PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates have asked a federal bankruptcy judge to stop the sale of the team's 1979 World Series trophy to a New York memorabilia collector.
The collector has bid $100,000 on the trophy and other memorabilia owned by the Allegheny Club, which used to operate a restaurant at the Pirates' former home, Three Rivers Stadium.
The Allegheny Club filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a few years ago, but has since merged with the Harvard-Yale-Princeton Club to become the Allegheny HYP Club. The club has loaned the trophy to the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. The trophy has been on display there since Monday.
Stanley Ference, president of the merged club, says the club
would like to see the trophy stay at the museum.
Pirates officials say its unclear whether the team's former
owners, the Galbreath family, lent or donated the trophy and other
memorabilia to the Allegheny Club. In either event, the Pirates
want to stop the sale of the trophy.