Daniel Damato's fake Willie Mays bat and jersey
Daniel Damato, a sports memorabilia dealer in Concord, California, sold a baseball bat he falsely claimed Willie Mays used in the 1954 World Series for $100,000, and a jersey he falsely claimed Mays wore in a game for $50,000. Prosecutors say the bat was actually a "factory error" bat about an inch shorter than the bats Mays used, and that after the first buyer paid, Damato never sent the item. He was charged with wire fraud in October 2025, and after an FBI search of his home in October 2024, prosecutors say he contacted at least one potential witness in an attempt to obstruct the investigation. He pleaded guilty on December 8, 2025 to one count of wire fraud and admitted to the obstruction attempt. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for March 23, 2026 before US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, facing a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
- Year
- 2025
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Convicted
- Reported loss
- $150,000
- Victims
- 2
- Schemes
- Sports memorabilia fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-11-01
The facts, as recorded
- Between 2022 and 2024, Damato allegedly altered items and fabricated their provenance to make them look like authentic sports memorabilia.
- In 2023, he sold a bat for $100,000, claiming Willie Mays used it in the 1954 World Series. Prosecutors say it was a "factory error" bat, about an inch shorter than the bats Mays actually used, and that after the buyer paid, Damato never sent the bat.
- He also sold a jersey for $50,000 that he falsely claimed Mays wore in a game.
- He was charged with one count of wire fraud on October 20, 2025, by the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California; Assistant US Attorney Abraham Fine prosecuted the case.
- The FBI searched his Concord home in October 2024.
- He pleaded guilty on December 8, 2025 to the wire fraud charge and admitted to attempting to obstruct the FBI's investigation, including by contacting at least one potential witness.
- A sentencing hearing was scheduled for March 23, 2026 before US District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín; the maximum statutory penalty is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Why this case matters
This is the most recent case on this page, and it shows the “grail item” version of the scheme at its starkest: a single famous athlete’s name, attached to two specific objects, extracted $150,000 from two buyers before anyone outside the transactions caught the fabricated provenance.
An inch of difference
The detail prosecutors cite to prove the bat was fake is specific and physical: the bat Damato sold was about an inch shorter than the bats Willie Mays actually used. A buyer relying on the seller’s story about the 1954 World Series had no obvious way to know that detail mattered, or to check it, without independent expert comparison against bats already verified to have been used by Mays.
Obstruction after the search began
Most of the cases on this page describe a scheme that ended before investigators got involved. Here, prosecutors say Damato kept trying to manage the fallout after the FBI had already searched his home, contacting at least one potential witness, conduct serious enough that he pleaded guilty to it as part of his agreement, not merely the original sales themselves.
The caveat
Damato pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and admitted to the obstruction conduct described above; those two facts are established. At the time this page was last reviewed, his sentencing hearing had not yet occurred in any source consulted for this case, so no prison term or restitution figure is stated here, and none should be assumed from the guilty plea alone.
Sources
- Bay Area sports memorabilia dealer pleads guilty to selling fake Willie Mays items. CBS News Sacramento. Accessed 2026-11-01. Supports: The guilty plea, the charge date, the $100,000 bat and $50,000 jersey sale prices, the 2022 to 2024 conduct window, the "factory error" bat detail, the obstruction admission, and the maximum statutory penalty.
- Concord man fraudulent Willie Mays bat pleads guilty. NBC Bay Area. Accessed 2026-11-01. Supports: Confirmation of the guilty plea, the October 2024 FBI search, and the witness-contact obstruction allegation.
- Fake Willie Mays sports memorabilia scam: Concord man arrested. Patch. Accessed 2026-11-01. Supports: The October 20 charging date, the scheduled March 23, 2026 sentencing hearing, and the name of the presiding judge, Araceli Martínez-Olguín.