Eff Yogi by Craig Calcaterra February 26, 2009 Turns out that the autographed baseball everyone was talking about earlier this week was purchased by someone close to the Mick: On Monday, we told you the story of the Mickey Mantle baseball that was signed “F**k Yogi. Before putting it in their upcoming auction, the folks at Grey Flannel Auctions tried to sell it first for $2,750. And sell it they did. Although Richard Russek, president of Grey Flannel, declined to comment, a source told us that the Mantle family purchased the ball, presumably in order to make sure it didn’t get into the hands of a collector. Had it not sold by Friday, the ball would have entered the auction with a $1,000 reserve price. Not sure why they care, exactly. It’s not as if this sort of thing being out in circulation is actually going to have a negative impact on Mantle’s legacy. Indeed, he pretty much has it made in this regard. The man’s a demigod, and nothing short of a closet Nazi affiliation is ever going to tarnish his image among fans. There could be 820 autographed balls, each with something more vulgar than the last, and people will still love the Mick.