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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

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jeffrey T Weingartner on October 16, 2012 at 10:59am

Hello all, I am FunKidsToys as mentioned below. Please tell me why you believe this to be a forgery? I did come by it honestly for $1700 on a Princess Cruise. I need to know if I should pull it. If it isn't real, then I don't want it linked with me!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 16, 2012 at 11:16am

Jeffery,

Sorry if you got burned, but perhaps you can contact Princess Cruises, since you'd think Princess Cruises Fine Arts was owned by them, considering the name. Maybe you can get a refund.

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Permalink Reply by Jeffrey T Weingartner on October 16, 2012 at 4:36pm

Well, before I got much of a chance to follow up, it was reported to ebay and removed. I still would like to know who I might send it to to verify conclusively if they are real or not. I have the dialog here in this forum, but I also have Princes Cruises (all be it shaky on the reliability scale), and the local baseball card shop saying it is. If it costs a few bucks fine. I just need to put this to bed. Thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on October 16, 2012 at 4:42pm

Jeffrey, go and try to get your money back. They are all FORGERIES.

But if want, submit them to PSA.

http://www.psacard.com/services/auto_authentication.chtml

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on October 16, 2012 at 6:24pm

Jeffrey, trust what Christopher is saying. They are bad forgeries, and if you compare them to some of the PSA or JSA certed ones on ebay, you will be able to see for yourself. But make no mistake, they are forgeries.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on October 16, 2012 at 7:32pm

I would take Chris' opinion on a Mantle or DiMaggio signature over PSA/JSA all day long. Best part is he gives it to you for free.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on October 17, 2012 at 10:52am

Thank you, Rick, but I am just a humble collector who wants to help rid the hobby of the scum that have infected it.

Thank you again, Rick.

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Permalink Reply by DB on October 16, 2012 at 8:03pm

and u may spend more than a few bucks. the suggestion of getting your money back when it comes to cruise line sales is fleeting. A local baseball card shop is not the 1st place I might suggest one seeks advice on signature authenticity. Cruise line vendors will say & who is "christopher williams" and what are his exact credentials? First thing to do is get an agreement, if possible, with the cruise line vendor as to a 3rd party they might agree with depending on the T&Cs of the sales and purchase agreement presuming you were the original buyer.

If you are just seeking to put it to bed - then do as Williams suggests with either psa/dna or jsa for that matter. I would be extremely surprised if they didn't agree with his assessment.

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Permalink Reply by Steve on October 16, 2012 at 8:20pm

Jeffrey,

All three signatures are fake. If you send them to PSA or JSA, you will be out an additional $100 plus. Just trying to save you some additional grief.

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Permalink Reply by Mike P on October 17, 2012 at 7:19am

Is this mantle good it bad? Im uneasy about the base but I would say whoever signed it did so in the best part of the photo which we know is a determining factor.. Thanks.

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