Mantle Estate Awarded $4.9 Million

A trading card and sports memorabilia company says it will appeal an arbitration panel’s decision awarding $4.9 million to the Mickey Mantle estate in a 2-year-old case.

The suit filed in November 1994 alleged the Upper Deck Co. breached its $2.75 million-a-year exclusive contract with Mantle and unlawfully sold Mantle memorabilia after the baseball great died of liver cancer.

The lawsuit transferred to Mantle’s estate after his death in August at age 63.

The American Arbitration Association decision, reached May 22 but disclosed last week, ordered Upper Deck to pay $2.8 million in actual damages. A spokesman for the Carlsbad, Calif., company said Upper Deck planned to appeal the decision, but he declined to discuss specifics.