Usps Hits Home Run With Unveiling Of Baseball Sluggers Stamps

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.usps.com/communications/n...6/sr06_016.htm

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE HITS HOME RUN WITH UNVEILING OF BASEBALL SLUGGERS STAMPS


NEW YORK, NY? Baseball Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle, Roy Campanella, Hank Greenberg and Mel Ott are on deck to be immortalized on the 39-cent "Baseball Sluggers" postage stamps. The stamp images were unveiled today at Mickey Mantle?s restaurant in New York City and are set to be issued on July 15 at Yankee Stadium before the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox game.

?Baseball has been part of the American heartbeat for more than a century,? said John E. Potter, Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer for the U.S. Postal Service, who unveiled the stamp. ?Sometimes something very special happens, the crack is louder, the crowd roars harder and the ball defies gravity, these stamps will do this on letters.?

Mickey Mantle was a famous switch-hitter whose powerful home runs were matched by his impressive speed as a runner and outfielder. Synonymous with the New York Yankees for nearly two decades, Mantle was enormously popular with baseball fans and is still considered one of the greatest players ever to take the field.

Joining Potter at the ceremony was Marty Appel, former Public Relations Director of the New York Yankees.

"This is a great honor for these four important figures from New York baseball history - three players who spent their Major League careers here, and the fourth, Greenberg, who honed his skills at James Monroe High School in the Bronx,? said Appel. ?As magnificent an achievement as the Baseball Hall of Fame is -- it is a far smaller group of players to have appeared on a U.S. postage stamp. I think each of these revered players would have been awed by this accomplishment.?

Roy Campanella who was Major League baseball's first black catcher, played with the Brooklyn Dodgers. As a talented all-around player, he hit 242 home runs during his ten-year Major League career. A catcher in five World Series, he was named Most Valuable Player three times.

Hank Greenberg is remembered as baseball's first Jewish superstar and one of the all-time greatest right-handed batters. Twice named MVP, he had a career batting average of .313 and 1,276 RBIs and was selected to four consecutive All-Star teams from 1937 to 1940.

Mel Ott is remembered for his easygoing demeanor and his unusual but powerful high-leg-kick batting stance. Ott distinguished himself with the New York Giants for 22 seasons and was the first National League player to hit 500 home runs. He led the league in home runs six times.

Artist Lonnie Busch of Franklin, North Carolina based his designs on historic photographs, simplifying and adapting the portraits to resemble old-fashioned baseball trading cards. He also created the stamp art for Greetings from America (2002), 2004 Olympic Games * Athens, Greece (2004) and Wonders of America: Land of Superlatives (2006).

Current U.S. stamps, as well as a free comprehensive catalog, are available by toll-free phone order at 1-800-STAMP-24. A wide selection of stamps and other philatelic items is also available at the Postal Store at www.usps.com/shop. Beautifully framed prints of original stamp art for delivery straight to the home or office are available at www.postalartgallery.com.


Since 1775, the Postal Service and its predecessor, the Post Office Department, has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits 144 million homes and businesses every day, six days a week and is the only service provider delivering to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of more than $69 billion, it is the world's leading provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The Postal Service delivers more than half of the world's mail volume ? some 212 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year ? and serves seven and a half million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide. Its website, usps.com, attracts more than 21 million visitors each month.

[Robert Ryan]

GOING TO PO TODAY PICKUP SOME PURPLE HEART STAMPS, AND BASEBALL STAMPS.