Bloops: The 10 Most Wanted Missing National Baseball Treasures
Posted by Neil Paine on May 26, 2010
Hauls of Shame is a new site focused on "the mysteries of the considerable thefts of rare, historical baseball artifacts from the collections of the New York Public Library, Boston Public Library and the National Baseball Hall of Fame." Today they released a list of the 10 Most Wanted Missing National Baseball Treasures, including the score sheets for the very first game in 1846 and a variety of other letters, wills, and photos dating back the origins of the game in the 19th century. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of these documents, you should contact the FBI, who is currently investigating the thefts as well.
May 26th, 2010 at 9:29 am
Last year, the Boston Herald published an article about the stolen 1889 photo of the Boston Red Stockings from the Boston Public Library system. Apparently 40 items donated to the library in the 1920's were also missing or stolen. If I remember correctly, the article attempted to link deceased Yankee minority owner Barry Halper to the thefts. As most of us know Halper was the owner of the most comprehensive baseball memorabilia collection in existence. Halper either sold off or auctioned off his collection in the late '90s. Sotheby's handled the auction. I guess they never bothered to investigate how Halper attained many of his one of a kind items. BTW, thanks for this link!!!!
May 26th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Halper apparently had loads of stolen and fake materials in that auction. His uniform colllection was full of fakes. Hopefully the authorities will track all these materials down and return them to their rightful owners.
May 26th, 2010 at 11:24 am
I recently picked up the book Baseball - The Presidents' Game, by William B. Mead and Paul Dickson, which recounts another act of thievery.
Walter Johnson had a collection of five Presidentially-autographed baseballs (Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover) that he donated to the Hall.
When his grandson was doing research for his bio on the Big Train, and wanted access to the collection, he was finally told (after several requests) that the baseballs had been stolen.
The Hall admitted that they didn't want word to get out, so people would think it was easy to steal such priceless memorabilia.
May 26th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Visiting the HALL as a child, it never struck me as odd how accessible (in a bad way) everything was. To a wide eyed kid, it was a wonderful, personal experience, but looking back - it did seem to have little if no security for some items, granted this was the 79, 81, 83. But, after our trip we went to an off the beaten path tourist trap in Cooperstown called Howe's Carvern. And even at 6 years old, I could tell the stalagmites had more protection than a game used Ruth Jersey. Funny memories... sad story.
May 26th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Talk about the real world intruding on out innermost fantasies!
It's a shame that these treasures need such high-tech security in the first place.
We all wish we could reach out and literally touch history. Experience the feel of the flannel, or the heft of the bat.
Doesn't it send your mind racing helter-skelter with the endless possibilities?
It is sad.
May 26th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
In regards to those stolen Walter Johnson Presedential baseballs, I believe the FBI recovered every one of the balls for the Hall of Fame- but that was only because the situation was made public. The balls apparently had been sold in major auctions. I see also on the hauls of shame site that letters from their historic letter archive have been stolen too including many priceless documents and affidavits about pprotested games at the turn of the century. What a travesty- hope they get everything back, but it seems collectors are aiding the crooks.