We are an eBay affiliate and may be compensated for clicks on links that result in purchases.

Mantle, Williams and DiMaggio: Authenticating Baseball Forger Favorites

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.

Tags: authenticate, baseball, dimaggio, fame, forgeries, forgers, genuine, hall, hof, joe, More…mantle, mickey, of, ted, williams

9 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Wilson on June 26, 2012 at 11:59am

Thank you Chris and Mr. Cyrkin. That is a fair resolution. I appreciate it and thank you for convincing me to get another opinion on the ball I was so certain of this morning. I will have it re-evaluated and share the results as promised. If it is a fake I know my cousin. He's a good man too. He will undo the trade and likely shoot the ball.

Thank you again.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by DB on September 26, 2012 at 6:51am

what is surprising is all this appreciated and two days later an alleged post shows up on complaint board; referencing your alias here Steve Wilson and with whats alleged as your real name; http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/autograph-magazine-and-au...

while one can empathize with some of this the part on "I have a certificate of authenticity from a sports memorabilia dealer with questionable history but that does not automatically condemn my signed baseball. This is irresponsible on their part" deserves no empathy.

I'm not sure what is more irresponsibile thinking BJ's COA on this item is ok, or making accusations thereafter.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Fuddjcal on June 26, 2012 at 12:24pm

Now that's a great solution for THAT ball, from an obviously good e-bay seller.

KILL THE BALL...SHOOT THE STUFFINGS OUT OF IT FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Wymer on June 27, 2012 at 5:59am

How about this ebay gem. In the comments guy admits that it failed JSA and is still selling it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400306372600

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Travis Christenberry on June 27, 2012 at 6:07am

Look at the questions this idiot is asking him. The guy wants to buy it for $20, send it to PSA, and if it fails PSA he want his money back. What a jackass.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Wymer on June 27, 2012 at 6:16am

Hey, he cannot afford to risk the other $15.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by DB on June 27, 2012 at 6:29am

but the added Q&A gets better and better;

Q:	I still very confused about your description. I just need to know is the ball really signed by MM? Haha I know you put a pic of the COA but I'm still very confused ! Please help haha thank you very much :)	Jun-26-12
A:	I am sorry if you are confused by my description. I indicated that it was looked at by James Spence who apparently is the leading authority on autographs and he indicated that is was NOT GOOD. That means he doesn't believe Mickey Mantle actually signed this baseball. That is his opinion and he should know. I bought the ball from a guy who said he bought it from a company in New York with the scanned certificate of authenticity. It is a fact that many sports autographs are phony even though they come with a certificate of authenticity. If you want a ball that you feel positive that is was autographed by Mickey Mantle, don't buy this one. It looks very good but it is most doubtful that Mickey Mantle signed it. Thanks for your question. If you have further ones, feel free to email me or just call at 1-440-xxx-xxxx. Gary

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by DB on June 27, 2012 at 6:21am

and we wonder why the collectable industry is a mess. You mean the Rainbow COA isn't sufficient...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Wymer on June 27, 2012 at 8:59am

Seller took down the listing.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 27, 2012 at 8:01pm

Photo looks like it is in a trash can... Where it belongs.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on June 28, 2012 at 9:28am

James, do you think that Mantle is bad?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Wymer on June 28, 2012 at 9:35am

It kind of favors the Milkey Mantle balls I have seen that are fakes, but otherwise I like it. Obviously I need to study some more. I do see the right slant to the c that is not there on the forgeries. Chris I took that down so I do not hurt anyone.