I was surfing auction sites last night and I stumbled across a pretty unique item. It's a ball signed by New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle, but instead of the normal inscription like "536 HR's," it says "F**k Yogi."
(*A picture of the ball is below - if you are offended, please don't scroll down*)
It's of course referencing the Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, who Mantle played with for so many years. Mantle and Yogi got along just fine. But some collectors have said that when Mantle wasn't in his best form, you could get him to write almost anything.
This apparently was a good test.
The item is currently being sold by the folks at Grey Flannel Auctions for $2,750. If it doesn't sell by this Friday, you'll have to wait until the company's April auction, where the reserve will be about $1,000.
Rich Russek, president of Grey Flannel, said he bought the ball from another dealer, so he doesn't have a particularly great story about obtaining the ball. He said he recently got the signature authenticated by noted autograph expert James Spence, who said it was a legit Mantle signature.
