Mantle Family Buys Mantle "F-Bomb" Ball

On Monday, we told you the story of the Mickey Mantle baseballthat was signed "F**k Yogi. Before putting it in their upcoming auction, the folks at Grey Flannel Auctions tried to sell it first for $2,750.

And sell it they did.

Although Richard Russek, president of Grey Flannel, declined to comment, a source told us that the Mantle family purchased the ball, presumably in order to make sure it didn't get into the hands of a collector. Had it not sold by Friday, the ball would have entered the auction with a $1,000 reserve price.

It's not like the Mantle family needed it for their collection. The Mantles sold about 300 items from the career of Mickey — who died in 1995 — in an auction that raised $3.25 million in Dec. 2003. In the auction, Mantle's 1957 MVP trophy was purchased for $319,250 and his 1962 World Series ring sold for $165,200.

The $2,750 the family paid for the ball might seem like a small amount, but it's a steep price when you consider that Mantle earned just $5,000 in his rookie season with the Yankees in 1951.

Source: Grey Flannel

Questions? Comments? [e-mail]