Haulsofshame.com Reports: Penny Marshall Denies Buying Lou Gehrig's "Last Glove" for $387,500; Real Glove is in Baseball Hall of Fame; Who's "The Unluckiest Collector on the Face of the Earth"

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y., June 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Penny Marshall's purchase of Lou Gehrig's "Last Glove" for $387,500 has been reported in the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times and in the New York Daily News by a reporter who interviewed the director of A League of Their Own.

Michael O'Keeffe interviewed Marshall for a 2006 article which identified items in her collection originating from the Barry Halper Collection, including a Christy Mathewson checkerboard and an Andy Warhol serigraph of Pete Rose.

O'Keeffe said Marshall, a die-hard Yankee fan, also made history by winning, "A Lou Gehrig glove at a 1999 auction for $387,500, still one of the highest prices ever paid for sports memorabilia."

Earlier this month expert Dave Grob issued a report on Haulsofshame.com challenging the authenticity of that glove and showing the genuine mitt was donated to the Hall of Fame by Gehrig's mother.

The New York Post recently confirmed Marshall "denied 100%" the purchase of the glove. Haulsofshame.com also interviewed Marshall who said, "I never bought it, if someone wants to give it to me I'd take it, but I wouldn't pay $400,000. Billy Crystal bought a Mantle glove for $200,000." Marshall confirmed her auction purchases including the checkerboard and sheet music. Informed of the authenticity issues and that the real "last glove" resides in Cooperstown, Marshall added, "The Hall of Fame came to my house. I'm going to leave them some of my stuff when I'm gone." Marshall denied knowledge of reports saying she owned the glove.

Grob's revelations about the glove are the latest in a long line of exposed bogus artifacts sold by the NY Yankee partner who died in 2005. When Halper sold "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's jersey to MLB in 1998, he claimed purchasing it from Jackson's widow in the 1950s. But testing done by the Hall of Fame proved it was a forgery made with materials manufactured after the 1940s. Halper sold the fake jersey to MLB as part of an $8 million deal.

Sotheby's said Babe Dahlgren acquired Gehrig's glove after his last game. But in 1990, Sports Illustrated quoted Dahlgren as saying he got the glove one year after that game.

Two people who know the identity of the "unluckiest collector" are the individuals responsible for the 1999 sale; Marsha Malinowski of Sotheby's and Rob Lifson, of REA, who was their consultant.

In 2004, Lifson told Beckett Sports Collectibles Magazine what he did for Sotheby's: "As far as what REA did, I personally wrote the entire catalogue." Lifson added that he also, "Chose the authenticators," and "Took care of all matters related to research."

For now, the identity of the "unluckiest collector" remains a mystery. Rumors that President George H. W. Bush "coveted the glove" and purchased it were dismissed by Jim Appleby, an Aide to President Bush.

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CONTACT: Peter Nash 917-439-8477

SOURCE Haulsofshame.com