40" x 12" shadowbox, framed with Museum Glass

Generally, if you're a sports fan in Maine, you're a Red Sox fan. This is very true at The Framemakers. That being said, we like to tease our customers who bring in Yankees memorabilia -- especially after this 2008 season.

(I'll take this moment to stress that everything that comes through the shop receives top notch care and respect, even if it is the Yankees.)

The customer came in with a signed Mickey Mantle baseball bat, wanting it in a protective shadowbox. We discussed different ideas before coming up with a tentative plan: create an infield backdrop. After sketching out the plan, I pondered about adding something to the top right, since there was a little bit a void. The customer was prepared: he also had a signed baseball we could add to the mix. Thus, another sketch and we were on our way.

The final sketched plan.

Mantle's number had been retired from the Yankees roster, thus placing the "Yankees" and "#7" would have been a giveaway about whose signature was being displayed from a distance to the knowledgeable baseball fan.

We needed a deep frame, and opted to use Framerica's Boxer line so we could pull off the depth needed. We decided on Raphael's fabrics, #1499 Fresh Apple for the background and sides, and #484 Bronze for the mound. For the detailing we used an acid-free conservation white, Rising 402872, matboard.

Mound was lifted off the green field by a piece of 3/16" black foam core.

The baseline and other non-alphanumeric detailing were programmed using Wizard's PathTrace. Once that was laid out and adhered to the background, we brainstormed on how to attach the bat. We added a slightly larger piece of Gatorboard to add stability to the piece. The original idea was either a firm wire, then 1/2" black carved foam core wrapped in fabric, until we decided that wooden stands would be the best. Taking the foam core prototypes to our friends at Ware-Butler, Junior was able to mill the stands out of pine; we sanded, stained, and drilled pilot holes so that we could screw the stands through the board.

Next was attaching the ball. The customer had brought the ball in a square case, but it wasn't a tight fit and we were uncomfortable with attempting to attach it solely by gluing. Another local shop, Aladdin's Trophy, held our answer: spherical cases used for mounting baseballs onto trophies.

There was a space between the "YANKEES" and the ball that seemed a little barren. Bill suggested we find a high-quality Yankees logo; however, by the time he got back from the Farmers' Market, Amy C. had programmed the logo into PathTrace.

Once the logo was affixed, the entire job was assembled. Museum glass was used. Because of its length and weight, we used double-hole mirror hangers and wired it to hang from two hooks for balance.