Barry Halper Auction 1999

I just recently picked up the auction catalog for the Barry Halper sale that Sotheby's had in 1999. I have read about Barry's collection, and have seen several pieces from it in the past, but I never saw the catalog and had no idea what was actually in the auction. I was so curious to finally see the details of the auction, so when I got the catalogs (yes, there are two of them because his collection was so massive) I was very excited.

If you have never seen what this man had in his collection, then you must get a hold of these catalogs and spend some time browsing them. His collection seriously rivaled that of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He had some very important baseball memorabilia.

It wasn't just the cards that have me in awe either, although he did have many great cards. It was the game used items, the personal items of the greats of the game, the shear scope of the collection that floored me.

Remember George Brett's pine tar game? Barry had the actual ball that Brett hit for the home run, the uniform he was wearing, and even the actuall pine tar bat. George did, however, ask Barry for the bat to be returned and he replaced it with another bat that had been used to hit three homeruns in a 1978 AL playoff game against the Yanks. Remember Bill Buckner in 1986? Barry had Bill's glove and shoes from that historic moment. Ever hear of Cy Young? Yeah, Barry had one of his game used jerseys. And what about Cap Anson? You remember, waaaaaay back in the day? Yup, one of his jerseys was in Barry's collection also.

I could go on and on with all the crazy stuff he had. It must have been so amazing to sit in his collection room and just look around at everything in sight. Someday I would like to have an office in my house that is home to the many pieces that I have collected in my life. Luckily for me, my wife wants me to have this room also. Isn't she great.

Barry Halper - 12/03/39 - 12/18/05