Mickey Mantle hit his 114th Home Run on August 16, 1955 at Fenway Park.  It was the 3rd inning with one man on and Frank Sullivan pitching for the Boston Red Sox.

2006 Topps Updates & Highlights:

1. #UH66 Xavier Nady
2. #UH74 David Bell
3. #UH54 Josh Bard
4. #UH46 Joe Borchard
5. #UH102 Gary Bennett
6. #UH235 Brad Penny (All-Star)
7. #UH254 Lance Berkman (All-Star)
8. Mantle Home Run History #MHR114 Mickey Mantle
9. #UH188 Carlos Delgado (Postseason Highlights)
10. #UH260 Chris Carpenter (All-Star)
11. #UH203 Joe Mauer/Derek Jeter/Robinson Cano (League Leaders)
12. #UH308 Curt Schilling/David Ortiz (Team Leaders)

This Mickey Mantle Finest card was short-printed by 20%.

1996 Topps Series 2:

1. #413 Wil Cordero
2. #422 Jeff Conine
3. Profiles #AL-11 Jay Buhner
4. #418 Tyler Green
5. #354 Jimmy Haynes (Now Appearing) (Rookie Card)
6. #230 Ken Griffey Jr. (Star Power)
7. #336 Jason Bates
8. #263 Vince Coleman
9. #289 Roberto Alomar
10. Mantle Finest #16 Mickey Mantle (Reprint) (Short Print)
11. #285 Pat Meares
12. #288 Bip Roberts

Five hobby packs of 2008 Topps Series 1.  Didn’t find anything I need, but all in all a pretty exciting five packs:

PACK 1

1. #206 Geoff Jenkins
2. #112 Jacque Jones
3. #247 Edgar Gonzalez
4. #14 Lenny DiNardo
5. #173 Jamie Moyer
6. Own the Game #OTG4 Carlos Pena
7. Gold Foil #290 Edgar Renteria
8. #204 Rafael Furcal
9. #283 Jorge Sosa
10. #226 Kurt Suzuki

PACK 2

1. #110 Justin Morneau
2. #249 Chris Sampson
3. #243 Akinori Iwamura
4. #49 Orlando Hernandez
5. #235 Rich Harden
6. #2 Barry Zito
7. Mantle Home Run History #MHR511 Mickey Mantle
8. #43 Ryan Dempster
9. #31 Ronny Paulino
10. #75 Felix Hernandez

PACK 3

1. #99 David Ortiz/Manny Ramirez (Postseason Highlights)
2. #256 Alex Rodriguez (MVP)
3. #181 Joe Borowski/Bobby Jenks/J.J. Putz (League Leaders)
4. #296 Paul Konerko
5. #201 Matt Capps
6. #319 Joey Votto (Rookie Card)
7. Mickey Mantle Story #MMS52 Mickey Mantle
8. Trading Card History #TCH7 Mickey Mantle
9. #318 Ned Yost (Manager)
10. #138 Dan Wheeler

PACK 4

1. #10 Miguel Cabrera
2. #304 Jose Vidro
3. #7 Mickey Mantle
4. #30 Jimmy Rollins
5. #89 Josh Willingham
6. Highlights Relics #HR-DO David Ortiz (Bat Relic)
7. Gold Foil #150 Alfonso Soriano
8. #237 Eric Wedge (Manager)

PACK 5

1. #225 Hunter Pence (Topps All-Star Rookie)
2. #77 Angel Guzman
3. #261 Josh Barfield
4. #294 Brian McCann
5. #186 Lastings Milledge
6. #255 Brandon Phillips
7. Mickey Mantle Story #MMS53 Mickey Mantle
8. Trading Card History #TCH10 Joe Mauer
9. #267 Chris Burke
10. #55 Chris Young

Domonic Brown had a breakout season in the minor leagues this past season:

Chad Qualls had a rough 2010 season coming back from knee surgery:

Mickey Mantle died in 1995.  Teammate Yogi Berra is still around and is 85 years old:

Ozzie Smith won 13 Gold Gloves:

And here’s my “Manufactured Bat Barrel”… pretty nice to see in person, though I don’t care for manufactured “relics”.  It’s the thickest card I’ve ever seen – it’s 5mm thick:

2010 Topps Update Series:

1. #US-135 Starlin Castro (Rookie Debut)
2. #US-137 Austin Kearns
3. #US-22 Ty Wigginton (All-Star)
4. #US-208 Jeff Keppinger
5. #US-217 Yorvit Torrealba
6. #US-286 Arthur Rhodes
7. #US-43 Brennan Boesch (Rookie Debut)
8. #US-29 Livan Hernandez
9. #US-318 Domonic Brown (Rookie Card)
10. #US-278 Brad Penny
11. #US-129 Gregor Blanco
12. #US-288 Jonny Venters (Rookie Card)
13. #US-246 LaTroy Hawkins
14. #US-239 Gabe Gross
15. #US-293 Pat Burrell
16. #US-253 Mike Minor (Rookie Card)
17. #US-292 Kelly Shoppach
18. #US-272 Brian Stokes
19. #US-235 Jose Tabata (Rookie Card)
20. Gold #US-112 Chad Qualls (Serial#0582/2010)
21. Attax Code Card #JH Jason Heyward
22. Million Card Giveaway #TMC-23 Bob Gibson
23. The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT122 Yogi Berra/Mickey Mantle
24. More Tales of the Game #MTOG-12 There’s No Tying in Baseball
25. Turkey Red #TR139 Johnny Mize
26. Vintage Legends #VLC-28 Ozzie Smith
27. Legendary Lineage #LL-72 Larry Walker/Justin Morneau
28. Manufactured Bat Barrel Relic #MBB-27 Paul Konerko (Serial#21/99) (Manufactured Bat Barrel Relic)
29. #US-265 Ryan Howard (All-Star)
30. #US-326 Miguel Cabrera (Home Run Derby)
31. #US-274 Stephen Strasburg/Ivan Rodriguez (Merry Stras-Mas) (Checklist)
32. #US-45 David Price (All-Star)
33. #US-124 Chris Young (All-Star)
34. #US-243 Michael Bourn (All-Star)
35. #US-303 Brandon Phillips (All-Star)
36. #US-105 Chone Figgins
37. #US-84 Melvin Mora
38. #US-206 Garret Anderson
39. #US-182 Randy Wolf
40. #US-1 Vladimir Guerrero
41. #US-144 Eric Patterson
42. #US-327 Mike Stanton (Rookie Debut)

And finally, my wild card:

1978 Topps #451 Minnesota Twins (Team Card)

We should see a 31-year-old Rod Carew in his prime in this photo.  In 1977, Rod Carew led the league in Runs, Hits, Batting Average, and Triples… then went on to win the AL MVP Award.

Mickey Mantle hit home run number 240 on August 12, 1958 off of Ken Lehman of the Baltimore Orioles in Yankee Stadium.

2007 Topps Series 1:

1. #294 Mike Rabelo (Rookie Card)
2. #309 Mark Teixeira (Gold Glove)
3. #238 Philadelphia Phillies (Team Card)
4. #39 Jim Edmonds
5. #312 Carlos Beltran (Gold Glove)
6. Mantle Home Run History #MHR240 Mickey Mantle
7. Red Back #210 Kazuo Matsui
8. Red Back #263 Kevin Kouzmanoff (Rookie Card)
9. #19 Alfredo Amezaga
10. #270 Alfonso Soriano

Here’s five hobby packs of 2007 Topps Updates & Highlights:

PACK 1

1. #UH141 Cameron Maybin (Rookie Card)
2. #UH192 Terry Evans (Rookie Card)
3. #UH117 Jeremy Accardo
4. #UH320 Troy Percival
5. #UH51 Zack Greinke
6. Red Back #UH307 Kyle Davies
7. Red Back #UH183 Travis Metcalf (Rookie Card)
8. Barry Bonds Home Run History #738 Barry Bonds
9. #UH280 Carl Crawford/Carlos Guillen (Classic Combo)
10. #UH245 Takashi Saito (All-Star)

PACK 2

1. #UH3 Jason Marquis
2. #UH199 Yoel Hernandez (Rookie Card)
3. #UH169 Micah Owings (Rookie Card)
4. #UH62 Mike Fontenot
5. #UH63 Cesar Izturis
6. Red Back #UH233 J.J. Putz (All-Star)
7. Red Back #UH179 Jesus Flores (Rookie Card)
8. Mantle Home Run History #MHR470 Mickey Mantle
9. #UH275 Mike Fontenot/Khalil Greene (Classic Combo)
10. #UH226 Jose Reyes (All-Star)

PACK 3

1. #UH109 Jason Wood
2. #UH301 Bob Howry
3. #UH307 Kyle Davies
4. #UH103 Antonio Alfonseca
5. #UH156 Matt DeSalvo (Rookie Card)
6. Red Back #UH194 Guillermo Rodriguez (Rookie Card)
7. Red Back #UH253 Derrek Lee (All-Star)
8. Gold #UH135 Jose Molina (Serial#0767/2007)
9. #UH162 Phil Hughes (Rookie Card)
10. #UH218 Derek Jeter (All-Star)

PACK 4

1. #UH69 Claudio Vargas
2. #UH94 Al Reyes
3. #UH82 Rafael Betancourt
4. #UH52 Armando Benitez
5. #UH28 Olmedo Saenz
6. #UH207 Prince Fielder (Season Highlights)
7. Red Back #UH260 Matt Holliday (All-Star)
8. Red Back #UH43 Ubaldo Jimenez (Rookie Card)
9. #UH211 Randy Johnson (Season Highlights)
10. #UH221 Magglio Ordonez (All-Star)

PACK 5

1. #UH56 Jamie Burke
2. #UH186 Kyle Kendrick (Rookie Card)
3. #UH174 Curtis Thigpen (Rookie Card)
4. #UH27 Yusmeiro Petit
5. #UH32 Russ Ortiz
6. Red Back #UH22 Jeff Salazar
7. Red Back #UH266 Justin Morneau (All-Star)
8. Mickey Mantle Story #MMS32 Mickey Mantle
9. #UH271 Dan Haren (All-Star)
10. #UH232 Jonathan Papelbon (All-Star)

“September 20, 1953 – Mickey’s 21st and final home run of the regular season, fittingly enough, topped 500 feet at Fenway Park.  It was a tape-measure year for Mantle.  The Yankees already had clinched the American League pennant, but the first-inning blast helped New York to a 10-8 victory.  It marked the second straight season Mantle topped the 20-homer plateau, a feat he would accomplish 14 times in his career.”

For some perspective, the player with the least career home runs to top the 20-homer mark at least 14 times in his career is Chipper Jones.  Chipper has 436 career home runs.

2007 Topps Series 2:

1. #553 Ramon Martinez
2. #347 Chicago Cubs (Team Card)
3. #614 Bob Geren (Manager)
4. #491 David Eckstein
5. Mickey Mantle Story #MMS26 Mickey Mantle
6. Generation Now #GN237 Ryan Zimmerman
7. Red Back #587 Brian Bannister
8. Red Back #653 Sean Casey/Placido Polanco (Classic Combos)
9. #465 Jhonny Peralta
10. #420 Jeff Weaver

1996 Topps Series 2:

1. #318 Greg Maddux
2. #302 Dave Nilsson
3. #368 Dennis Eckersley
4. Mickey Mantle Sweepstakes Entry Card
5. #227 Ivan Rodriguez (Star Power)
6. #241 Garrett Long (Draft Pick) (Rookie Card)
7. #282 Jeff Cirillo
8. Wrecking Crew #WC3 Barry Bonds
9. #410 Glenn Dishman
10. #231 Jose Mesa (Star Power)
11. #385 Heathcliff Slocumb
12. #309 Moises Alou

Pretty neat pack here.  The Barry Bonds Wrecking Crew card is one of the most valuable cards in 1996 Topps packs.

“Few pitchers can pitch in a hitter’s “kitchen” with any consistency.  And Barry Bonds will turn anything that’s in his attic, basement or living room into a souvenir.  Once he reigned-in a penchant for impatience, Bonds evolved into a three-time MVP, a slugger who also hits for average and commands high walk totals.  His ability to recognize pitching patterns only adds to pitchers’ problems.”

Barry Bonds is scheduled to go to trial for perjury in the BALCO scandal next March.

Then I also found this:

The Mickey Mantle Sweepstakes Entry Card is also pretty neat.  They came only one in every three hobby boxes.  In 1996, Topps gave away 19 original Mickey Mantle cards, one from each year.  They randomly inserted 2,500 Sweepstakes Entry cards in packs for each Mantle card they were giving away.  If you got one, you could fill it out and send it in to enter the drawing for the card that was pictured on the Sweepstakes Entry card (I got the entry card for the 1964 Topps Mantle).  Entry cards had to be mailed in no later than October 15, 1996, so I’m a little too late to mail mine in.  It’s sort of like an early version of the Topps Million Card Giveaway if you think about it.