$50K in memorabilia stolen from Wichita, KS sports bar on 7/29, including two signed Ruth balls:

http://www.kansas.com/news/story/910474.html

$50,000 in sports memorabilia stolen from Players


BY STAN FINGER The Wichita Eagle

Two baseballs signed by Babe Ruth and other sports memorabilia items were stolen from a west Wichita sports bar shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

The balls were taken from a display case at Players Sports Bar in the 6200 block of West 21st Street, Capt. Darrell Haynes said.

Also taken were a Mickey Mantle baseball card, a 1985 Kansas City Royals championship ring, rings from Super Bowls IX and X, and Big 8 championship rings for Nebraska and Oklahoma.

The combined value of the stolen items is "in excess of $50,000," Haynes said.

A baseball in good condition with a clear Babe Ruth autograph could be worth $75,000 alone, said Joe Ruocco, owner of the sports memorabilia shop Rock's Dugout at 3232 N. Rock Road.

The timing of the thefts is likely no coincidence, Ruocco said. The 30th National Sports Collectors Convention began Wednesday in Cleveland and runs through Sunday.

"If they were to get rid of them, that's the best place to do it," Ruocco said. "There's a lot of high-end buyers there."

A Mickey Mantle baseball card from his rookie year in 1952 could fetch $30,000 if it's in good condition, Ruocco said.

The stolen baseballs signed by Babe Ruth have certificates of authenticity that are in the owner's safe, said Mike Santiago, kitchen manager for Players.

Without those, Santiago said, whoever stole the baseballs will have a hard time selling them.

"Who's going to want to buy it and pay that much money and implicate themselves?" he asked.

The robber or robbers smashed laminated glass on the northeast corner of the building, then went to the front entrance on the southwest side of the building and smashed two display cases, Santiago said.

"They knew exactly what they wanted," Santiago said. "There's a lot of stuff they could have taken, but they went for the most expensive items."
The thieves also knew their way around the bar, he said.

"They were in and out of there in no time," Santiago said.

By the time officers arrived in response to the building alarm, the thieves were gone.

Local pawnshops have already been alerted, Santiago said, and the owner will be monitoring eBay and other Internet auction and sales sites as well as communicating with prominent collectors.

The bar has security cameras, Haynes said, "but we don't know if they were working."

Because the thief or thieves had to crawl through a hole with jagged glass edges to get in, Haynes said, residents are being advised to call police if someone they know has several fresh cuts and no obvious explanation for them.

Reach Stan Finger at 316-268-6437 or sfinger@wichitaeagle.com