NEW YORK—A mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million Sunday, blasting into the record books as the most ever paid for sports memorabilia in a market that has grown exponentially more lucrative in recent years.
The rare Mantle card eclipsed the record just posted a few months ago—$9.3 million for the jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the contentious “Hand of God” goal in soccer’s 1986 World Cup.
Argentina’s Diego Maradona (L) beats England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to a high ball and scores his first of two goals in a World Cup quarterfinal in Mexico City on June 22, 1986. (El Grafico, Buenos Aires/AP Photo)
It easily surpassed the $7.25 million for a century-old Honus Wagner baseball card recently sold in a private sale….