A lewd and salacious questionnaire filled out by New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle in 1972 sold for $242,789 this weekend.
Yankees media relations head Bob Fischel had sent the questionnaire to players, asking them to share their favorite memories at Yankee Stadium as a part of the ballpark's 50th anniversary celebration.
Mantle responded, saying that it was a sexual favor he received from a woman.
In 1972, the Yankees asked former players for their most outstanding experience at Yankee Stadium.
Mickey Mantle’s response was so lewd and graphic it could never be printed.
The original is up for auction for the first time at @Lelandsdotcom. pic.twitter.com/ZL1BiLegUu
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 18, 2022
A former Yankees PR official confirmed the authenticity of the document.
"Mick's response is indeed his, in his handwriting," Yankees assistant PR director Marty Appel told auctioneer Lelands.com. "The item is authentic, but the intent was bawdy humor, not (a) depiction of a real event."
The questionnaire was never published — the Yankees replaced his story with Mantle's walkoff homer in Game 3 of the 1963 World Series — and Appel kept the letter for years before eventually giving it to legendary collector Barry Harper.
It later wound up in other private hands. While copies of the item have circulated, this was the first time the original appeared at auction.
After the item went viral on social media, bids skyrocketed.
To put it in perspective, in 2020, Mantle's 1953 player contract sold for just under $40,000.
Mantle was known for his lewd humor, a far cry from his public image as "The All-American Boy."
Lelands have sold three baseballs in which Mantle inscribed obscene phrases. Those balls sold for more than $11,000 each, more than 35 times their regular value, without inscriptions.
