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

[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?