Opinions on Signed Balls? - Mantle, Williams, Aaron, Jackson, Schmidt, Maris
 

Posting this for a friend. He's been buying a lot of collections and many of them have signed stuff. Although I've been trying to teach him as much as I can but he's still relatively new at autographs.

I gave him my opinion and offered to post here to give you guys a crack at it. Seller says he got them all in person at shows for what that's worth.

Thanks in advance!

I don't like Schmidty or Maris. I'm wavering good on Reggie, and the rest give me fits on a good day. But at first glance, I like enough to take a closer look, leaning yes. I'm sure the Mantle and Williams experts will know right away.

maris
 

Just a mere collector here, but I would say "no good" on the Maris.
*signature doesn't seem free flowing and appears "drawn on"
*There are some atypical hesitations on the upper loop of the "R" in Roger..
*and the spacing between Roger & Maris is way off... the transition between Roger and Maris is typically tight, if not conjoined...

Can't speak on behalf of the others as they always confuse me!

Hope this helps,
Dave

I have a Williams that looks just like yours, confirmed by Mr. Jim Stinson

To me, the 'r' in Maris stands out.

I like the Mantle, the Williams and the "Star" Aaron.

Not sure about the others.

Aaron and Jackson look identical to my IP signatures of them. Would think they are legit. Schmidt looks "close" to his late 80s sig, and you can't tell what the conditions were when he signed it (i.e., was he walking, in a crowd, etc.) so it "could" be real, but with someone as common as Schmidt, a known genuine example is easy enough to find.

As other stated the Maris looks pretty bad. Very forced.

Mantle:):):):):) Maris:(:(:(:(:(Reggie:(:(:(:(:(:(but not a Reggie person just does not seem right.Ted is good

Maris looks bad to me. Jackson looks good, I'm always afraid to give an opinion on Mantle but I think it's good. I think Aaron is a strong maybe and I'll pass on the others.

All of the autographs are good except the Maris.

Did Maris ever do any shows? My impression was he did not. Not sure if there were even paid signers at shows before 1985.

I echo the comments that they all appear ok except for the Maris.

My understanding is that Maris did do a few signings/shows before he passed, as card show signings were in their infancy. Certainly not many but I have no idea how many.

I have owned dozens of Schmidts representing his whole career. I would not take that one if it were free. At best it is as someone said, signed while walking briskly through the airport. Worst 'M' I have seen, shaky 'S' and what appears to be a lift between the 'i' and the unusually wide open 'd'. I wouldn't spend money to send it to PSA.

What did you think Moosedog?

The Maris is a horror show, as bad as they get.

The two autographs that I would bet money on are Mantle and Williams.
The other autograph that I would bet money is bad is Maris. The rest you guys can fight over.:p

If memory seves me, Mantle and Maris did a show together in late 1983 or 1984 at a show related to the 1961 season. Maybe Gloria Rothstein or one of the prevalent northern NJ shows of the time. I seem to recall that signed bats were relatively cheap at about $150-200. Not cheap for the time, but in retrospect as I recall getting signed bats at shows of Musial and Frank Robinson for about $35 at that time.

Thanks all for taking the time and for your learned opinions. My friend sends stuff to PSA to when he sends me autographs scans I look at them from the standpoint of would they pass or not.

I basically told him I thought there was a strong possibility they were all bad. My gut feeling and comparing to a few known good ones I have on file was thus:

Maris, Schmidt - don't like at all and don't/didn't think they would pass

Mantle, Williams - I was leaning towards no good but thought they could pass

Jackson - my only experience with RJ is in person, and usually rushed signatures. Most of the card show sigs I've seen have "44" below or an added inscription - and I was told these were obtained at card shows.

Aaron - he's always been tough for me in general.

I will send the link to my friend so he can read the responses himself. I keep telling him to join, he can learn a lot here, that were (mostly) harmless :D but I think he's a little intimidated.

Just for grins, here's a 'Mike Schmidt' from a '73 Phillies ball that I got signed after a game at the Astrodome (also has some '72 Giants), very early in the year. Schmidt batted .196 that year - his first as a starter - and while I was a statistic fanatic, I had never heard of him. His game, as well as his signature, certainly changed (that's Carlton at the bottom):

MooseDog, I have about 10 Reggies...some have been from mail in private signings but most from in person and of those 10, 3 do not have a number (either 44 or 9) and I'm possitive I got those 3 in person. One thing about Reggie, his adding of the number and His J's and his ending of his name are a bit inconsistent (but in a consistent variation way).