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Roger Maris Autographs: Real vs. Fake

There is a lot of discussion on Mantle, Williams and DiMaggio, but I think Roger Maris deserves a discussion as well. Maris is actually much less common than the three aforementioned signatures, much pricier and just as forged.

Let's see some real and fakes to help train the eye!

Tags: Maris, Roger

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on February 2, 2013 at 12:23pm

Here is a fairly typical Maris forgery. Does anyone know the tell-tale signs?

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on February 2, 2013 at 12:30pm

this is one of the most popular Maris poses and it is constantly misrepresented as his 61st home run swing. It is not. He hit his 61st home run agains the Red Sox. their away uniforms would have had the bold, dark blue block "B". If you look at the catcher, part of his team logo is sticking out from his chest protector. it is the the scripted "B" from the baltimore orioles, whom he hit #60 off of, in Yankee Stadium, thus the Orioles away uni.

it is probably Gus Triandos.

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Permalink Reply by Null on February 2, 2013 at 2:12pm

This is a noob question, but why are his autographs so incredibly expensive? You stated he was a fairly gracious signer after his playing days, are his autos not near as abundant as a Mantle/DiMaggio?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 2, 2013 at 2:27pm

He died in 1985, which was before the mass show signing and private signing trend really took off. He is certainly not rare or uncommon, but compared to Mantle who outlived him by a decade and did a ton of signings, there are far fewer Maris autographs in circulation.

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Permalink Reply by Null on February 2, 2013 at 3:25pm

Gotcha. Thanks Zipper

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on February 2, 2013 at 3:45pm

I can add to what Zipper is saying. Before the 98 home run chase, you could get Maris on anything, at a fairly reasonable price. When Mac and Sosa chased after the record, it brought Maris back in the forefront again, and with collecting taking off as it did in the 90's, his signature shot up in price. And I think he got another little boost when the steroid scandal blew up, and his accomplishment became more "worshipped" because he did it clean.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 10, 2013 at 9:33am

Here is another heavy and slowly applied example. Strong likelihood of being a clunker in my opinion.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Roger-Maris-SIGNED-1961-Topps-Card-GAI-WHAT...

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Permalink Reply by Null on April 1, 2013 at 12:18pm

Wish I could get a better picture of this, but this looks awfully atypical to be authenticated:

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Permalink Reply by Fuddjcal on June 24, 2015 at 6:59pm

Here's my only Maris. A bit faded, but pretty close to one of a kind. I got it for 150.00 with the JSA. Not sure if it's real but it looks nice framed in the Wife's office and has bought me many a brownie points.

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Permalink Reply by Fuddjcal on June 24, 2015 at 6:59pm

Did not realize the thread was 3 years old...sorry

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Permalink Reply by marc smilen on November 17, 2019 at 5:00pm

What puzzles me is the somewhat inconsistency of the M in maris. Sometimes it has a long curved stem going up. Sometimes its a short stem. I attached two photos of a ball I just bought. Signed at the 1983 cracker jack old timers day game. Maris signature appears twice. Keep in mind people dont memorize how they sign. Both signatures could be real. Or maybe one is fake and one is real. The ball has a Beckett certification. Both variations of this maris stem on the M issue appear on it.