Monday we noted that a ball supposedly signed by Mickey Mantle that featured an expletive directed at Yogi Berra was being auctioned online.

Today it was reported by Darren Rovell of CNBC that the ball was sold to the Mantle family.

Upon hearing that, I wasn’t surprised at all, considering there’s a possibility that Mantle’s own son Dan claimed the ball was “a fake” in the comments thread of my original post.

There was no email address left on the post from “Dan Mantle”, but the IP indicates the post was submitted via a Texas IP. After sniffing around, a source told me that part of Mantle’s family lives outside of Dallas. Looks like there’s a pretty good chance that was the real thing.

53-year-old Dan Mantle is one of Mickey’s four sons. From WIKIPEDIA:

Danny and (Mantle grandson) Will played a father and son watching as Mickey, (played by Thomas Jane), hit a home run in the 2001 film produced by devoted Yankee fan Billy Crystal, “61*.”

Rovell reported that the Mantle family bought the ball to “get it off the market“.

Interestingly, “Dan Mantle” posted in the SbB comments thread that he thought the ball was fake: “I can assure you people that this is a fake.“

So wait, if the ball is a fake, and thus worthless, why would the Mantles buy the ball in the first place?

I have no doubt that the Mantle family think the ball is a fake - and bought the ball just to get it out of public view.

And I also have no doubt that most of you reading this think that the signature is real. Sadly, while the Mantle family’s gesture is an admirable one, they may be a little naive about their father.