Company offering collectors 'shares' of Mickey Mantle's childhood home

Ever wanted to own the place where it all began for a baseball legend? Now's your chance, as a company is giving fans the opportunity to get into a unique real estate market.

Rally, a sports memorabilia firm, is facilitating partial stakes in the childhood home of Hall of Fame outfielder Mickey Mantle. According to Sportico's Brendan Coffey, this may be the first instance of "fractional real estate" being made available to memorabilia collectors.

In a chat with company co-founder Rob Petrazzo, Coffey outlined the story of Mantle's humble abode:

"The Mantle family moved into the house in the mid-1930s, when Mickey was 4, and it’s the place where the Hall of Famer learned to switch hit, taking pitches from his father and grandfather. Part of Mantle’s training including being awarded base hits depending on what part of the house he hit—first floor of the home was a single, second floor a double and over the house was a home run. Mantle was discovered by the Yankees during high school in Commerce, and he made the big leagues in 1951 at the age of 19. 'We wanted to do something that could be considered collectible as well as a real estate [investment],' Petrozzo said. 'Mantle is one of the most collectible names in all of sports. … We have real estate, a great home, a great area and this legend attached to it.'”

It certainly has not occurred to many people that not only would such a home be available for public consumption but, as reported, that it would still maintain the same ambiance of Mantle's youth. Rally said that the shares it plans to make available are unbelievably economical – 47,000 shares at $7 apiece - and that the residents who reside in Commerce will also be gifted stock in the home.

As this is the first instance of such a deal, it's uncertain how viable the concept would be for other famed properties among sports aficionados. In some cases, there could be challenges with compensating both the sports figure behind their childhood homes as well as the current owners of such properties, if the homes still exist.

Undoubtedly, Mickey Mantle memorabilia is some of the most soughtafter in the industry, and the same can be said for many of the icons of the New York Yankees of yesteryear. Ideally collectors would go by legal means, but there are certainly some who will go through illegal ones as well. In mid-June, several people were arrested in connection with a burglary ring where items used by Yogi Berra and Roger Maris were stolen. A Mantle baseball card worth upwards of $15,000 was stolen in March of this year as well.