An Obvious Fake Mickey Mantle Signed Ball
 

This is the worst attempt to sell an obvious fake Mickey Mantle signed ball. And to say "I got this autograph when my father and I attended a Yankees game in New York 20 year ago. He just happened to be there and I got him to sign this baseball I brought" is just ridiculous.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/135708208979

Impressive for Mantle to sign 10 years after he died 🤣

I was so shocked by the obvious fake signature, I overlooked that part.

Thanks, Tony. I just reported it. eBay does investigate and remove these kinds of listings.

Hey Rob! I did report it and they said no issues. Unreal. No way the signature is authentic and seller lied about getting it in person 20 years ago.

Wow. No issues, huh? This is not going to end well for the buyer.

It's gone now. POOF. After looking at the seller's page and history the signature was SO bad that it could have just been a case of someone not knowing anything about autographs and possibly tracing over a real signature thinking it would enhance the value. Or some innocent misguided attempt at selling a baseball. I've traveled all over the country buying autographs and have hundreds of stories just like that one in which the seller believes 100% the autograph is genuine.
One in particular comes to mind. I had an appointment to meet with a gentleman and his daughter in Florida who had an "in-person" signed BABE RUTH baseball that was in pristine condition. Well into his 80's his daughter brought him to see me pushing his wheelchair with him clutching a box that held the baseball. Before handing it to me he told a long and detailed story about when he met "The Babe" exactly when and where and what a thrill it was to shake his hand and eventually get his autograph. The story lasted all of about 30 minutes. When he finally handed me the ball it was indeed pristine but was clearly signed by Babe Ruth's wife. I tried to tell him as delicately as I could that it was signed by Claire. With each sentence he seemed to get angrier even SHOUTING expletives and insisting he watched Babe Ruth sign it. I was waiting for him to jump out of his wheelchair and take a swing at me. While I am reasonably certain he did MEET Babe Ruth and 100% certain he believed it was authentic it simply wasn't. Point being sometimes people not in the hobby and with no knowledge of autographs make innocent mistakes.
_________________
Always BUYING vintage Autographs
jim@stinsonsports.com

The auction ended, because there were no bids.

- I reached out to the seller, letting them know the signature was fake.

- I told him that Mickey Mantle couldn’t have signed his ball 20 years ago, as stated in his auction, because Mickey Mantle passed away 30 years ago.

- Seller replies, “I got it my freshman year in high school, so it was 1992. I just approximated the time period.”

- I replied: “You were off by 10 years. “

- He replied, "I swear. Don't believe me. I don't care. I know what I got. I even have a picture somewhere of him signing it. I'll find it and post it.

- Three days later, he sent me this picture of Mickey Mantle signing his ball (Picture on the left)

- I replied, “That is just a picture of Mickey Mantle signing a ball. Not signing your ball.”

- After a quick internet search, I found the picture he copied, which shows Mickey Mantle signing a ball in 1988. I sent him the picture I found on the internet, and nothing but silence, because he got caught.

When they lie in their auction, and continue to lie thereafter, they are a scammer.

Well, I guess THAT one wasn't an innocent mistake, luckily if he's a forger and a liar he's not very good at either :)
______________________
Always BUYING vintage autographs
jim@stinsonsports.com

Terrible fake to be sure. It looks like the seller didn't even know how to spell Mantle as he was signing the ball. Glad that nobody bought that trash.