Mantle, Williams and DiMaggio: Authenticating Baseball Forger Favorites

[Larry Rosenbaum]

 It is unquestionable that Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio have been American sports icons since the mid-20th century. It comes as no surprise that these three have been favorites of autograph collectors since the advent of autograph and card shows in the 1980’s. Unfortunately it is equally unsurprising, as attested to in the FBI’s famous 1990s Operation Bullpen, that they are also the three most forged sports autographs. Although most experts believe the forgery problem in sports memorabilia has lessoned tremendously since Operation Bullpen (estimated at that time to be “between $500,000,000 and $900,000,000” by the FBI), sadly large numbers of forged material still exist.

While it would require far more than a single article to educate the autograph collector to detect Mantle, Williams and DiMaggio forgeries, there are some general as well as specific warning keys to these three autographs that may aid in detecting possible forgeries.

Genuine Mantle, Williams & DiMaggio signed photo provided by EAC Gallery.
Click to enlarge:

 

As a general rule, one of the first things I examine in an autograph is its feel – how it was written. When an individual signs his name there should be an easy, smooth flow to the signature. We’ve all signed our names countless times, and we don’t need to think about it. An item we offered in one of our past auctions was a sheet of paper signed several times by Joe Jackson. Jackson, who was almost completely illiterate, actually had to practice, in essence work at, writing his name prior to signing documents. Likewise, when a forger writes a signature, he or she is working at it and therefore upon close examination it’s often possible to detect such warning keys as a slowness of motion, stops and starts at inappropriate spots, and possibly even a shakiness in the writing. An invaluable aid to help detect these keys, taught to me by John Reznikoff of University Archives many years ago, is to turn the autograph upside down. When you view an autograph in an unnatural position these warning keys are often easier to detect.

In addition to such general warning keys there are specific warning keys, unique to an individual’s autograph, to keep an eye out for.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s Mickey Mantle stated on numerous occasions that he was blessed to be able to earn more money signing his name at one single weekend show than his father had earned in an entire year working as a coal miner. Because of this Mantle always felt his fans were deserving of a clear, elegant signature. In authentic Mickey Mantle autographs Mickey would always end the “y” in “Mickey” on an upswing, and because he would be quickly flowing through his signature, he therefore started the “M” in “Mantle” on a higher level or plane than he had started the “M” in “Mickey”. Most forgers, because they were “working” on writing Mantle’s signature, would pause after completing “Mickey” and begin anew in writing “Mantle”, therefore placing “Mantle” on more of a straight line with “Mickey”. If one places a ruler or sheet of paper straight across the item Mantle signed (not straight across the signature) all that appears below the ruler or paper of an authentic Mantle is the bottom portion of the “M” in “Mickey”. In the case of most forgeries the ruler or paper completely covers the entire signature. Another difficulty forgers have with Mantle’s signature was his unique way of looping the bottom portion of his “M”. Such curved lines were executed in one easy movement by Mantle, but are most often elongated by forgers who again are “working” the signature. Such slow, elongated forgeries are especially easy to recognize on baseballs as their curved surfaces only add to the forger’s difficulty.

In the case of Ted Williams autographs, with the exception of the capital “W” in Williams, Ted would consistently make the size of all the letters in his last time nearly the same exact size. Most telling is the “illia”, with the “l”s just ever so slightly taller than the “i”s, and the “a” as tall as the “l”s. Try as they may, most forgers simply can’t undo years of training and habit causing their “l”s to be significantly taller than their “i”s, and their “a” significantly shorter than their “l”s. Williams also connected the “W” in “Williams” to the “ed” in “Ted” with a swirl that gave forgers difficulty in replicating in the same, easy, flowing movement as appears in authentic examples. Also of interest, in addition to the many Williams intentional forgeries in existence, Williams revealed late in his life that during his playing days his signature on team signed balls was often a “clubhouse” example, not penned by him.

Regarding Joe DiMaggio’s autograph, problems for forgers begin with the first letter in Joe. Like the “M”s in Mantle’s autograph, the “J” in “Joe”, which appears as two loops, a larger loop on top and a smaller one below, were created by curved lines which are the hardest to duplicate without leaving telltale signs of slowness or inappropriate stops and starts. In addition, DiMaggio would pen his “J”s so that the lower loop would be written on top of (literally written over) the upper loop in two places. For some inexplicable reason, a significant percentage of DiMaggio forgeries flow in the opposite direction, with the upper loop covering the lower one. An inexpensive magnifier or jeweler’s loop will aid in viewing this detail. Finally, the general feel of an authentic DiMaggio autograph is often somewhat sloppy, in the sense that the spacing between letters is uneven, obviously much more so in his second name. Again due to the fact that forgers are working rather than simply signing, the spacing they place between each letter is far more uniform.

Finally, the age-old adage “experience is the best teacher” is indeed appropriate here. The building of as extensive a library of exemplars as possible, of both authentic and fake examples, would be of help to visualize these and additional warning keys, and tremendously assist in the detection of forgeries.

[Lance]

Yes! I picked it up from a Steiner Auction with JSA LOA for $550... I still can't believe I was so lucky! I plan on adding Mike Schmidt tomorrow at a Steiner store signing in L.I. and then add Eddie Murray this weekend at an MAB 50 years of the Mets signing at Citi Field. Then I'll have all (12) 500 HR HOF'ers. I'm not adding any other 500 HR hitters unless they've been elected to the HOF. When all is done I will have spent $670 for a 12 sig. 500 HR ball that has JSA letter cert. The only thing I'm uncertain about is how much it will cost to add Mike & Eddie to the JSA letter...

I have a question... the 500 ball I have ONLY has Reggie's "565" HR inscription under his name... should I have Mike and Eddie add their HR #? Eddie's inscription is FREE and Mike's will cost me $25. What do you think?

[Steve Cyrkin, Admin]

You hit a grand slam on that home run ball, that's for sure. I'm not a baseball collector, so I'm not the one to ask...but that doesn't mean I won't give you my opinion anyway. :)

I think that the most important thing is maximizing the eye appeal of the ball. If they can add their inscriptions without crowding the ball too much...go for them both. 

[CEE GEE]

Great story Lance....I was going to go to that show tonight at Steiner with Yount and Schmidth but I broke the bank Friday at Steiner with Ripken and Henderson

[Lance]

More crap 500 home run balls...this time I found on LCGSignatures.com

They are selling these 500 HR balls below on amazon.com and sportsmemorabilia.com

http://lcgsignatures.com/Store/index.php?cPath=26_32

http://www.amazon.com/Home-Club-Baseball-Autographed-Ball/dp/B005QP...

http://www.sportsmemorabilia.com/sports-products/500-home-run-club-...

http://www.sportsmemorabilia.com/sports-products/500-home-run-club-...

[Steve Cyrkin, Admin]

That's very disappointing, Lance. They used to advertise with us and I thought Randy Pollock, the manager, was a straight shooter. 

How did the signing go today? 

[Lance]

The Mantle sigs from what I can see (images are tiny) look to be forgeries... the "M's" once again give it away and the certs are of companies I never heard of.

The Mike Schmidt signing went well at the Steiner Store tonight! Nice guy and I was able to talk to him a bit as there wasn't a line.... the new iphone 4GS was the topic of conversation right after we posed for a picture! lol

I just need Eddie Murray to complete the 12 HOF sigs on the 500 ball... only adding more if other 500 HR guys get into the HOF.

[Steve Cyrkin, Admin]

Yeah, everyone wants one of those iPhones. I'm on Android with envy. Did you go for the inscription?

[DB]

Lance, might be waiting along time.  McGwire's election % were dismal and with Bonds & Sosa on this year's ballot it will be telling how the steroid's era has impacted overall.  Seems it's right up there with Pete Rose's betting on baseball.  With Clemens & Schilling also on the ballot, I venture to say Schilling but not Clemens.

maybe you can have them sign it with an "asterisk".

[Lance]

Yet another possible Mantle forgery on a 500 ball on ebay... would you all agree? It looks like the ones I've been posting here last few days. The other sigs on this ball look legit. I'm try to perfect my eye for Mantle fakes. Please let me know how I'm doing.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/500-Home-Run-Baseball-11-Signatures-/260935...

The same seller has a Mantle ball as well...looks fake to me as well. Do you all agree? The "M's" just don't sit well with me. Certificate Of Authenticity form Collectors Alliance Inc. (never heard of them not that it matters anyway).

Photo below by same seller... this one looks real to me.

[CEE GEE]

Hey Lance...once you see a bad Mantle that style on anything the whole entire item is bad ... unfortunately the Bull Pen Boys are the ones that pumped all those bad pieces out in the 90's...those (banana shaped "M") formations are a dead give away to all bad pieces that are in the market literally by the thousands...the 1961 inscribed picture does look authentic to me as well 

[Steve Zarelli]

The balls are no good. I’d like to see a close-up of the 1961 photo before making any judgment. The general shape looks decent, but you can’t see flow. Plus, the placement/angle is a bit unusual.

[DB]

The Bad, the Good, and The Really Ugly from the ebay link 130635061469 below but it does claim to be a bonafide COA;