Fans can buy childhood home of Yankees’ Mantle for just $7
Long before he was switch-hitting for the
New York Yankees, a young Mickey Mantle was taking swings against his right-handed father and his left-handed grandfather in front of a shed next to his family’s humble 670-square-foot house in tiny Commerce, Oklahoma. More often than not, the young slugger would knock the pitches clear over the house’s roof. Sometimes he’d smack line drives into the side of the rusted shed, where visible dings in the walls remain to this day.
Recently, fans of the “Commerce Comet,” arguably the most beloved Yankee of all time, were given the opportunity to own a piece of Mantle’s childhood home for just a few dollars — $7 to be precise.
Rally, a collectibles company that offers buyers fractional ownership in everything from sports cars to classic comic books, is getting into the real estate game. The company purchased the two-bedroom house, which sits at 319 S. Quincy St. in Commerce, for $175,000 in 2022. It replaced the roof and expanded the porch. Inside, thanks to careful preservation from previous owners, the home resembles a time capsule from the blue-collar 1930s, with a washboard in the kitchen and sagging red sofas.
The sale comprises 47,000 ownership shares for $7 apiece (valuing the house at $329,000). The amount is both a nod to Mantle’s iconic No. 7 jersey and to the number of times he led the Yankees to the World Series championship.
Mantle is the greatest claim to fame for Commerce, a sleepy former mining town along Route 66 with fewer than 3,000 residents. The city’s average home price is just shy of $60,000, according to Zillow.
About 2,200 of the 47,000 total shares have been set aside for residents of Commerce, who will receive them as gifts from the company. Shareholders will later be able to vote on what to do with the property.
Rally said in a news release that potential future uses of the home include turning it into a museum or national landmark, or adding a baseball diamond to the yard for Little League players in Commerce. Should these future plans for the home produce profits, shareholders will receive quarterly dividends.