Anybody knowledgable with baseball memorabilia? This is fake, right...?

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phucheneh

phucheneh

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2012
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I found this in a big pile of random crap. I had come across it some years ago and remember thinking that NONE of the signatures looked right, and basically discarded it.

I would not bother paying the money to send it to PSA/DNA. Also PSA/DNA is a terrible-ass scam.

But I figured there might be some people here who collect, and I know serious collectors are often damn good at giving an honest evaluation of signatures.

I think it is a 'home run club' ball. As in, 'these are the guys with 500+ home runs who were still alive when the ball was signed,' which I'm guessing was pretty recent (90's). Or, rather, I think that's what someone copied, 'cause I think this is a fake. But the thought struck me that maybe some of these old men just weren't signing the same way when they did this as they did when they were active (the latter being more familiar signatures to me). The other thought I had was that maybe there were some 'clubhouse' fakes mixed in, but with this kind of ball signed after retirement, that doesn't seem possible. The clubhouse thing is more with team signed stuff, isn't it?

Anyway:

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phucheneh

phucheneh

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2012
7,306
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To clarify the date: this was in my dad's stuff, who died in 1997. Eddie Murray hit his 500th in 1996, I'm seeing now. Didn't realize this was that late.

I know a lot of people don't realize how long some of these guys signed. I think an average person off the street would think a Mickey Mantle ball would have to be old.
 
Elixer

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,371
762
126
You are going to have to send it off to a reputable place to have it authenticated, and yeah, it is a scam, but that is the only proof you can get at this point.

There are way too many scammers doing replicas / forgeries.
 
MomentsofSanity

MomentsofSanity

Lifer
Jan 25, 2011
16,974
9,380
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The Reggie Jackson alone is way off. Look up his actual autograph and notice the looping style in his R. Too consistent and too different than what your pic shows.

They also all look like the same pen signed them all.
 
phucheneh

phucheneh

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2012
7,306
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PottedMeat said:
plus i don't think they'd shrink wrap something like that if it were real
Click to expand...

I've seen real stuff with the shrink wrap...apparently they think it will keep the ball from yellowing...definitely wasn't the case here.

But I wonder how in the hell anyone would expect to do that, as you need heat to seal it...and I wouldn't do that to a piece of memorbilia of any kind.

Not to make it sound like I think this is real. Just figured I'd see if anyone else had input.

All the signatures that I've seen before definitely seem wrong to me. Not familiar with Reggie Jackson's, but the Mantle looks like an amateur fake that simply tried to 'hit the highlights' of his real signature. Some of the others, it doesn't even seem like they tried...Harmon Killebrew usually has a legible signature...this one is all squiggles...

The worst part? This may have come from QVC or something similar. Somewhere you would expect to not sell blatant fakes...my dad was bad about impulse-buying random shit off of the TV. But maybe this came from some stupid memorabilia shop (are any of those places NOT full of fakes?).
 
SKORPI0

SKORPI0

Lifer
Jan 18, 2000
18,469
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;)

I'd compare signatures on that baseball. I see names like Mickey Mantel and Reggie Jackson.

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OutHouse

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
first step is to look at the sigs with a loop and see if the lines overlap which will indicate a real pen was used and not printed on the ball. if the lines look real then move on to the next step of authentication.

Getting a COA on the ball is expensive but worth it if you want to sell it.
 
phucheneh

phucheneh

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2012
7,306
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Ha, so apparently (reading threads) the 'Shop at Home' people actually trafficked in Operation Bullpen stuff? Never knew that.

You would think bullshit like that would drive them out of business. I guess they were just able to pass the buck and simply blame the BS authenticator that (IIRC) was behind most/all of that stuff.
 
Poulsonator

Poulsonator

Golden Member
Aug 19, 2002
1,597
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Mantle died in 1995, fwiw. Also, all of the autographs look like they were done with the same pen. Not impossible, just seems odd.
 
M

momeNt

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2011
9,290
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Fake.

I'm pretty experienced actually when it comes to memorabilia authentication. I have watched 7 complete seasons of Pawn Stars.

They appear to be actual ink, but they are forged, the penstrokes don't have the natural flow of the real person doing the signing, the pressure is all wrong, the curves look forced. A halfway decent fake, but still very fake to a trained eye like mine.
 
TastesLikeChicken

TastesLikeChicken

Lifer
Sep 12, 2004
16,852
59
86
Heh. This is similar to Tiger Woods signed golf balls. Tiger Woods has rarely ever signed golf balls. He just doesn't do it. The only way you might ever get one is if you are hit by an errant shot by Tiger during a tournament, and you may not even get one then. There are probably less then 10 authentic Tiger Woods signed golf balls in existence. Yet you will find more than that number for sale on eBay at any single time and many more than that sold over the years.

Suckers.
 
M

momeNt

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2011
9,290
352
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TastesLikeChicken said:
Heh. This is similar to Tiger Woods signed golf balls. Tiger Woods has rarely ever signed golf balls. He just doesn't do it. The only way you might ever get one is if you are hit by an errant shot by Tiger during a tournament, and you may not even get one then. There are probably less then 10 authentic Tiger Woods signed golf balls in existence. Yet you will find more than that number for sale on eBay at any single time and many more than that sold over the years.

Suckers.
Click to expand...

It's a lot harder to sign a golf ball than a baseball.

Usually golfers will sign a glove if they hit you in the stands. They'll probably also give you golf balls, but will rarely sign those.
 
TastesLikeChicken

TastesLikeChicken

Lifer
Sep 12, 2004
16,852
59
86
momeNt said:
It's a lot harder to sign a golf ball than a baseball.

Usually golfers will sign a glove if they hit you in the stands. They'll probably also give you golf balls, but will rarely sign those.
Click to expand...
A while back my brother ended up being in a TV commercial with Tiger called "Tiger Trap." He's one of the guys in the second group of that commercial.

Afterwards he asked Tiger to sign a golf ball and Tiger told him that he only signs golfs balls in very rare instances, like when he hits someone on the course. My brother then asked him to sign his hat, which Tiger did, but only after some protest by his handlers.

If you've been to golf tournaments with Tiger, he's not like Mickelson or McIlroy. He blows right past the autograph seekers. Tiger rarely ever signs anything.

Regarding the Tiger Trap commercial, I was supposed to play with him that day but couldn't get away from work. :( Because it was on TV my brother had to join to Actors Guild as part of the deal. He made a little over $17K in residuals from being in a few seconds of that commercial.
 
SphinxnihpS

SphinxnihpS

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2005
8,368
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I looked up one ball, Ted Williams. Looks identical to yours. Don't take mine or anyone else's word on this stupid board. If you care, get them authenticated, but get realistic values before you blow money on that. That's what I'd do.
 
kranky

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
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The only reasonable course of action is to have it authenticated. If it checks out, you have a pretty valuable item.
 
JManInPhoenix

JManInPhoenix

Golden Member
Sep 25, 2013
1,500
1
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Hell, take it to Pawn Stars in Vegas and tell them you want $100K for it. They will bring in their memorabilia guy to have it checked out...
 
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