Question re: Yankees Team Signed Balls
 

I saw Richard's post about his '61 Yankees team signed ball for sale and how Mantle signed very few team balls during the era. I actually have a beautiful '61 signed ball that has a non-clubhouse Mantle. If I recall correctly, there are almost 30 signatures on the ball including all the biggies (Maas as well) and also has Del Webb which I think is a little unique.

Certainly I understand having a non-clubhouse Mantle adds to the value, but how much extra does a 60s ball with a non-clubhouse Mantle add. I would also guess '61 would sell at a premium?

I have a New York Yankess Autographed Baseball with 24 signatures.
JSA Authenticated - Mantle - authentic
Berra, Maris and Pepitone are Clubhouse. Spense has noted that the Elston Howard is a "Key signature".
Not sure of the value of the ball -but very pleased :D that the Mantle is good.

Jon - of course condition is everything but if it is a real nice ball $3500-$5000 if Offl AL ball .

Legit Mantle signatures on Yankee balls are fairly prevalent through about 1956 or 1957. After that about 80-90% of the balls have a clubhouse Mantle. I had a 1961 with a real Mantle and Maris with very faded signatures and it still fetched nearly a thousand dollars. Depending on the strength of the signatures I would say that around $3,000-$4,000 could be the right ballpark...or closer to $1,200-$2,000 for lighter signatures. Regardless it is a terrific item.

Tom C:

Does anyone know the reason why Mantle did not sign many Yankee team balls during this time period? Maybe he wasn't spending much time in the clubhouse when the balls were signed or did he just tire of the practice? Also, were alot of these team signed balls signed before the game or after the game or both? I always wondered if there was a certain procedure that teams followed when signing these balls? I have a few Tigers team signed baseballs from the early 70's and noticed the players seem to have signed the ball in the same location. Maybe, it had to do with their personal preference of where to sign or had to do with the location of the players locker when these balls were being passed around to be signed. Sorry if these questions seem stupid but this thread has my curiosity up.

I don't know why Mantle did what he did but I have an interesting observation about Stengel.
Stengel almost never signed Yankee team balls. I have a 1957 ball that I am offering and it contains a clubhouse Stengel signature, even a clubhouse Stengel signature is rare. Yet, every team ball I have seen when he managed the Mets has a nice Stengel autograph.
I think that is a revealing insight into Stengel but I don't quite know what to make of it.
He liked to manage the Mets but not the Yankees??

That's really interesting Richard.

Placement of signature . . .
 

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Just curious Richard. Where is the placement of Stengel's signature on those Met items ?

Perhaps during his Yankee days, he wasn't approached until after all the prominent spots were taken, and wasn't willing for settle for such limited choices.

Just a thought. I have absolutely no knowledge of the man's degree of vanity.

In my own collection I have 1962,63 and 64 Mets team signed baseballs.
Stengel is on the sweet spot on every ball.
If my memory is right, he was on the sweet spot of every Mets ball I have seen from those years.
I also have a HOF plak (and have seen several more) which he signed on the front and back and on the back he wrote "Become a rooter for the New York Mets" (I might be paraphrasing a bit here as I don't have that plak in front of me now).
And while it is true that Mantle and Berra signatures are on the sweet spot of many Yankee baseballs from the 1960's that is not the case in the 1950's.

Here is what Richard is referring to... HOF Plak from my collection.

I recently read Robert Creamer's biography of Stengel. Very interesting and recommended. The picture Creamer paints is that Stengel did not leave the Yankees on the best of terms. He felt betrayed by management and he was openly ridiculed as a "senile old man" by some of the newer Yankee players.

The Mets and the fans welcomed him and treated him as a respected elder statesman of the game. He only left the Mets when he fell and broke his hip. Even then, the Mets gave him a grand sendoff that helped him save face. Up until his death, he had very warm feelings for the Mets.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...lCaseyHOFC.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...eyHOFCback.jpg

Great Stengel HOF card. I love it!!