Mantle's changing sig caused contract controversy

The evolution of Mickey Mantle's signature, so well documented in the baseball card/memorabilia hobby, once created a kurfuffle among team owners.

At a press conference on Feb. 27, 1963, at the Yankees' spring training headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Mantle signed his 1963 Yankees contract -- as television cameras rolled -- calling for a salary of $100,000.

With Mantle's permission, the team had engineered the unprecedented publicity stunt to advertise the fact the Yankees were so successful that they could make Mantle the highest-paid player in baseball.

Later, "photostatic" copes of the contract were sent to the print media. 

Immediately, San Francisco Giants president Horace Stoneham questioned the legitimacy of the contract. He contended that the image of Mantle's contract promulgated by the Yankees was not the "real" contact, intimating that the Yankees were not paying Mantle $100,000 for the '63 season.

Stoneham had a vested interest in the matter because he had recently agreed to terms with Willie Mays for the 1963 season at a reported salary of $100,000. Mays, however, had not yet signed his contract in late February so Mantle was in actuality at the top of baseball's salary scale.

The Giants' executive no doubt felt compelled to question the Yankees' deal with Mantle because New York had garnered the publicity that Stoneham was expecting when Mays inked his 1963 contract.

It seemed to be Stoneham's contention that Mantle's "real" contract was at a figure less than 100 Gs. 

Writing in the March 16, 1963, issue of The Sporting News, San Francisco baseball writer Bob Stevens said Stoneham "indicated a slight doubt as to its authenticity by saying out loud, 'Mickey doesn't print his signature; he writes it.'"

Stevens commented, "A closer inspection (of the contract) supported this theory." 

Giants catcher Ed Bailey pointed out that on the contract shown to the media, the date of Mantle's acceptance had not been filled in, nor did the document carry the authorizing signature of  Roy Hamey, the Yankees' general manager.

At the end of the article either Stevens, or possibly a Sporting News' editor, wrote, "A comparison of Mickey's signature on the new contract with that penned in The Sporting News' annual book, 'The Baseball Register,' also strongly indicated that the Yankees had not shown the real McCoy to newsmen."

Accompanying the TSN article was a picture of the Mantle contract on which the paper's editors had superimposed the image of Mantle's signature from the Register. 

Today's collectors will recognize that the Register signature is consistent with Mantle's style early in his career; on his 1952 Topps card, for example. The signature shown on the body of his 1963 contract is in the style evolved later in his career and generally used for the remainder of his life.

Responding to Stoneham's veiled accusation, Yankees' exec Hamey told The Sporting News, "I've got the contract in my safe. And it's the same one he signed for the TV cameras that day.

"It's as real as the Rock of Gibraltar," Hamey added. "There never was a more legitimate $100,000 contract than the one Mickey signed at the press conference. When one of our ball players is good enough and box office enough to earn a $100,000 contract, we want the whole, wide world to know it's the real McCoy and not a publicity stunt."

Since 1963, the once-controversial contract has made its way into the sports memorabilia hobby. It was publicly sold as early as 2005 in an American Memorabilia auction. In a Grey Flannel Auctions sale on June 5, 2013, it sold for $17,216. 

The auction lot description addressed those 1963 Giants concerns that the contract was undated and did not bear G.M. Hamey's signature. "The procedure in sealing this agreement entails three separate, but identical, contracts - one for the player (signed by a franchise executive), another for the team's files (usually penned by the player only), and yet another (signed by both parties) submitted to the President of the American League, who ultimately sanctions the contract. This is presumably the team's copy as it bears Mantle's signature only."

1963 Jell-O Mantle remake . . . and a Pete Rose

Yesterday I presented the first of a new genre for me . . . custom re-creations of 1963 Jell-O baseball card boxes.

Today I'm sharing the other two that I've done.

The first is a revision to the original Jell-O Mickey Mantle card.

The format and graphics are the same as an original (and as my reprint), but the card photo has been changed. I've dropped in the Mick's image from the in-store display materials used back in 1963. The unmistakable Yankee Stadium upper-deck facade and the brighter pose seem like an upgrade from the original Jell-O version.

Just for variety, I also changed the "flavor" of my Mantle 2.0 box from strawberry to black raspberry.

My third custom 1963 Jell-O baseball card box adds a player to the original line-up . . . a rookie Pete Rose. Just for the heck of it.

I'm not currently planning any more 1963 Jell-O box cards, but may reconsider if a high-res scan of the large "2c OFF" marked box or a 3-oz. box becomes available to me.

and non-sports cards can be found on my blog posts of June 14, 2015.

There's always room for more Jell-O (cards)

Regular followers of my blog know that I recently completed the first phase of custom card creations related to the Post cereal box-back cards of 1961-63.

You can see what was accomplished by scrolling back to my April 24 posting (1961), May 15 (1963) and June 1 (1962).

Today I'm unveiling a spin-off . . . a re-creation of a 1963 Jell-O box.

For many years I had in my collection a never-used 1963 Jell-O "flat" of Frank Lary on a 6-oz. strawberry box. Before selling it recently, I made a high-res scan that I could use as the basis for some new creations.

I started with reproducing -- sort of -- the original 1963 Jell-O Mickey Mantle. I say "sort of" because my Mantle is actually a re-creation. 

If I could have gotten a high-res scan of an original card, I would have done so, but my efforts were unavailing. So I did my best to replicate the format and typography of an original, and dropped in the best scan I could find on the internet of the Mantle pose. 

I'm happy with the work I did on re-doing the typography. Only a really dedicated '63J collector would be likely to spot the subtle differences, and probably only then by having a real card to compare side-by-side.

Because my box so closely parallels the genuine  1963 product. I've added a discrete 2015 copyright notice.

As the culmination of the Jell-O box project, I printed out the complete box, attached it to card stock closely approximating the original, and got out my X-Acto knife and double-sided tape.

Being a past master in the art of box folding from decades of forming up card boxes and USPS Priority Mail boxes, I wanted to see if I could do a creditable job of cutting and pasting my Mantle flat into a 3-D presentation.

With the various fold lines clearly visible on the sheet, the job turned out to be easier than I had dreaded. By scoring the back of the cardboard with my blade, I was able to make generally crisp folds .A torn seam that manifests itself in the lower-left corner of the box back is evidence that I had done a good -- but not a great -- job.

I finished the project by inserting a package of strawberry Jell-O from a current package into my retro box. It gives the newly created box a pleasing heft and sound. 

While I will be offering my complete-box panels to collectors, I won't be offering my origami skills. Those who want to make a box will have to undertake the construction themselves.

Check back tomorrow and you can see my revised version of a 1963 Jell-O Mickey Mantle box and a box for a player who did not make the cut in 1963.

Standard Catalog Update: 1962 Auravison records variations

The Auravision baseball player records of 1962 and 1964 have been popular collectibles since they were new. 

The 6-3/4" x 6-3/4" records are quite baseball card-like in that they feature color photos on front and player bio and stats on back. They were originally issued as mail-in premiums through offers found on Milk Duds candy boxes and Meadow Gold milk cartons, and possibly in other ways. There were eight player records in the 1962 version and 16 in 1964.

Because large quantities of the 1964 set of 16 were remaindered into the hobby in the 1970s, they remain readily available and reasonably priced even today. On any given day several hundred of the '64s will be found listed on eBay (though only a relative handful of the 1962 versions are seen in that venue).

Pennsylvania collector Fred McKie, who was a regular contributor to the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards when I was editing the book, reports that at least two of the 1962 records can be found with back variations.

The '62 Mantle and Spahn records have been found with large stickers on back "updating" the stats through 1962. These appear to have been an interim version created between the "normal" 1962 and 1964 issues.

Here's how Fred explains it:

A few years back I found a strange Mickey Mantle Auravision record. As you may recall there are two Mantle poses. The 1962 pose has Mantle swinging full-length with a player in the background. The 1964 version has a smaller batting pose. Of course the stats on the back were different. The '62 has stats through 1961, and the '64 has stats through 63.

I have found a Mantle batting full pose with the player in the background with stats through 1963. The back has an almost full back sticker that has been attached to the record that I assume has the '61 stats underneath. You can see that the "sticker" version is missing the horizontal orange line that goes across the center of the card. You can see part of the original orange line through the punch-out hole that was included in the sticker if the owner wanted to play the record.

Also note the different cropping of the Mantle photo on back in the upper-left of the record. In the sticker version his head is much farther from the top border than on the others. I figured this was sticker-back variation was only found on the Mantle.

But recently I found another on eBay: Warren Spahn.

If you recall, the 1962 Spahn was the only one in the set that had stats only through 1960 for some reason.The '64 version "caught up" and had stats through 1963. The '64 version had a different photo on the back from the '62 issue.

The new variation I got on eBay has the full sticker back, again with no orange line through the center with 1963 stats and the same basic photo on the reverse as the '62, though there is a small difference in the photo with a tree showing by his left shoulder while the original '62 photo did not show this.

I hope this all makes sense to you. I have attached scans of the cards for you to see.

Hopefully you can post this and ask others if they have any other players with the "sticker backs" with no orange line across the back.

For ease of reference, here are pictures of the three versions of Spahn and Mantle.

1962 Mantle front

Normal 1962 Mantle back.

1962 Mantle sticker-back.

1964 Mantle back.

1962, 1964 Spahn front

Normal 1962 Spahn back.

1962 Spahn sticker-back.

Normal 1964 Spahn back.

1952 Red Man Mickey Mantle Custom Card

I've expanded my custom card repertoire with this latest creation. It's a "what might have been" fantasy card of Mickey Mantle in the format of the 1952 Red Man tobacco cards.

My custom Mantle is in the original 3-1/2" x 4" format. To better replicate the original Red Mans, I used a thinner cardboard stock for this one. It really has the "feel" of the originals.

As opposed to most of my custom cards, on which the back -- which usually has biographical details, stats, cartoons, etc. -- takes more time to create than the front, this one was a snap. Since the backs of 1952 Red Mans (and 1953, 1954, 1955, as well) were "generic," I only had to scan an original and clean it up a bit.

The front is essentially a mashup of three elements. The background is from the front of a 1955 Red Man Whitey Ford card. With one click in my Photochop Elements graphics program, I flopped the image and moved the Yankee Stadium details from the left to the right side of the card.

The coupon at bottom started out on a scan I found on an auction site of a 1952 Red Man Ted Williams card. I changed the card number and cleaned up the typography and color bars.

Mantle's picture came from the cover of the 1953 Dell Baseball Annual. I had to do a lot of trial-and-error cutting and pasting to find a size and positioning that would allow for maximum detail yet still leave room for the text box.

I've always been frustrated that the Photoshop Elements program doesn't have the ability to create justified text . . . at least not that I've ever been able to find on my ancient 2.0 version.
After giving the matter some thought and trying a few workarounds, I determined that if I wanted to create justified text such as usually found on baseball cards, I'd just have to bite the bullet and do it the hard way. After writing my text in the designated space, I nudge every single word of it into a position that creates a pretty good approximation of justified type.

There's currently one more Red Man-style card on my to-do list, though I don't know when I'll actually get it into production. You'll see it here first.