The Sad Passing of A Legandary Collector

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Posted By: bruce dorskind

It is with great sadness that I attach the story below on the passing
of the great Barry Halper.

Barry truly loved baseball, his family and his country.

His collection was a living museum ( there was a video tour made
to benefit his favorite hospital charity).

As a young collector, Barry had me to his home to trade. He
was the source of so many wonderful stories and so much
enthusiasm for the hobby and for America's past time.

The auction of his collection was an event that will never
be duplicated. It was a tribute to persistence and energy
not to mention the brilliant work of Rob Lifson and Barry Sloate

My deep condolences to his wife , sons and daughter.

Bruce

News Story

Dec 19, 2005 11:41 am US/Eastern
(1010 WINS) (LIVINGSTON, N.J.) Barry Halper, owner of one of the most extensive collections of baseball memorabilia and a limited partner in the New York Yankees, has died at 66.
Halper, who died Sunday at St. Barnabas Medical Center, was bedridden for nearly a year from complications of diabetes, said longtime friend and former Yankees spokesman Marty Appel.

A portion of his Halper's collection was acquired by Major League Baseball and donated to the Hall of Fame in 1998. Halper also fetched a staggering $21.8 million -- a record for sports memorabilia -- during a weeklong auction at Sotheby's in 1999. Included in the Sotheby's sale was a game-used Mickey Mantle glove, purchased by actor-comedian Billy Crystal for $239,000.
Halper amassed some 80,000 items, including uniforms of many Hall of Famers, an original ticket from the first World Series in 1903 and the jersey Lou Gehrig wore in his farewell speech at Yankee Stadium in 1939. Halper also owned oddities such as the false teeth worn by Ty Cobb, baseball's all-time leading hitter.

Also in Halper's collection were uniforms worn by Cobb, Walter Johnson, Cy Young and Mantle, during his rookie season of 1951. Halper also had the contract finalizing the sale of Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox to the Yankees, and a Honus Wagner baseball card.
Survivors include Halper's wife Sharon, sons Steven and Jason, and daughter Marnie Stark.
Funeral services are Tuesday at Temple B'Nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ