McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown revealed himself to be the owner of perhaps the most vulgar piece of sports memorabilia of all time during a recent podcast appearance.
When asked about his most precious collectibles on MLB’s 6-1-1 Podcast hosted by former Philadelphia Phillies teammates Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard this week, the leader of Formula 1’s top team shared that he has a 1972 document written by Mickey Mantle in which the hall of famer details a sex act he claims to have been a part of at Yankee Stadium in response to a prompt asking for his “most outstanding experience” at the ballpark. Mantle signed the document with his name and the inscription “The All-American Boy.” It was sold at auction for $242,788.80 by Leland’s in December 2022 (images of the NSFW document can be seen on Leland’s website), but as is standard practice, the buyer’s identity was not revealed at the time.
“Probably the most unique is, I don’t know if you guys ever remember the Mickey Mantle ‘lewd’ letter. And if not, you gotta Google it. This is beyond rated R,” Brown told Rollins and Howard. “It wouldn’t happen today, but Mickey Mantle could pull it off. It’s a bit of a legendary letter … I bought that for my collection.”
Marty Appel, a Yankees executive at the time the document was written, told Leland’s at the time of the auction how the document came to be.
“I was the Yankees Assistant PR Director then, with Bob Fishel my boss,” Appel told the auction house. “We wrote to many ex-Yankees for a 1973 50th anniversary Yearbook feature on ‘greatest memory.’ That is my handwriting on ‘Dear Mickey’ and ‘Bob Fishel.’ Mick’s response is indeed his, in his handwriting, but it was meant to shock the very straight-laced Bob Fishel on whom he was always playing practical jokes. The item is authentic, but the intent was bawdy humor, not depiction of a real event. I called Mick when I received it and said, ‘We’re going with the Barney Schultz home run in 1964’ and he laughed and said ‘Of course.’ I held the letter for decades (never showed Bob Fishel), finally gave it to Barry Halper, and from there it slipped off to others over time.”
Brown’s Mantle fandom goes back to childhood, when he had a direct encounter with the then retired player and his colorful use of language.
“I’ve actually got the best story ever on baseball,” Brown told George Brett’s Golf Underground podcast. “I was a big Mickey Mantle fan. So I find out he plays golf at Preston Trail Country Club, which is kind of like the start of my sales career, I’m 13 years old. So I call in every day and say, ‘Is Mickey Mantle in? Is Mickey Mantle in? Is Mickey Mantle in?’ Two weeks go by and they go, ‘Hold on.’ And I have no appreciation for golf, no idea he’s on the golf course. Fifteen minutes, he comes back, picks up the phone, and I go, ‘Is this Mickey Mantle?’ and he starts swearing at me and hangs up the phone. He thought it was a prank call. I go in my room, I’m crying. Mickey Mantle just called me every name in the book. I tell my mom what happened, she calls him back, says, ‘You just cussed out my kid’ and he felt terrible and said, ‘Come to Dallas, I’ll spend half a day with your kid.’ I got on a plane three days later, spent half a day with Mickey Mantle at the Hilton in Dallas, Texas when I was 13 years old. So I was one of those stalker fans.”
His sizable baseball memorabilia collection goes beyond Mantle items, though.
“I guess the most unique — I mean, put aside jerseys, because I’ve got, and it’s all game-used stuff, I’ve got (Ted) Williams, Mantle, (Willie) Mays, (Hank) Aaron,” he told the 6-1-1 show. “So that stuff’s amazing, but probably the most unique is, I’ve got Pete Rose’s rookie trophy, which I think is pretty cool. When he had his issues, he sold everything, so his 1963 Rookie of the Year trophy, I’ve got. Albert Pujols gave me one of his Gold Gloves, which was really cool. … And then I’ve got Jimmie Foxx’s 1932 All-Star trophy. So those are like, unrepeatable.”
In addition to his baseball items, Brown also has a one-of-a-kind car collection.
Under Brown, McLaren won the 2024 Formula 1 Constructor’s Championship for the first time since 1998 and currently lead the standings in 2025.
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(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)