A SPORTING VIEWBy Mark VastoThe Mantle of HistoryHistory is written by the winners.President Harry Truman, the guy who dropped the big ones on Japan to end World War II, was a big fan of the expression. Years after his presidency, he was offered a "Frost/Nixon" sort of deal that would have had him visit Japan to meet the newly installed government. Truman had the gumption to fire the legendary Gen. Douglas MacArthur, but many still were surprised to learn that he agreed to go -- with one specific caveat:"I'm not going to kiss anyone's ass."Though he left office with one of the lowest approval ratings ever, Truman's legacy has withstood the test of time, and he is now generally considered one of our greatest presidents.Some 60 years later, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was running a disastrous campaign for president. A few years earlier, when America was sucker-punched on 9/11, Giuliani took the mantle as "America's mayor" and offered some semblance of calm under fire. Before that career turn, he was putting away the mob as a U.S. attorney.Now, Giuliani has picked up another mantle -- Mickey Mantle's, to be precise -- and once again, another historic figure and hero to many, another person who figures large in the record books and looms large in our minds, is being subjected to the firing line.Almost two decades after his death and half a century after he hobbled off the field at Yankee Stadium for the last time, a two-bit auction house is claiming to sell an authentic bat of his. That would not be spectacular in and of itself, but this item is different, the auctioneers proclaim. For the bat in question has been X-rayed, and it has been deemed to be tampered with ... corked.Corking a bat is a tactic many sluggers have employed, in much the same way that pitchers use sweat and rosin to manipulate the movement of the ball. Essentially, the top part of a bat is removed, the barrel drilled out, replaced by cork sprig and capped with the same piece of wood to disguise the ploy. Corking a bat gives a hitter maximum surface, but shaves off a few ounces in weight, allowing for a rapid swing.The Mantle family is not amused. They have decided that they are not going to let Mickey Mantle -- a man who wasn't allowed inside his house at night until he hit 10 straight balls off his surly father who had spent all day mining coal in Oklahoma -- be rewritten as a loser or a cheater. And the guy they hired to make sure of that? Rudy Giuliani.For the record, Truman never made the trip to Japan. One assumes there was too much downside for the ex-president and no need to assist his detractors in their attempts to rewrite history. Lifelong Yankee fan Giuliani, however, is going to be swinging away in court within weeks.Let the games begin.Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter who lives in Kansas City.(c) 2013 King Features Synd., Inc.