NEW YORK, May 14 (UPI) -- A sports memorabilia company pulled an illegally corked bat, allegedly Mickey Mantle's, from auction after a statement of complaint by the Mantle family.
Grey Flannel Auctions removed the announcement of the auction of the bat, and its opening bid of $5,000, after it was contacted by the New York law firm of Bracewell and Giuliani, a partner of which is Yankees fan and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.
Mantle hit 536 home runs and helped win seven World Series in his career with the Yankees.
"We can no longer remain silent," the statement from the Mantle family said. "The statements and suggestions that Dad used a corked bat more than 49 years ago, to cheat at a game he worshipped, are false. Let us be clear: Dad didn't need, and never used, a corked bat."
The newspaper noted the auction house was prominently mentioned in an article about fraud in the sports memorabilia industry it published in 1994.
