#1- Score Sheets From June 19, 1846 Game; Knickerbockers vs. New Yorks

A lengthy investigation into the alleged thefts of baseball artifacts from the New York Public Library, Boston Public Library and National Baseball Hall of Fame, has confirmed claims that each institution has experienced significant losses to their historic baseball collections. Based upon evidence gathered in its investigation, Hauls of Shame announces its “Ten Most Wanted Missing National Baseball Treasures.”  For decades historic items from these important collections have sold both publicly and privately on the “black market of baseball artifacts.” Hauls of Shame releases this list in an effort to raise public awareness in the baseball research and collecting communities and to aid the recovery efforts of both law enforcement and the victimized institutions. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of these missing items please contact us at: tips@haulsofshame.com.  We also suggest that you contact the New York office of the FBI at: ny1@ic.fbi.gov  to report any information that might be helpful to the on-going investigations and recovery efforts.
The “10 Most Wanted Missing National Baseball Treasures”, listed below, can be viewed at:   http://haulsofshame.com/most_wanted.html

1. June 19, 1846 Score Sheets For First Match Game; Knickerbockers vs. New Yorks.(A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

2.  1859 Knickerbocker B.B.C. Challenge Letter to the Eagle B.B.C.(A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

3.  1859 Photo of the Excelsiors of Brooklyn and Knickerbocker Base Ball Clubs by Williamson, Brooklyn.(A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

4. 1874  Autographed Warren Cabinet Photo of  Harry Wright.(A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

5.  1875 Letter to Harry Wright Awarding Boston the Championship Pennant of 1875. Signed by Harry Wright and Morgan Bulkeley. (From the missing Harry Wright Correspondence Scrapbook Vol. 1,  A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

6. 1892 Imperial Cabinet Photo of the Boston  B.B.C with Mike “King” Kelly(M. T. McGreevey Collection of Baseball Pictures, Boston Public Library)

7.  1877 Letter Written by Banished Ballplayer Jim Devlin to Harry Wright.  (Harry Wright Correspondence Scrapbook Vol. 1 , A. G. Spalding Collection, New York Public Library)

8. A) 1887 Autographed Tintype photo of Hall-of Famer Tommy McCarthy. (A. G. Spalding Collection, New York Public Library)

8. B) The Last Will and Testament of Hall-of-Famer Thomas F. McCarthy. (Suffolk County Probate Court, Boston, MA.)

9. 1917 Letter Written by  Christy Mathewson to August Herrmann. (August Herrmann Papers, National Baseball Hall of Fame)

10.  1859 Brooklyn Excelsiors Challenge Letter to Knickerbocker B.B.C.(A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

Full Descriptions of the “10 Most Wanted Missing National Baseball Treasures”:

1. June 19, 1846 Score Sheets For First Match Game Between Knickerbocker and New York Baseball Clubs. (A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:The score-sheet pages were once bound in the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club Score Books. These volumes were donated to the NYPL in 1921 by the widow of A. G. Spalding, but were originally bequeathed to Spalding in 1907 by Hall-of-Fame baseball writer Henry Chadwick.

Last Appearance: A photograph of one of the missing score sheets was reproduced in the 1973 edition of author John Durant’s Pictorial History of American Sports(A. S. Barnes & Co.) The sheets were discovered missing in 1988 when historian John Thorn was trying to locate the pages on microfilm. The pages were missing before the manuscripts in the Spalding Collection were microfilmed in 1983 as part of a joint effort conducted by Thorn, SABR, the Baseball Hall of Fame and The Sporting News.

Evidence of Theft:Two remnants of pages appear to be left behind in the volume. Under close examination, it appears that the score sheets were removed from the Knick Game Book with a sharp object.

2. Aug. 13, 1859 Knickerbocker Base Ball Club Challenge Letter sent to the Eagle Base Ball Club. (A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:Donated to NYPL in 1921 by the widow of A. G. Spalding. Originally bequeathed to Spalding in 1907 by Hall-of-Fame baseball writer Henry Chadwick. Included in an NYPL scrapbook: Knickerbocker Base Ball Club Correspondence Vol. 1.

Last Appearance:Publicly sold for $4,600 as lot 136 in Sotheby’s 1999 auction of the “Barry Halper Collection.”

Evidence of Theft:The letter was sliced and torn from the Knick Correspondence scrapbook leaving behind a portion of the letter that was originally adhered to a scrapbook page by the NYPL in 1921. Left behind was a remnant of paper (with ink) that fits exactly into an area of paper loss found on the Halper/Sotheby’s lot. Visible under close examination on the reverse of the paper, still adhered to the NYPL scrapbook. is the inscription: “Copy of Challenge to Smith of Eagle Club Aug. 13, 1859.”

In addition to this letter, there are at least six other documented “Knickerbocker Challenge Letters” in private collections. All six have been wrongfully removed from the NYPL’s Knickerbocker Correspondence Scrapbook. Two of these letters appeared in the 2005 publication, Smithsonian Baseball: Inside the World’s Finest Public Collections.

3. Mammoth 1859 Photo of the Excelsior Base Ball Club of Brooklyn and Knickerbocker Base Ball Club by Williamson, Brooklyn. (A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:Donated to the NYPL in 1921 by the widow of A. G. Spalding. Originally bequeathed to Spalding in 1907 by Hall-of-Fame baseball writer Henry Chadwick.

Last Appearance: The original photograph, which was originally included in A.G. Spalding’s America’s National Game (1911), was shot for inclusion in the 1922 publication of the book series Pageant of America: Annals of American Sport.

Evidence of Theft:A c.1920 silver gelatin print of the original photo is still part of the NYPL’s photography collection, however, the 1859 original is missing. All that remains in the Spalding Collection in regard to the 1859 photo is a negative print of the original.

4. 1874 Warren Studios Autographed Cabinet Photograph of Boston Red Stocking, Harry Wright. (A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:Bequeathed to “The National League and American Association of Professional Baseball Clubs” by Harry Wright in his 1895 will. Subsequently acquired by A. G. Spalding as a baseball franchise owner/league executive and later donated by his widow to the NYPL in 1921.

Last Appearances: Included on page 37 of Robert Smith’s 1961 Baseball in America with a photo credit to the New York Public Library. Sold for $9,202 by MastroNet Inc. in their November, 2000 auction.

Evidence of Theft:This photograph appears on the NYPL’s “Missing List,” which was compiled in 1987 after a full inventory of the “Spalding Collection” was conducted. The photo appears on the original 1921 NYPL Spalding inventory list as: “Wright, Harry (Boston, Warren) “Center Field.”

The photograph’s inscription is written in pencil by Wright himself. The NYPL “Spalding Collection” still retains cabinet photos of nearly all 1874 Boston players, all inscribed with name and position by Harry Wright.
The photograph possesses unique imperfections that are evident in both the image credited to NYPL in 1961 and the cabinet photo auctioned in 2000. (In particular, a surface scrape is visible in the lower left hand corner of both images.)

5. Nov. 26, 1875 Letter to Harry Wright Awarding the Boston Red Stockings the Championship Pennant of 1875. Autographed by Harry Wright and Morgan Bulkeley. From the missing Harry Wright Correspondence Scrapbook Vol. 1 (A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:Bequeathed to “The National League and American Association of Professional Baseball Clubs” by Harry Wright in his 1895 will. Subsequently acquired by A. G. Spalding as a baseball franchise owner/league executive and later donated by his widow to the NYPL in 1921.

Last Appearances:This document was sold for $14,950 as Lot 206 in Sotheby’s 1999 auction of “The Barry Halper Collection.” It was also offered in the early 1990s by Richard Wolfers Auction House in San Francisco with an estimated value of $25,000-$30,000)

Evidence of Theft:The correspondence collection of Harry Wright arrived at the NYPL in 1921 and each document was subsequently affixed into four volumes of scrapbooks prepared by NYPL. When the “Spalding Collection” was microfilmed in 1983, only one volume of the Wright Correspondence remained in the collection with three volumes deemed “missing.”

In the 1950’s pioneering baseball historians Dr. Harold Seymour and his wife Dorothy utilized the Wright Correspondence as source material for Seymour’s 1956 Cornell University dissertation entitled: The Rise of Major League Baseball to 1891 and his book, Baseball: The Early Years (Oxford Press, 1960). In the course of their research, the Seymours took copious research notes quoting passages from letters and documents included in all four Harry Wright Correspondence scrapbooks. The Seymours donated their own archive of research materials to Cornell University where they are now housed in the Carl A. Kroch Library as part of the University’s Rare and Manuscript Collection.

 Examination of the Seymour Papers at Cornell reveals a research note in the handwriting of Harold Seymour documenting the fact that this 1875 letter awarding the Boston team the championship was once part of the Wright Correspondence scrapbooks as “Wright Corres. I p.21.” In his research note, Seymour quoted from the 1875 letter once affixed to p. 21 of the “missing” Wright Correspondence scrapbook.  Seymour’s notes state:

“Committee of Nat. Assoc. of B. B. players resolved to award pennant to Boston for 1875- said club having won most games as appears from records on file.
Records of games won & lost received only from Athletic, Boston, Hartford, Mutual & St. Louis clubs (also has lists sent in showing won & lost record- Athletic list complete also some others.) (Bulkeley & Wright signed) Wright Corrres. I p. 21”

The NYPL retains only volume 2 of the Wright Correspondence Scrapbooks, which contains more than 400 documents. The missing (3) volumes of correspondence may contain close to 1,500 documents with an estimated value exceeding $1,000,000.

6. 1892 Imperial Cabinet Photograph of the Boston Base Ball Club with Mike “King” Kelly (M. T. McGreevey Collection of Baseball Pictures, Boston Public Library)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:Donated by Michael T. “Nuf Ced” McGreevy to the Boston Public Library in 1923. Part of a larger collection of McGreevy’s pictures donated to the BPL that once were on display in his “3rd Base Saloon” in Roxbury, MA from 1894-1920.

Last Appearances:Displayed in Boston’s Filene’s Department Store window as part of a 1939 BPL exhibit honoring Baseball’s centennial. Sold for $2,300 as Lot 303 in Sotheby’s 1999 auction of the “Barry Halper Collection.” (Also sold by MastroNet in 2001 and Hunt Auctions in 2003)

Evidence of Theft:In the 1970’s the Boston Public Library took photographs of many of the items included in their “McGreevey Collection.” An image of the 1892 Boston team captured in the 1970’s is presently part of the BPL’s digital collection on their website. The 1892 photograph appears under accession number 06_06_000159 and is described as, “Copy print of original photograph missing and presumed stolen from the McGreevey Collection.” The photo on the BPL website is the exact photo offered at auction with matching surface damage unique to the McGreevey Collection item.

7. Nov. 25, 1877 Letter Written by Banished Ballplayer Jim Devlin to Harry Wright. From Harry Wright Correspondence Scrapbook Vol. 1 (A. G. Spalding Collection, New York Public Library)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:Bequeathed to “The National League and American Association of Professional Baseball Clubs” by Harry Wright in his 1895 will. Subsequently acquired by A. G. Spalding as a baseball franchise owner/league executive and later donated by his widow to the NYPL in 1921.

Last Appearance:Sold for $8,050 as lot 209 in the 1999 Sotheby’s auction of the “Barry Halper Collection.” In the letter, James Devlin, banished from baseball for throwing games, begs for support from Harry Wright:
“…you must not think Harry if I done what I did that I would ever do it again. I did not do it for the money I got, it was because I had to Pay debts and my wife and child was in want…”

Evidence of Theft: In July of 2009 two other letters written by Jim Devlin to Harry Wright were included in the MLB All-Star Weekend Auction conducted by Hunt Auctions. Baseball historian Dorothy Seymour Mills provided information to the FBI confirming that the (2) 1877 Devlin letters in the auction were cited by her husband (with a credit to the NYPL’s Harry Wright Correspondence Collection) in his 1956 Cornell dissertation and his book, Baseball: The Early Years (Oxford, 1960). The MLB Auction offerings were removed from the sale and the FBI subsequently took possession of both Devlin letters.
The NYPL collection has two additional Devlin letters remaining in their Harry Wright Correspondence Scrapbook, Volume 2 (1878-1884). The letter included in Sotheby’s sale of the Barry Halper Collection is the final missing Devlin letter from the Wright Correspondence Collection, and was originally pasted into Volume 1 (1865-1877).
An article which appeared over thirty years ago in The Sporting News, confirms that collector Barry Halper had a stolen Devlin letter in his possession as early as July 16, 1977. Writer Bill Madden reported:

“Halper would surely bring envy from Hall of Fame historians with his collection of written correspondence by Harry Wright…Halper has an authentic letter from (Jim) Devlin to Wright, pleading to be reinstated.”

8. A) 1887 Autographed Tintype photograph of Hall-of Famer Tommy McCarthy. (A. G. Spalding Collection, New York Public Library)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:Bequeathed to “The National League and American Association of Professional Baseball Clubs” by Harry Wright in his 1895 will. Subsequently acquired by A. G. Spalding as a baseball franchise owner/league executive and later donated by his widow to the NYPL in 1921.

Last Appearance:Sold as Lot 395 in the May 1996 sale conducted by Lelands Auctions. Lelands described the item as, “One of the only known signatures of McCarthy & definitely the only tintype.” The item is offered as part of the, “Collection of a Gentleman…an anonymous but legendary collector. Amassed primarily in the 1960s and 1970s these completely “fresh” pieces have not seen the light of day for decades.”
The item is inscribed: “Thos. F. McCarthy March 1887.”

Evidence of Theft:The 1987 NYPL’s “Missing List” for the photographic section of the “Spalding Collection” includes this same item as:

“McCarthy, Tommy, Boston. “March 1887.” Tintype.”

8. B) The Last Will and Testament of Baseball Hall-of-Famer Thomas F. McCarthy. (Suffolk County Probate Court, Boston, MA.)

DESCRIPTION

Origin: Thomas F. McCarthy died on August 5, 1922 in Boston, MA. If he executed a Last Will and Testament it would be filed in the Suffolk County Probate Court.In the April 12, 1982 edition of Sports Illustrated, writer Robert Creamer reports that legendary baseball memorabilia collector and minority owner of the NY Yankees, Barry Halper, “…tracked down a relative who found Tommy’s will, signed two days before his death.” Creamer states that Halper paid $150 for the document and that the acquisition of the McCarthy signature completed Halper’s collection of signatures for every member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Last Appearance: An article in the October, 1990 edition of Connoisseur Magazine and various Associated Press articles report that Barry Halper was still in possession of McCarthy’s will, “dated August 3, 1922…”

Evidence of Theft:In 1998, a Suffolk County Courthouse employee named Joe Schnabel pleaded guilty to numerous thefts of the wills and probate files of various Baseball Hall-of-Famers. In the course of the investigation it is confirmed that the will of Thomas McCarthy is missing from the Suffolk County Probate Court. Barry Halper is reported to have been questioned, but the McCarthy will was never returned. Schnabel never admits to stealing the McCarthy will.  Schnabel started stealing documents from the court in the early 1990s, years after Barry Halper already had the McCarthy will in his possession.

9. 1917 Letter Written by Hall-of-Famer Christy Mathewson to August Herrmann. (August Herrmann Papers, National Baseball Hall of Fame)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:This document was once part of the business and club records of August Herrmann, owner and president of the Cincinnati Base Ball Club. Herrmann’s entire archive of correspondence and business records spanning from 1902-1927 were stored in a room near the upper deck of Cincinnati’s Crosley Field until Red’s owner Powel Crosley Jr. donated the entire collection to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961. It wasn’t until 2006, thanks to a grant from the Yawkey Foundation, that the entire archive was preserved, professionally conserved and officially catalogued in the official “Guide to the August “Garry” Herrmann Papers 1877-1938.”

Last Appearance:Sold for $9,775 as Lot 526 by Sotheby’s in the 1999 auction of the “Barry Halper Collection.”

Evidence of Theft:The Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Herrmann Papers” archive includes separate files dedicated to all of the correspondence Herrmann received from his manager, Christy Mathewson. Folder 25 in the collection includes all of the Mathewson correspondence to Herrmann spanning from 1916-1919. In particular, there is a series of letters written by Mathewson in January of 1917. The letters were written by Mathewson on January 5th, 6th and 8th on his personal stationary which included his home address of “87 St. Nicholas Place, New York.” The letter offered by Sotheby’s was dated January 10, 1917 and written on the exact same stationary. It appears to be missing from the National Baseball Library files.

10. May 19, 1859 Excelsior Base Ball Club of Brooklyn Acceptance of Challenge Letter to Knickerbocker Base Ball Club. (A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection, New York Public Library)

DESCRIPTION

Origin:Donated to the NYPL in 1921 by the widow of A. G. Spalding. Originally bequeathed to Spalding in 1907 by Hall-of-Fame baseball writer Henry Chadwick. Included in an NYPL scrapbook: Knickerbocker Base Ball Club Correspondence Vol. 1.

Last Appearance: Publicly sold for $1,856 by Robert Edward Auctions as Lot 681 in their April 2006 auction. (Also offered in a 2005 public sale for $12,000 by Between the Covers Rare Books Inc.)

Evidence of Theft:The letter was sliced from the Knick Correspondence scrapbook with a sharp object leaving behind a portion of the letter that was originally adhered to a scrapbook page by the NYPL in 1921. The letter auctioned by REA has the same embossed stationers mark and the reverse of the page still affixed to the NYPL scrapbook reads: “Acceptance of Challenge to Excelsior BBC, May 19th 1859, Rec’d “20.” In addition, the same NYPL scrapbook page still retains a copy of the letter written by the Knickerbockers to challenge the Excelsiors on May 10, 1859.