Update: Two pieces of baseball history stolen from Safeco Field’s museum in Seattle last week have been recovered.
A thief broke into the museum on Thursday and made off with bags of jerseys, bats and other memorabilia from a variety of teams, including the Vancouver Capilanos.
Most of the items were found when police arrested a Suspect on Friday, but officers couldn’t find a 1947 Vancouver Capilanos championship silver cigarette case and a baseball used at a Vancouver Beavers championship game in 1908.
On Monday, one day after CTV News reported the theft, the owner of the memorabilia said the last two items had finally been found.
The ball was located through a collector’s forum, where someone had posted the CTV News story. The ball apparently fell onto the street outside the alleged thief’s apartment and a neighbour picked it up.
The Good Samaritan returned the ball to police on Monday.
The cigarette case was eventually located in the suspect’s apartment.
Previous story: A sports memorabilia collector says he is devastated after somebody stole two historically significant items from a baseball museum in Seattle – and both have a Vancouver connection.
Police say the thief broke into Safeco Field’s baseball museum on Thursday, taking with him bags of historic memorabilia, including jerseys and bats used by Edgar Martinez, caps worn by Ken Griffey Jr. and a variety of items from other teams – including Vancouver.
David Eskenazi, the Seattle-based owner of much of the stolen memorabilia, was in shock.
“My initial reaction was, obviously, great upset bordering on horror,” said Eskenazi, a baseball historian. “I felt very violated, both from a personal standpoint and from the standpoint of the preservation and display of history that we do on an ongoing basis there at Safeco Field.”
The thief left fingerprints all over the crime scene, according to Seattle police. Officers managed to track down and arrest the suspect Friday, recovering most of the stolen items – except for two.
One of the missing items is a 1947 Vancouver Capilanos championship silver cigarette case.
Another is a century-old baseball used in a Northwest League championship game between the Vancouver Beavers and Spokane back in 1908.
Eskenazi said the incredibly rare item is valuable monetarily, but even more so historically.
“In my view, it’s not really relevant because I believe most of the value is in the historical aspects of it,” he said. “Money can be replaced. Historical value that’s lost can’t be.”
The curator of the BC Sports Hall of Fame says while these types of thefts are rare, it’s debilitating to collectors and historians alike.
“They’re likely trying to make a quick sale on them, trying to sell them on the black market,” Jason Beck said. “I don’t know what these people often thing. When you’re trying to sell high-profile items like this…there’s a lot of attention on it.”
Eskenazi said he’s convinced the missing items will be returned, thanks to a community of collectors on the lookout for the rare memorabilia.
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Julie Nolin.
