Baseball Letters Pulled from MLB All-Star Fanfest Memorabilia Auction Amid Concerns By Authorities
Law Enforcement Authorities say they are investigating the origins of some newly discovered 19th century letters that were written to one of baseball's founding fathers, Harry Wright. The inquiry was prompted amid concerns that the letters, which were scheduled to be sold July 14th at the All-Star Game's FanFest baseball memorabilia auction, contained one or more documents that were stolen from the New York Public Library. The theft is thought to have happened as far back as the 1970's. The concerns surrounding the origin of the baseball letters was first reported by The New York Times.
Sports memorabilia auction house heavyweight Hunt Auctions has suspended bidding on the letters, at least for the moment. David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions, said he has yet to see any evidence that the letters being sold by his company were obtained illicitly, but opted to freeze bidding on them anyway.
"There's nothing that gives me reason to believe, at this moment, that this person doesn't have a right to sell them," said Hunt. "It is always better to be conservative."
Hunt declined to release the identity of the seller, but did say that the individual had told them that the letters had belonged to his grandparents.
In addition to having a hand in the creation of the game itself, Harry Wright was also responsible for putting together the first professionally organized baseball team in Cincinnati, Ohio. He later went on to manage a number of other baseball teams as the sport continued to proliferate.
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