McLaren boss admits paying $250,000 for infamous sex act letter

Zak Brown, Bahrain GP, McLaren, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

McLaren boss admits paying $250,000 for infamous sex act letter

Zak Brown has revealed that he is in possession of a vulgar document

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Monday 12 May 2025 21:35

McLaren boss Zak Brown has revealed that he is the owner of an astonishingly lewd piece of sports history, bought at auction for nearly quarter of a million dollars.

Brown made the admission on MLB’s 6-1-1 Podcast, revealing that he is in fact the owner of a 1972 letter written by MLB hall of famer Mickey Mantle about a sex act he claims to have been a part of at Yankee Stadium.

The document was signed with Mantle's name and the inscription “The All-American Boy", and was reportedly sold at auction for $242,788.80 by Leland’s in December 2022, with the buyer kept anonymous.

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However, it has been revealed by Brown that it was in fact himself who purchased the document, and explained how he came to possess the letter to podcast hosts Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard.

“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 said.

Brown reveals shocking sports memorabilia ownership

According to the Yankees executive at the time the document was written, Marty Appel, he told the auction house how the document came to be and that it was an attempt at humour rather than a depiction of actual events.

“I was the Yankees Assistant PR Director then, with Bob Fishel my boss,” Appel said.

“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.”

In a separate appearance on George Brett’s Golf Underground podcast, the McLaren CEO provided an anecdote about when he met Mantle at 13 years old.

“I’ve actually got the best story ever on baseball,” he said.

“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.”

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