DiMaggio vs Mantle at card shows

[Lordstan]

I have no idea what he is talking about. I was a dealer from 1978 to around 1992. I saw both of them 5-10 x per year during that time frame.

Dimaggio COULD be very nice, if he was in a good mood, but that was very sporadic. 2 stories exemplify how he could be. 1) At a show at the Ft Washington Motor Lodge(done recall the exact name) in 1982, I was a 16yr old who had 107 items to get signed. Most were for resale, but many were for pc. The promoter, Frank Garo, closed the door to the room while he signed my items. He chatted with me very cordially, as I asked him about Lou Gehrig. I left that room thinking he was the nicest guy. 2) At one Ed Keetz show, probably 1986ish, in Albany, Dimaggio actually wouldn't sign any more for me until I brought my collection binder up to his table and proved to him that I collect HOF yearbooks and would get the covers signed by HOFers. Below are photos of two of the items he stopped signing until I showed him the binder with the rest of them
Mantle, otoh, was fairly chatty, even when drunk. Now he wasn't always in a great mood, but more often than not, he would look at you and smile and chat a couple seconds. Also, he never signed a bad graph that I saw. He could be falling down drunk and still always chose the best spot to sign and his sig was always perfect.

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[Jay Wolt]

In the late '80's I went to a card show in Atlantic City
& got auto's from Joe Dimaggio & Ted Williams, both were great & chatted w/ me.
Saw Mickey at a show in NYC & he seemed that he wanted to be elsewhere.

[milkit1]

That was the exact opposite in all my experiences. Dimaggio was very quiet and may look up at you but that was about it. Mantle was very pleasant and would sign whatever you wanted. I do remember that when I first got him around 1988, his price was slightly higher than everyone else (but still super low). I remember getting a book that shows his farthest home run picture and he even said he should add the HR distance

[BearBailey]

That is how my experiences were with them, Joe D was pleasant, Mickey was rude, I just remember thinking I had to mow 2 lawns to get this jerks auto.
Everyone has bad days, but when you have great experiences it made me like those players much better. Brooks Robinson was the nicest most genuine athlete I have ever met, sadly I will always remember Mantle as a jerk. I have heard several bad stories about Willie Mays, but my 2 experiences with him were Great, so personal experience trumps all and you will probably hear lots in between.

[mr2686]

I found Dimaggio to be a bit quiet but nice. Mickey was always nice and I still have a smile on my face from when I shook his hand. Mays, well, I had to get his auto 3 separate times and it pretty much ruined my collecting of him.

[ocjack]

I also set up at shows during the 80's where the two were appearing, alone and together. When they would announce time for a DiMaggio signing, they would announce all the items that Joe would not sign and warned that he would immediately end the signing if someone approached him with one of the "forbidden" items. Once you got to him though, he was, let's call it "all business - light". He did get "grumpier" as the years progressed and he realized people were making money by reselling his autographs. That's when he started limiting signed baseballs (tickets for which that some promoters handed out to their "friends" via a dubious lottery).

I think DiMaggio's attitude was best epitomized by the story of him being upset with the Simon and Garfunkle song that included the line "where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?" As told by Paul Simon, "“I happened to be in a restaurant and there he was,” recalls Simon. “I gathered up my nerve to go over and introduce myself and say, ‘Hi, I’m the guy that wrote “Mrs. Robinson,” ’ and he said ‘Yeah, sit down . . . why’d you say that? I’m here, everyone knows I’m here.’ I said, ‘I don’t mean it that way — I mean, where are these great heroes now?’ He was flattered once he understood that it was meant to be flattering.”

Mantle was always gracious. But sadly, the question going around the room when he initially took his seat was, "had he had a drink yet?" He was actually in a better mood if he had. But as said above, his signature was always impeccable and he would shake your hand and be gracious. (see photo attached.)

Confession, my hand shook like a little boy's when I handed either of them something to sign. A grown man, nervous about meeting an icon. But that's what they were to so many of us.

[Polarboy]

Wish I could've been around in this era. Mantle was my favorite growing up. Only HOF I've met is Roy Halladay when I was a kid.