Addie Joss Day Ball

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Posted By: John Dickson

I'm new but have learned much from you veterans (thanks). T206s are my only collecting passion, and I was blown away by the "Addie Joss Day" game used ball that is currently up for auction, Robert Edward lot#324. First I am suprised that the item exists, (it is magnificent), and secondly that it could potentially go to a private collection, never to be seen by the public again. I would think that this one of a kind item would be immediately sent to the Baseball Hall Of Fame for it's historical significance alone without question. I know the item costs money, and I don't know how the HOF aquires pieces, I can only hope it ends up there so I can see it in person. The tragic story, the game use, the sigs by the most prolific HOFers of the dead ball era, Just looking at the pictures of it gives me chills! What are your thoughts?

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Posted By: hankron

Unless the donation is the Hope Diamond or Van Gogh's Starry Night, there's no assurance the item won't be packed in a box and stuck in the Museum's storage room for years. That's the way museums work.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

What the Met has done to the Burdick collection is a crying shame and is illustrative of how risky it is to give something to a museum in the mistaken belief that they will actually use it without a contractual obligation. I doubt that Jeff Burdick would have wanted his baseball cards to be locked away and unavailable except in chintzy 100 card lots on a hallway wall with no indexing or imaging available. If I was going to donate something to a museum, you can bet that the donation agreement would contain one hell of an out clause to permit my heirs to retrieve the object unless certain use criteria were met.

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Posted By: prewarsports

I agree, Museums have enough stuff. Not only that, but unless I am mistaken I think the Baseball Hall of Fame is a for profit organization and even though you donate something they could still sell it later at their discretion if times got tough, or do what they want to do and there is no guarantee that the ball or any item would even stay there.

I also think that if you actually "donate" something you can't put restrictions on their use once it is theirs. I believe you would have to loan it to them, which would give you little or no tax breaks but would be assured you could get it back. I think the only way you could donate and then later retreive it back would be if they were severely mistreating the item or comitting waste.

Been a while since my property law class but that is what I remember.