The Mickey Mantle Baseball bat pen, and The Mick’s own handwriting.

In honor of opening day for the 2009 baseball season, I’ve decided to stretch a bit and write about a pen and some baseball related things.  This might be my first review where I am writing about a pen that I own, but have never actually used and never really intend to use.  I am almost certain that I dont need to write with it to know that I wont like how it writes, I mean its a pretty cheap looking ballpoint tip, so I cant imagine it writes all that well.  This is one of the few pens that I own where it doesnt matter how it writes, its just cool and I like it, so thats why Im writing about it.

Unfortunately the ball in the picture above is a little bit yellowed from not being stored properly, but I dont ever intend on selling it, its mine and I want to keep it that way.  Just a side note though, for anyone who does have an autographed item that they would like to keep so it does not fade or yellow, I highly reccommend one of the UV protected displays like these that will keep your baseball and/or autographs from fading or yellowing, and they look pretty nice too.  They come in multiple versions to display more than just one, and they also sell larger ones to hold other items.

For those of you that dont like baseball, or beer, dont worry, if you read through to the end of the post you will find that there is a contest burried in here for you to win a pen and notebook.

Close up of the Mickey Mantle Pen sitting atop Yankee Stadium (the old one)

I dont know how long I’ve had this pen, but it was my dad’s and growing up he was a huge Mickey Mantle fan, however he never used the pen either.   It holds nearly no collectible value, so if you really want one you can find them on eBay fairly cheap and I am sure it would make a great gift for any Yankee fan that you know.  If you want a much more fancy Mickey Mantle Pen you could always get one of those, hopefully someone will feel compelled to give me a free one to review.

The Mickey Mantel Pen and Woody

I know that I said the pen probably doesnt write so well but Ive never used it, however I have held it as if I were going to write and it is surprisingly comfortable to hold.  Im not sure though if it would get tiresome because the top is a bit top heavy, I’m not sure how much Id have to choke up on it to not have that happen.  This picture also makes me contemplate how close my hand model Woody ever came to being a baseball bat instead of a hand…or a bat pen.

The Mickey Mantle bat pen posing with my favorite beer which is brewed in Cooperstown, NY.

The above picture shows the Mickey Mantle bat pen posing with my favorite beer that I always make sure I have on hand for opening day of baseball season.  This year I have two bottles on hand, one for Sunday night baseball, the official opening of baseball season, and one bottle for Monday, which is the official opening of the season for the Yankees.  The beer is made by the Ommegang Brewery in Cooperstown, NY and is called Three Philosophers.  It is a Belgian style beer and has a hint of cherry to it, but it is not an overpowering cherry flavor by any means.  Dont take my word for how good this beer is though, the folks over at The Beer Advocate have rated it and with close to 1,000 reviews it has an “A-” rating.  Anyway, I wouldnt care if it tasted like my least favorite beer, Old Thumper because as I said before this beer is brewed in Cooperstown, NY which is also where you would find what else, but the Baseball Hall of Fame.  I’ve only been to the the Hall of Fame twice, and unfortunately I never visited the brewery, so Im going to have to make plans to go up there again soon.  But yeah, so opening day of baseball, the Mickey Mantle pen, and beer brewed in Cooperstown…whats not to like?  I will be enjoying this beer shortly (Im writing this at 6PM Sunday) as I get to watch the first 2009 Sunday Night baseball, where I will have to suffer through Joe Morgan and Jon Miller, but hey, I get to watch baseball and drink my favorite beer, so Im not going to complain.

Ok, so on to the giveaway for this post.  I’ve got two photos below but there will only be one winner.  The deal is that you need to correctly guess the names of both autographs as described in the captions of the corresponding photos.  The prizes will be a black Sharpie Retractable and one of the previously reviewed Moleskine Volant Mini Notebooks.  You have to get BOTH names correct, and be the first one to do so.  Post your guesses in the comments for this review, and I will do my best to keep up with any responses.  Here are the photos, check the captions for which signature you are guessing on:

Contest will end at 11:59 PM Eastern on Wed. the 8th, just like my other contest that is still open if you have not entered yet.

Autograph #1:

The autograph right in the center, the first letter of the person’s name goes through the seams of the ball.

Autograph #2:

The top autograph in the thicker blue pen.

©2015, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.