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Club that owns 1979 Pirates hardware is bankrupt

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updated 10:24 p.m. ET March 24, 2005

PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Pirates 1979 World Series trophy, now on loan to a sports museum, could be sold at auction because its owner is bankrupt.

The Allegheny Club declared bankruptcy in 2002 and its memorabilia collection - including the trophy - could be sold to pay its debts. The club has since merged with the HYP Pittsburgh Club and the combined group is known as The Allegheny HYP Club.
An unidentified New York collector has offered $100,000 for the collection.

The Pirates and the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, where the trophy is displayed, now are considering making their own bids to keep it in Pittsburgh.

Story continues below ↓

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Major League Baseball awards each year's World Series trophy to a team's owner. The Galbreath family, who owned the Pirates until 1985, donated the trophy to the Allegheny HYP Club, which was formed in the 1970s by corporate officials and other leaders to help pay for Three Rivers Stadium.

The club had displayed the trophy - commemorating the team's last World Series championship - in its restaurant at Three Rivers Stadium, which opened in 1970 and was razed in 2001. After the demolition, the trophy was put on display at another Pittsburgh museum. It was moved into the new Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, which is part of the Sen. John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, on Monday.

The sports museum doesn't have the means to buy the memorabilia collection, said its director, Anne Madarasz. It is working with the bankrupt club to put in a bid on the trophy and other items.

Pirates' spokeswoman Patty Paytas said the team might try to recover the trophy, too.

"We were not aware of an auction going on," Paytas said. "We would be interested in having the memorabilia back with the organization. We place a high value on these items and we would not be enthusiastic about them leaving town with a collector."