Mickey Mantle / Ted Williams

[sammy]

Mickey Mantle / Ted Williams signed baseball.

Seller states in ad....

THIS BALL WAS SIGNED IN 1992 IN SAN FRANCISCO BY BOTH MEN.....

THE BALL IS AN OFFICAL MLB BALL WITH GENE BUDIG AS AL PRESIDENT ON BALL....

Here is a secret this seller isn't aware of. Gene Budig was AL President from 1994 to 1999.

Ball was not signed in 1992 by Mantle and Williams as seller stated. Actually, ball was never signed by Mantle and Williams. It is a a forgery.


http://cgi.ebay.com/MICKEY-MANTLE-TED-WILLIAMS-DUAL-SIGNED-BALL-JWS-CERT_W0QQitemZ220365266581QQihZ012QQcategoryZ27260 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem (http://cgi.ebay.com/MICKEY-MANTLE-TED-WILLIAMS-DUAL-SIGNED-BALL-JWS-CERT_W0QQitemZ220365266581QQihZ012QQcategoryZ27260 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

[NEFAN]

Other than the 1992 issue, what gives it away?

[suave1477]

I sent the seller an email 2 days ago and no response, seems a little fishy!!

[suicide_squeeze]

I know John Schirek...............the ball is ABSOLUTELY authentic.

That said, I don't care much for the Mantle sig, but it is real. This seller is absolutely legit. He has met and done private signings with all of the gentlemen who's items he is selling. His "big thing" he thought up was to get autographed single-signed baseballs by the 500 home run club and have them add their "Thumbprint" on the top panel of the ball.

They never took off in sales, but he didn't exactly lose any money on the venture either. He still sells them to this day....Ernie Banks, Eddie Mathews, Harmon Killebrew.....he even did a few with DiMaggio.

If you like the ball, it's good. I just wanted to put your mind at ease.

[suicide_squeeze]

If you look at the auction, he in fact stated that correction.....that the signing took place in 1994. I have actual copies of the pictures of him with Mantle, and Mickey (as you know) wasn't feeling well then. And he looks it in the picture. Let me know if you want me to post it.

He is in Danville, CA. If you google JWS Sports Collectibles, his number pops up. Call him, he's an honest guy. He once sent me 6 "Giants" McCovey jerseys just so I could get them signed FOR HIM because he couldn't attend the signing in Southern California (It was a "Nationals" signing in Orange County in the late 90's).

I have NO reason to stick up for this guy, other than to just pass along what I know. I suppose ANYONE could try to pass on something "bad" at any given time, but I do know he had private signings with Ted and Mickey so.....take it for what it is worth.

[suicide_squeeze]

I apologize, I spelled John's last name incorrectly.....it's Schireck.

Here are a few of the pics....

[sammy]

SS,

Is your friend Mr. Schireck attesting that he personally had Mantle and Williams sign this ball in front of him?

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Perhaps it was signed in 1995, as it takes a few months for the balls to get a change over and into circulation.

Gene Budig's tenure of American League President began on August 1, 1994.

On August 12th the players would go on strikes and with the 2 sides unable to come to a deal the rest of the season including the postseason and World Series was cancelled a month later.

[suicide_squeeze]

Hi Sammy,

Only he can answer that question.

I really can't say he is a "friend". He is someone who I have known and dealt with for many years, and he has an impecible reputation in the business. Everyone who knows him knows he only obtains his items either in person, or from unquestionable sources....the latter probably making up 1% of his items.

I would never place my reputation on the items of another unless I saw it being signed by the actual players.

I simply wanted you to know that he did in fact do signing with both Ted Williams, and Mickey Mantle. Therefore, I can't imagine that ball to be anything but authentic.

Regards,

Steve

[sammy]

Personally, I don't believe the autographs are authentic.

He may have had Mantle and Williams at signing events, but they didn't sign that ball.

I am very wary of any Mantle signed Gene Budig baseball, as there was only a small window of time for Mantle to sign one of those baseballs before he died.

I don't recall having seen an authentic Mantle signature on one.

[sammy]

An update on these forgeries.

Ebay removed the auction.

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This listing (220365266581) has been removed or is no longer available. Please make sure you entered the right item number.

[suicide_squeeze]

An update on these forgeries.

Ebay removed the auction.

------------------------------------------------------------------

This listing (220365266581) has been removed or is no longer available. Please make sure you entered the right item number.

Sammy......

I'm just curious......Did you ever call this guy? Did you ever have a question and answer session with him (John)?

Or, did you just appeal to the Gen-Y idiots at ebay, who have as much experience in identifying fraudulent forged baseballs as President Obama does at balancing our Federal Budget?

You seem to have been successful at getting ebay to have shut down the auction. Maybe you had a bunch of your buddies notify them they "believe" it is a bad ball. That amounts to nothing......ebay has no clue. They do this kind of thing to all kinds of auctions they shouldn't have touched.......and, they let some auctions which are laughable fraud continue to their conclusion.

Personally, I have no interest in the guy this thread is about, or his company. All I can say is I have dealt with him, and have actually performed a signing for him in the past, and he was nothing but the utmost in class and integrity in the way he ran his business, and in everything he sold. I absolutely can't believe he would RISK IT ALL, the YEARS of selling his in-person obtained signed items by the superstars to "off" one bad ball. Doesn't fit his personality.

But if you feel the need to be Sherlock Holmes, with really no other proof than just your own opinion....hey, dive in partner!!

[buc]

Ebay relies on other opinions to cancel auctions. They have two parties that look at the autographs and, if they deem them questionable, then ebay cancels the auction. It does not mean the autographs are bad, but the companies that look at the autographs are the most respected when it comes to sports authentication. So, whether Sammy had 200 of his friends write in that the ball was bad or not would have no reflection on the ball. The companies looked at the ball and had enough questions about the autographs that they cancelled it. To have no opinion or stake in the ball or this person, you sure are opinionated about it and attack Sammy for no reason other than he gave his opinion that the autographs were not authentic. By the way...the autographs were not authentic.

[sammy]

Hey partner,

Your friend doesn't answer e-mail.

I don't work for eBay, and I had no interest in contacting eBay.

The reason I do this is to warn fellow GUU members / readers.

Know what you are talking about, before you make a fool out of yourself publicly.