In 1957 I was diagnosed with polio and luckily I had gotten the 3 polio shots plus some heavy doses of penicillin from our family doctor who came to our house, remember when docs did that. Thanks to him I recovered fully and played lots of sports. My uncle was a career Navy sailor and knew that Mickey Mantle was my boyhood baseball idol. He was very resourceful and through some contacts he arranged for Mantle to reach out to me. One day my Mom handed me a 5X7 manila envelope. It has a 3 cent stamp on it and it had the NY Yankee address and logo on it. I opened it up and inside was a letter on NY Yankee letterhead. Also there was a 5X7 photo of Mickey Mantle, signed. The letter was personal and he said he found out I was one of his best rooters and had come down with polio. He said to listen to your folks and your doctor and with the help of God I am sure you will be back out on the field very soon. It was also signed. It was the best gift I ever received and I was the envy of every kid in my Baltimore neighborhood. Mantles rookie card just sold at auction for $550,000. I am curious to see if the signed photo and letter is authentic but I don't know where to find out. Does anyone know where I could get these 2 items authenticated for Mantles 2 signatures. Thanks.

 

Great story. If you don't need the money, I would not sell. The first thing I thought of was Antique Roadshow, here's a couple appraisers.

Mike Gutierrez | Antiques Roadshow | PBS

Leila Dunbar | Antiques Roadshow | PBS

 

Everything is for sale No plans to sell, just want to get it authenticated. Thanks Dave

 

Tried to connect Dave but the connection is not available right now. I will try tomorrow.

 

Pawn Stars typically had a guy validating signatures in may episodes.

But everything of value will be faked. I understand there are enough genuine Confederate Army officer sabers in existence to equip the current US Army.

-- Chuck

 

These guys are in NJ. Autograph Authentication for Sports Memorabilia | JSA | NJ & FL
I would get your keepsakes authenticated AND appraised for insurance purposes. Easy and cheap to get a little rider on your home-owner's if they are valuable enough to warrant it. While they couldn't be replaced if something happened, at least you would have some compensation.

 

I checked out this site. Looks legit, I plan to contact them. Thank you.

 

Ignoring the baseball side of the discussion Ray, it's good that you were able to recover.
and without autism too......

the anti-vaxxers just drive me nuts.
sort of the I don't want to admit I can't understand the science so I will just refute it.

 

[QUOTE=boltonblue;24244589]Ignoring the baseball side of the discussion Ray, it's good that you were able to recover.
and without autism too......

the anti-vaxxers just drive me nuts.
sort of the I don't want to admit I can't understand the science so I will just refute it.[/QUOTEThanks, I didn't realize that polio can lead to autism.

 

^Ha ha. I think the anti-vaxxers claim vaccinations can give you autism, but I can't keep up with the tinfoil hat crowd and their various theories.