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Ernie Harwell Auction September 2012 Farmington Hills MI AuctionZip Ty Cobb Babe Ruth Mickey Mantle Forgeries Autographed Baseball

This past Sept. 2012 there was an auction in Farmington Hills, MI featuring items owned by the late great sportscaster Ernie Harwell.

First, below is a link to the story about the auction.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120922/SPORTS0104/209220378

The auction was held by an auctioneer under the AuctionZip platform.

Here's my question about that particular auction. Why did the auctioneer blend in some obviously bad forgeries along with the items owned by the Ernie Harwell family?

From what I understand, Mr. Harwell did not own the autographs (forgeries) that are posted below; so why were they mixed in with the Harwell items?

First, the Ty Cobb forgery that was sold in that auction. From what I understand (and I hope it isn't true) the below Ty Cobb sold for $12,000.00. If the owner of the below Ty Cobb were to send it to PSA or JSA for authentication, it will be rejected. I really hope no one paid $12,000.00 for this.

Now let's take a look at the below Mickey Mantle forgery This is the typical Mickey Mantle forgery that we have exposed hundreds of times here.

Now let's check out this horrific Willie Mays forgery.

Here's the ugly and slowly drawn Ken Griffey, Jr. forgery that sold in that auction.

Look at this horrific Babe Ruth forgery. Just plain ugly and fake.

Again, my question to the auctioneer is "Why was the above garbage mixed in with the Ernie Harwell items?"

1 member likes this

Comment by Steve Zarelli on October 9, 2012 at 8:14pm: Good job, Chris. :-)

Comment by Steve on October 9, 2012 at 10:12pm: I, as well as every Harwell fan, was under the impression that all of the items were from Ernie's personal collection. If these items were added to give the impression that Harwell owned them, then it is obvious that it was to add legitimacy to the items and fool novice collectors.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 9, 2012 at 11:06pm: Chris,

I believe you, of course, but could you please post proof that the ball was produced after Cobb died?

Thanks,

Steve

Comment by CJCollector on October 10, 2012 at 5:03am: @Steve Kahldon: Thank you, Steve.

That is why I started this thread.

Comment by Steve Zarelli on October 10, 2012 at 5:59am: Disgusting they would use Mr. Harwell's good name and reputation to peddle rancid fakes.

Comment by Steve on October 10, 2012 at 8:46am: I'm really hoping Denny Mclain didn't have anything to do with these forgeries. He was a part of the auction and the first thing everyone was thinking was that something was not on the up and up. For those who don't know Mclain's history, he has been to prison a few times for drug trafficking, embezzlement, racketeering, mail fraud, and conspiracy. The article in the Detroit News mentioned how Mclain was close to Ernie Harwell and wanted to help out. I'm hoping he didn't help himself out.

Comment by Frank Reinstein on October 12, 2012 at 8:25am: I believe some of these autographs were "holdouts" from previous auctions by Great Lakes Auction and due to lines around the corner to get in for this one, he had a captive audience to bid. Plus, Denny McClain was there, this stuff had to be legit.

FYI, I have contacted the FBI, who directed me to Farmington Hills police about the forgeries this auction house is selling. I filled out a report with the police prior to an auction, but nothing ever came of it. While the auctioneer guaranteed everything to be legitimate prior to the auction, everything must be taken home upon completion of the auction.