You can soon own Mickey Mantle's childhood home for only $7 -- well, at least a part of it. Investment platform Rally will make 47,000 shares available at $7 each starting Oct. 27.
"To us, this is one of the pieces that really trace back to the history of Mickey Mantle, the genesis of his career," said Rob Petrozzo, Rally's co-founder and chief product officer. "Really the genesis of modern baseball, because he was one of the first super stars that was kind of larger than life. This is kind of where it all started."
Petrozzo said it was only fair that everyone gets a chance to own a part of baseball history, and that the low price for each share was about approachability. The home is located off of Route 66 in Commerce, Oklahoma at 319 South Quincy Street. The total offering will be $329,000, and although it doesn't look like much from the outside, the history of the property is priceless.
It is a well-known fact that Mantle's father wanted his son to be a professional baseball player even before he was born, and the home has the physical evidence of the 20-time All-Star learning to play. It is a time capsule with hardly any renovations because of requests by the Yankees legend himself to keep it in its existing condition.
Mantle passed away in 1995, but his wishes have still been heard. The rusty metal barn that he used as a backstop is still standing. It leans a little to the right and still has the baseball markings, but Mantle explained in the 80s that the barn has been leaning since he was a kid.
"A lot of it is untouched, that is a lot of the mystique about it. That's what makes it special," Petrozzo said. "When you go inside the home, it hasn't really been lived in in around 20, 25 years. So much of the furniture, the entire kitchen, the doors, a lot of the windows, the barn, it's been untouched since the equivalent of about 80 years when Mantle lived there. I think that's the biggest thing you notice when you walk inside. It really is a time capsule, but it's one that has withstood the test of time."
Commerce is a small community of around 2,500 people, with many of the streets and fields bearing the Mantle name. There are people in the area who still have a strong connection with Mantle, including family members. Since the house is such a big part of the community, Rally decided to distribute ownership shares to the residents of Commerce.
"We want to make sure everybody in Commerce has a chance to get their share, to own equity in this home. It really is the most famous home, the most important home in town," Petrozzo said. "We want to make sure they know that we are maintaining this piece of history in the middle of their town... We want to be as additive as we possibly can, not just to this home but to the community as well."
Those who own a piece will get to make proposals and vote on the future of the house -- whether it becomes a museum, a national landmark, or even if a baseball diamond gets added to the backyard so it can be used by local little leagues. The profits earned will be returned to investors as quarterly dividends.
"We want to make sure everybody gets a chance to see it," Petrozzo said. "Everybody who loves Mantle, everybody who follows baseball, who cares about collectibles, has an opportunity to come here to see the space and really appreciate it."
