Major League Baseball

Mantle 'corked' bat won't be auctioned

Published May. 13, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

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Mickey Mantle might have been accused of doing a lot of things during his career, but cheating wasn't one of them.

And the Mantle family wants to keep it that way.

Days after Grey Flannel Auctions sent out a press release about an upcoming auction of a corked 1964 bat Mantle allegedly used, Mantle's family issued a statement and retained a law firm to stop the auction.

"Our Dad loved, revered and dedicated his whole life and professional career to the game of baseball. He persevered through devastating injuries to play 18 seasons for the New York Yankees and won seven World Series and many awards. The legacy of our Dad's professionalism, perseverance and integrity has endured for more than 43 years since his retirement from baseball and is a testament to his status as an icon in American sports and culture.

"Recently, an on-line sports memorabilia marketer promoted an outrageously false, misleading and deceptive claim, apparently for a quick buck and publicity, that it was selling at auction a first-of-a-kind baseball bat: a 'Mantle-corked gamer' and a 'corked bat of Mantle.' The claim has spread throughout the Internet, and news media outlets nationwide have repeated and republished the marketer's false claims, baseless implications, and purported statements of the marketer’s so-called authenticator," the family said in a statement.

And it wasn't just Mantle's family that was up in arms over the auction. The members of the New York media had a field day (as only they could) over this.

The pressure must have worked. The auction house decided to remove the bat and cancel the proceedings.

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