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 CJCollector on June 25, 2012 at 6:29pm

Look at these horrific forgeries of Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax. One person penned both of these autographs. Again, these are pathetic forgeries. According to the seller, these were purchased from a "reputable dealer." Yeah right.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Authenticated-Mickey-Mantle-Sandy-Koufax-au...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on June 25, 2012 at 6:35pm

Here's a typical Mickey Mantle forgery with a COA from B&J Collectibles. I can't believe anyone would try to pawn a forgery like this on someone else.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mickey-Mantle-Autographed-American-League-B...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 25, 2012 at 7:13pm

This appears to be a earlier and rougher version of the classic B&J Mantle forgery we saw in the late 90s.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Wilson on June 26, 2012 at 7:40am

I recently purchased the signed Mickey Mantle/Bobby Brown AL President baseball above. It was purchased directly from a dealer several years ago and I just acquired it from my cousin. B&J Collectibles has been in business for 20 plus years and is still in business today. I read the comments about above discussing about how Mantle signed his name. Fortunately, I just saw a Mantle ball come up on one of the auction TV shows and they explained how Mantle signed his name one way in the early years and how it changed in his later years. My ball was nthe exact similiar ball they were discussing with an identical signature and it was a spot on match to the ball and the explaination the authenticator gave. I was watching very closely because I traded a couple of quality footballs for this ball. I'm an honest person and do not want to sell a fake anything to anybody. Please provide more evidence that my ball is fake. If it is just an opinion than I must insist you remove my Ebay listing from this website. My authorization has not been given to anyone except Ebay to use my photos or listing and I do not wish to slander my name unless proof can be given.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 26, 2012 at 7:47am

B&J is a documented distributor of the Marino Family forgery ring. See Operation Bullpen for all the details. Much of what they sold was fake, including the ball depicted above. It is a known and documented forgery style.

To the untrained eye of course it has strong similarities to an authentic Mantle... That's what forgers do. To the trained eye it sticks out like a sore thumb.

I wasn't aware B&J was still in business. Can you provide contact information? I have some fakes I purchased from them and I'd like to take them up on their lifetime guarantee.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on June 26, 2012 at 4:53pm

Zip, they still show a business address and number. strange, I thought they were long gone, along with Stan's Sports.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 26, 2012 at 4:57pm

Try calling the number. See what happens. ;-)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on June 26, 2012 at 4:59pm

That number will be answered by an investment company.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on June 26, 2012 at 8:30am

Steve, thank you for posting here.

First, read (or Google) "Operation Bullpen B&J Collectibles." Secondly, that particular Mantle forgery has infected the hobby by the thousands.

Here's a couple of things you can do, Steve. One, you can submit your auction to PSA's "Quick Opinion" service. The link is below. I guarantee the result will be "Likely Not Genuine."

http://www.psacard.com/store/t-quickopinionebay.aspx#ebay

Or, you can send it directly to PSA for authentication. Here's my challenge to you, Steve. If you submit it directly to PSA for authentication, it will cost you approximately $125.00. If it passes PSA, I will reimburse you the $125.00 in fees. If it fails (which it will) PSA authentication, you owe me $125.00.

I also want you to read this entire thread where we have posted numerous Mantle forgeries and you should notice that most of them look similar to yours.

Also remember, Steve, your auction reads "Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing."

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Wymer on June 26, 2012 at 8:52am

Steve Wilson the banned COA list includes all items from Operation Bullpen. That means your ball is not allowed to be on EBay. Secondly, auction shows on tv are entertainment and sadly full of errors.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Wilson on June 26, 2012 at 9:38am

I have pulled the ball from the online auction until I get to the bottom of this. Enough doubt has been raised to at least be prudent and get a second opinion. From what I have read on the link you have directed me to B&J Collectibles name is mentioned. That does not mean this ball is a fake but it raises the question to its authenticity. A question I want answered as much as anyone else.

Regardless, what really offended me was posting my listing information, name and photographs on this web site without my permission. I have removed the ball from the auction site. Now I ask you to do the same and remove my information and photographs from this site and destroy them.

Who do you recommend I send the ball to for a reliable authentication?

Thank you.