Presented is a very clever piece of Murray Olderman original artwork, "Stepping Stones," that depicts Mickey Mantle taking steps that bring him closer to a Babe Ruth home run record. Olderman was a columnist and cartoonist for over six decades, and for 35 years he was syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association to 650 daily newspapers. In the offered cartoon, the "steps" are in the shape of home plates, on which Mantle would have to step after each four-bagger. It is unclear whether the Ruth home run record refers to the Bambino's then-lifetime mark of 714 blasts, or the former single-season Ruth record of 60, set in 1927 and challenged by both Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961. Maris did break Ruth's single-season mark in 1961, when the Yankee right fielder knocked out 61 round-trippers, and Mantle fell short, with 54 home runs, as he missed games because of a hip abscess. The 11x20" offering has Olderman's signature in black on the bottom right. On the front are editing marks in pencil by an unknown hand which read, "2 col. sports" and "UG 2" (?), and in pen, "82 693." The artwork is not dated, but it is probably from the late 1950s-early 1960s. After the 1961 season, the 29-year-old Mantle had 374 home runs, but as leg injuries and advancing age began to take a toll, Mantle, who had been on a pace to challenge Ruth's record, began to lose ground to the Bambino, as Mickey hit "only" 162 home runs from 1962-68, his final year as a player. Mantle wound up with 536 home runs, still the MLB record for a switch-hitter. Olderman was inducted into the Sportscasters' and Sportswriters' Hall of Fame, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the Writers Wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The cartoon exhibits some slight darkening because of the passage of time. Overall, the offering is in excellent condition.