed that serves as Mantle’s baseball origin story, and possibly even including it, there isn’t much to see from the outside: Faded velvet couches and a mint-colored stove are visible through the windows, the haint-blue ceiling of the front porch. Inside, more of the same: An empty display case, folded easels in a bedroom Mantle shared with his six siblings and half-siblings, two plaques noting that the Mantles relied on the kitchen stove for warmth and that indoor plumbing was added to the bathroom. The home’s previous owners left behind kitchen utensils and a miner’s hat hung by the back door.
The Mantle family sold the house to new owners in 1993, and city officials have previously considered plans to turn it into a museum, though those plans never gained traction. A Mantle statue was unveiled at the Commerce High School baseball field in 2010.
Around town, few people have heard of Rally’s upcoming deal, and some are skeptical.
A few streets from the Mantle home, David Mason has spent 10 years turning an old factory building into what he claims is the largest flea market on Route 66. Mason said customers snap up Commerce Comet memorabilia more quickly than he can get hold of it. But the idea that collectors would be as interested in shares of a house as they are in physical Mantle swag made Mason snort.
“I wouldn’t; that sounds crazy to me,” Mason said.
Hart, the former mayor, grew up next door to the Mantle home, separated only by a wooden fence that his mother built to keep tourists from peering into their yard. Hart now lives with his family in a different home in the same neighborhood, and he still helps wandering sightseers find the house. They come every day, Hart told ESPN, often taking up a batting position in front of the shed for pictures. Hart said more of them visit the house than any of the other Mantle tributes around town.
“The most common reaction I get is: ‘This is it?'” Hart said.
Petrozzo said he can understand there would be “a little bit of skepticism” about the deal. The company is holding a town hall in Commerce next week “to make them understand our intentions are not to go in there and commoditize this really important piece of property, to ensure that it’s maintained properly and treated as the collectible that we feel like it should.”
Fractional ownership, by design, is rarely if ever lucrative. Part-owners profit when they sell their individual shares at a premium, or when the underlying asset receives a buyout offer at an elevated price, and part-owners vote to approve the sale.
Rally notes that sports cards and memorabilia can fluctuate wildly in price. For example, Rally offered 6,000 shares in a signed Mickey Mantle bat, used in the 1962 World Series, at $25 each in October 2020, valuing the bat at $150,000. Those shares last traded for $16.25, according to Rally’s website. A basketball used in a pick-up game between Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Magic Johnson and Barack Obama, signed by all, originally sold for $10 a share, and those last traded for $5.55, according to Rally’s website.
“There was a lot of hype and buildup [with fractional ownership during the pandemic], but it’s leveled off,” said Ryan Cracknell, Beckett Media’s hobby editor. “Just like cards, if you’re looking at it from an investment angle like stock going up and down, things are down.”
For baseball lovers and collectors alike, Mantle has long held an unparalleled esteem. The most expensive sports card or piece of memorabilia is a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card that sold for $12.6 million in August 2022.
“Mantle is directly connected to the growth of baseball cards as we know them today,” Cracknell said. “If you trace the history, if we look at baseball cards, when the 1952 Topps set came out, that set the standard. As it’s evolved, they’ve had their ebbs and flows, but they’re still around.”
But the average person can’t afford a $12.6 million 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, a $7.25 million T-206 Honus Wagner or even the $474,000 that one collector paid for a Jasson Dominguez rookie card — the Yankees outfield prospect reached Double-A. So fractional ownership companies like Rally, Collectable and Dibbs stepped in to allow more collectors to participate.
“This is exactly what we look for when we acquire any asset: to have that history, it has to be relevant now [and] we believe will be relevant in the future, it has to have a story to tell,” Petrozzo said. “It’s an important thing to sort of be maintained and owned, not just by a group of people, but by the right people.”
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Ryan S. Clark
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Kristen Shilton
There’s an ancient South Florida proverb about numbers: Not one. Not two. Not three. Not four.
Opening the Eastern Conference finals with five goals in Game 1 on Tuesday showed that at least for one game the Florida Panthers could find a breakthrough against the Carolina Hurricanes. Only for Thursday to arrive and the Panthers to once again post five more goals in a 5-0 win to take a 2-0 series lead before heading back to Sunrise for Game 3.
How did both teams perform? Who are the players to watch next game, and what are the big questions facing the Hurricanes and Panthers ahead of Game 3 on Saturday?
Say what you will about the offside goal being akin to Charlie Brown getting the football pulled out from under him by Lucy. While it’s possible that the disallowed goal could have provided momentum, there were other things that suggested the Hurricanes were going to struggle.
Under Rod Brind’Amour, they’ve become one of the teams that consistently generates the highest number of shots per game. They entered Game 2 averaging 33.2 shots per game, yet they hadn’t even cracked double digits until there was 14 minutes remaining in the third period. Natural Stat Trick’s metrics showed they had two high-danger scoring chances midway through the third period, and after giving up seven goals throughout the entirety of the second round, they’ve allowed 10 goals in the first two games.
Or view it this way: The Panthers had more goals than the Hurricanes had high-danger scoring chances. — Clark
What more is there to say about Florida, really? The term “clinic” doesn’t seem to cover it. The Panthers have done it all against Carolina in these first two games.
Thursday was another dominant performance by the reigning Stanley Cup champions in an offensive and defensive effort that requires no notes. The Panthers set a tone early with Gustav Forsling‘s goal just 1:17 into the game and never relented. The Hurricanes were averaging over 33 shots per night in the postseason (second most among playoff teams), and Florida limited their chances to seven shots through the first two periods alone — while the Panthers pummeled Carolina with 16 shots and four goals in the same span. It was enough to chase Frederik Andersen from the net, when he was replaced by Pyotr Kochetkov with a four-goal deficit.
The Hurricanes’ top scorers were simply no match for Florida’s attack or a locked-in Sergei Bobrovsky, who, while not heavily challenged, was a match for all comers in a 16-save shutout. The way Florida is playing right now, one has to wonder how the Hurricanes can get back in this series as the teams shift down to Florida. — Shilton
Three Stars of Game 2
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Panthers go up 3-0 on Sam Bennett’s power-play goal
The Panthers threaten to run away with it after Sam Bennett’s power-play goal makes it 3-0 in the first period.
He had two goals and a helper, as the Panthers dominated the Hurricanes in Game 2. This is Bennett’s second career 3-plus point playoff game and second career multigoal playoff game.
2. Team defense
The Hurricanes were averaging 33.2 shots per game this postseason, second in the playoffs to the Colorado Avalanche. But the Panthers, with their efficient and suffocating defense, held Carolina to five shots in the first 30 minutes of the game. Near the end of the second period, the fans at Lenovo Center were growing tired of it and started chanting “shoot the puck” at their team. Carolina did have more shot volume in the third period, ending with 17, but nothing got past Sergei Bobrovsky.
3. Offside reviews and coaching tactics
Normally, I’m not the biggest fan of lengthy offside reviews. I wish there was a timer — if you can’t make the call in 90 seconds, then the call on the ice stands. But the Florida Panthers executed one to perfection in Game 2. Up 3-0 in the second period, the Hurricanes scored, but thinking the play was offside, the Panthers called a timeout to buy more time to see every angle available, eventually calling for the challenge. It was indeed determined to be offside and the goal was taken away. — Arda Öcal
Players to watch in Game 3
Let’s start here with the Hurricanes. There’s no shortage of options. Part of the reason Svechnikov is in this space is because he leads the Hurricanes in goals this postseason. The rest of it has more to do with whether the Canes can rely on a certain postseason pattern for Svechnikov holding true. After going goalless in Games 2 and 3 against the New Jersey Devils in the first round, he responded with a hat trick. He didn’t score in the first two games against the Washington Capitals only to then score a goal in three straight games. Could Svechnikov respond by grabbing at least one goal in Game 3? Or are the Canes in store for more offensive struggles once they arrive in Sunrise? — Clark
The Panthers’ instigator had been quiet since Florida’s first-round series win over Tampa Bay, recording just five assists in eight games heading into Game 2 against Carolina. But Tkachuk looked more like himself Thursday, agitating the Hurricanes and making his physical presence felt. He also emerged early on the score sheet, registering an assist on Gustav Forsling’s game-opening salvo and adding a goal — Tkachuk’s first in 10 games — in the opening period to extend Florida’s lead to 2-0. It was a testament to how commanding Tkachuk’s line was with Sam Bennett (two goals and an assist) and Carter Verhaeghe (three assists) that he was able to finally appear as the Tkachuk of old. If this was indeed Tkachuk’s reawakening after a slow stretch, then the Hurricanes better be well aware of Tkachuk going forward because he was as dangerous as ever at both ends of the ice in Game 2. — Shilton
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Matthew Tkachuk taps it in to pad the Panthers’ lead
Matthew Tkachuk sneaks the puck past the goalie to pad the Panthers’ lead against the Hurricanes.
Big questions for Game 3
What’s the response to their worst playoff loss this year?
Several questions will be asked when it comes to what adjustments can be made before Game 3. Could one of them be about what the Hurricanes must do to get off to a stronger start? Allowing two first-period goals in Game 1 already presented the reality that the Panthers were going to remain aggressive. But to then give up the first goal less than two minutes into the first before giving up three in total in an opening frame that saw the Panthers record just five shots on net? That only adds to the degree of difficulty for a team that has now lost two straight playoff games after losing two postseason games in total over the first two rounds, especially when the last time the Hurricanes were down 0-2 to the Panthers in a playoff series was during the 2023 Eastern Conference finals in which they were swept. — Clark
Will Sam Reinhart be back at full strength for the Panthers?
Florida saw one of its top skaters exit in the first period after Sebastian Aho delivered a hit that forced Reinhart out for the remainder of the game with a lower-body injury. While Florida had Game 2 well in hand even before Reinhart became unavailable, it’s safe to say the Panthers are a better team when he’s in the lineup. Reinhart’s status going forward is significant for Florida overall. Reinhart paced the Panthers with 39 goals and 81 points in the regular season and notched 11 points in 13 postseason tilts going into Game 2. Florida must hope that Reinhart isn’t just available for Game 3 (and beyond), but that he’s not too banged up to continue operating at a high level. — Shilton
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