(LOT 10)
1958 Topps #5 Willie Mays PSA 9 MINT – POP 5; Highest Graded PSA Example!
SAY HEY KID MARVEL!!! One of the Say Hey Kid's toughest issues to find in a 9 MINT grade is his 1958 Topps #5 subject, with PSA only listing five such examples! Indeed, a microscopic 0.1% of the 4,600+ encapsulated examples have been fortunate enough to merit the respected 9 assessment, with not a single copy achieving a 10 GEM MINT grade. This is why we at Memory Lane are excited to present one of those ultra-elusive PSA 9 specimens, with its rarity and desirability substantiated by this exact PSA 9 offering fetching a staggering $115K in a 2022 Memory Lane auction! All Willie Mays did in 1958 was post his highest single-season average ever via Willie's only 200-hit season (208) of his extraordinary career, leading to a sensational .357 mark.

Willie's incomparable playing feats placed him right alongside the immortal Mickey Mantle and Dodger great Duke Snider as one of baseball's three foremost center fielders. Topps would also release one of the hobby's favorite Mays cards in 1958, with the brilliant portrait image revealing a million-dollar smile from the iconic center fielder. The incomparable legacy of Willie Mays extends far beyond his incomparable numbers. True, the immortal New York Giants player accumulated a staggering 660 home runs, 1,903 runs batted in, and 3,283 hits to the tune of a .302 lifetime batting average. While those figures alone would secure anyone's eternal place as one of our National Pastime's greatest players, Mays' stature stems from his unparalleled ability to play every facet of the game as well or better than any of his peers.

He could hit, throw, run and field arguably better than any player who ever graced a baseball diamond, and his absolutely spectacular over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series in the deepest confines of the Polo Grounds will echo for eternity. Any discussion of baseball's finest player ever includes the Say Hey Kid, and it comes as little surprise that he was just voted as the second finest all-time player on ESPN's Top 100 list, only bested by the incomparable Babe Ruth. Regarding this offering's breathtaking eye-appeal, the classic portrait pose is relatively well-centered, with only a modest favoritism towards the upper right edges. The four absolutely blinding white borders and robust baby-blue background emanate flawless aesthetics, with only a microscopic factory-issued white print mark situated where the blue setting meets the central left border.

Blistering sharp corner tips highlight a fine perimeter, and no glaring surface flaws are evident on either side. Vivid print registration and a super clean verso complete this 65-year-old marvel that, like Mays' supreme excellence on a ballfield, resides as the best of the best. Synonymous with Willie's incomparable diamond feats is this pinnacle PSA 9 gem that has outdistanced virtually all of its inferior peers via its abundance of miraculous pack-fresh attributes. Advanced hobbyists surely realize the bona fide rarity of a 9 MINT specimen, with this premier example somehow managing to defy time. Indeed, its PSA 9 finest of its kind assessment is equally significant to the Say Hey Kid's stature as our National Pastime's finest five-tool player who ever graced a baseball diamond!

MIN BID $30,000

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