Babe Ruth's 1927 WS Ring

[woody1351]

http://deadspin.com/#!5775565/the-messy-history-of-charlie-sheens-winning-ring

[cincy13]

Barry Halper once called me...I won an item out of Robert Edwards...Lifson game him my phone number so that he could try to talk me into selling the item to him (Barry Halper). He called me at work and at home. I never gave Robert permission to give anyone my phone number, which pissed me off. Hapler came across as one arrogant A###hole. He acted like I called him to sell the item. There's more to the story, but I won't bore you with it....I'm not surprised at all what I'm hearing about Halper's collection and I'm not surprised if it comes out he stole those rings.

[Bravesfan]

Interesting read.

[gameused]

Barry Halper once called me...I won an item out of Robert Edwards...Lifson game him my phone number so that he could try to talk me into selling the item to him (Barry Halper). He called me at work and at home. I never gave Robert permission to give anyone my phone number, which pissed me off. Hapler came across as one arrogant A###hole. He acted like I called him to sell the item. There's more to the story, but I won't bore you with it....I'm not surprised at all what I'm hearing about Halper's collection and I'm not surprised if it comes out he stole those rings.

Halper also took advantage of Lou Gehrigs widow, this guy was a true jerk!

In 1999, Halper told The New York Times that he swapped six bottles of J&B Scotch with Lou Gehrig's widow in exchange Lou's "Luckiest Man on Earth" uniform from 1939. Halper said Mrs. Gehrig was happy to get some "hooch."

[Danny899]

http://deadspin.com/#!5775565/the-messy-history-of-charlie-sheens-winning-ring


Woody,
That's some good reading. Thanks for sharing it. I also thought that Halper was untouchable. Then I remember reading about the Gehrig jersey story. That was hard for me to swallow. I guess also that even Dimaggio got tired of signing things for Halper.

Dan

[allstarsplus]

Good read and you can't always take the word of an heir also. I remember Ted Williams son as one who created many issues in the honor code.

Heirs get items that they want to turn into cash but not look greedy as to pass on their relatives treasured items so it has become a much too convenient excuse to say it was stolen or lost when it becomes public. This happens with famous and non-famous families all the time. Daughter inherits diamond earrings and pawns them off and grand-daughter one day is looking for them and OMG, they are missing!

There are always 2 sides to every story. Also regrets happen all time with purchases and sales.

[DonFan23]

Good read and you can't always take the word of an heir also. I remember Ted Williams son as one who created many issues in the honor code.

Heirs get items that they want to turn into cash but not look greedy as to pass on their relatives treasured items so it has become a much too convenient excuse to say it was stolen or lost when it becomes public. This happens with famous and non-famous families all the time. Daughter inherits diamond earrings and pawns them off and grand-daughter one day is looking for them and OMG, they are missing!

There are always 2 sides to every story. Also regrets happen all time with purchases and sales.

Not to mention that you also need to consider the source of the information. Not calling Halper squeaky clean by any means, but the author has had plenty of questionable memorabilia dealings of his own. http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=124202

[allstarsplus]

Not to mention that you also need to consider the source of the information. Not calling Halper squeaky clean by any means, but the author has had plenty of questionable memorabilia dealings of his own. http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=124202


Haul of Shame is a great title and I agree with you on Halper. When Halper was collecting, I am sure he was ripped off many times as the stories of provenance sometimes held more weight then doing proper forensics on the items.

The sheer volume of this man's collection was staggering. When I saw his jersey carousel like they have in a dry cleaner's shop I was blown away.

Remember, back in the day, Halper was a "go to" guy for sports memorabilia when someone wanted to sell. There wasn't eBay or the internet back then but still today, players and the heirs will still try to go the quick/easy or underground route.

I had a player last year contact me as he needed quick cash. He said he wanted to sell his framed 1st HR bat with the HR baseball for $5,000. I told him I wouldn't do it as it needed to stay in his family. He then thought it was a money thing and dropped the price to $2,500, then to $1,000. He was so desperate. I told him it wasn't about the money that he would regret selling it one day so I sent him $500 as a loan I knew would never be repaid.

Even that Gehrig jersey story that Bobby posted has 2 sides of that coin I am sure.