Good/Bad/Ugly? - 1959 OTD Program & Mantle Booklet

[bat_master]

These items are on the way to me now. Any thoughts as to the authenticity?

The Mantle sigs are both extremely abnormal to put it mildly as is the Joe DiMaggio. However, the other autographs on the OTD program appear to be correct to me. I'd love to get the thoughts of the group as to whether these are indeed good, bad, and/or ugly and which ones are authentic, if any.

Both of these items originated from the collection of former Yankee batboy from 1959-1962, Fred Bengis.

Signatures on the OTD Program:
Lloyd Waner
Frank Baker
Monte Irvin
Jim Konstanty
Joe Black
Jackie Robinson
Lefty Gomez
Bobby Richardson
Mickey Mantle?

[packs]

It looks like the same person signed all the blue pen signatures to me.

Look at the flair at the end of Waner and Baker.

[bat_master]

I received the OTD program and the Mantle booklet yesterday. On further review, I'm pretty confident the signature on the Mantle booklet is no good. I feel better about the autographs on the OTD program, but I'd like some reassurance and/or advice.

Again, main concerns are with the Lloyd Waner, Frank Baker, and Jackie Robinson signatures.

All of the signers are listed in the program as being in attendance that day.

OTDProgram.jpg

[rand1com]

While certainly not an expert on all of these autographs, I think the 7 autographs on the left side of the lineup page (Waner, Baker, Irvin, Black, Robinson, Gomez, Konstanty) may all be good. The Mantle on the right side is certainly not. I don't like the Dimaggio or the Connors on the other pages either.

Not sure on Richardson or why he would have even been on there as he had only been in the major leagues a few years and certainly not an old timer at that time but it looks close to his autograph from that time period.

Hopefully others will opine and admittedly I could be in left field but somebody has to take a stab and these look reasonable to me from that time period.

[etsmith]

I agree, the seven on the left look to be authentic and match other signatures by them. All the other autographs look questionable except maybe the Richardson.

[bat_master]

Thank you for those that have replied. In the end, there were two Old Timer's Day programs. I only received the one with the Jackie and others. The other one had the Chuck Conners and DiMaggio.

For the one I have, I believe the Lloyd Waner, Frank Baker, Monte Irvin, Joe Black, Konstanty, Jackie Robinson, Gomez and Bob Richardson are good and the Mickey Mantle is pretty obviously bad.

I know there are some really knowledgeable people on the board so I'd really like to get additional opinions, especially from someone well versed in Jackie Robinson autos.

If it is believed to be good, I plan on getting it authenticated in November. I just want to have a level of certainty before doing so.

Also, any thoughts as to value? Perhaps around $800 or so?

[tazdmb]

I am going to go in the minority here and say that the Mantle on the cover is good, and the piece is easily north of $1k.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

The Mantle on the cover is VERY typical of a style he employed for a brief period right in that 1959 era, but it's very choppy and the "ey" in the first name lacks the definition I would prefer to be seeing. There are a couple of other atypical letter formations as well. The photo isn't very high quality. I wonder if all of it was enhanced, but it's impossible to say based on that poor photo.

[bat_master]

Gentlemen, I appreciate the additional looks at the Mantle booklet. I scanned it and am providing the images below.

These items came from the collection/estate of Fred Bengis who was a batboy for the Yankees between 1959 and 1962. This would explain having the name Fred written multiple times. Fred would turn 18 in October of 1959.

The 2nd image is of the inside pages right after the cover. The last image is of the back page. The Bob Grim and Mel Allen signatures do not appear to be authentic and the Mantle inside the cover looks to be an attempt at copying the printed signature. It also varies significantly from the signature on the cover. My guess is that those were done by Fred himself. Also looks like another Mantle copy was done on the back, but that has since been erased. It's only just barely visible.

MantleBookletA.jpg
MantleBookletB.jpg
MantleBookletC.jpg
MantleBookletD.jpg

[rand1com]

Yep, the bat boy tried to replicate the printed example which is the version I am familiar with from the mid to late 50's.

The one on the front cover has similarities but still looks off to me but I guess could be authentic.

[bat_master]

Does anyone have any additional thoughts on the Mantle signature on the booklet cover now that I've posted higher quality images?