Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle jersey up for bid in London

Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio were never friends.

However, they did sign a baseball jersey together, and now it’s up for sale in London.

“It’s an outstanding piece, they are two icons in the baseball world,” said Morris Dalla Costa, a former London sports reporter and columnist who now works for McKenzie Associated Auctioneers (MAA).

The piece – which MAA is working to get verified- is part of a large collection of autographed authenticated sports jerseys up for bid in an online estate auction by MAA.

“We’re going to do an estate auction for a couple of weeks here, and we are working on behalf of a trust corporation,” said Scott McKenzie, auctioneer and appraiser at MAA. “The man who passed away used to be a firefighter in Amherstburg (Ont.) and he was obviously a big sports fan. There’s a bunch of memorabilia.”

A large collection of autographed sports jerseys is up for auction by McKenzie’s Associated Auctions in London, Ont. until Sept. 16, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)The online auction contains signed jerseys by hall of fame legends in baseball, football, and hockey.

“I was blown away by the quality of some of these because you don’t see a lot of these pieces all in one place,” said Dalla Costa. “The first one was the Bobby Orr signed jersey, which is authenticated. There’s Bo Jackson – who played two sports- and Dick Butkus, one of the best middle linebackers in the history of the NFL for the Chicago Bears.”

Morris Dalla Costa shows off an autographed Bobby Orr jersey up for auction by McKenzie’s Associated Auctions in London, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)Other legends in the collection include Alan Trammell, Willie Horton, Alex Rodriguez, Stan Musial, Jean Beliveau, Troy Aikman, Terry Bradshaw, and Warren Moon.

“There’s a great mix of baseball, football, and hockey,” said Dalla Costa. “Some of these people, like Johnny Bower and Al Kaline, have passed away so they aren’t signing more jerseys. All of these pieces are going to be hard to come by.”

The online auction runs until Sept. 16.