PITTSBURGH — The family of baseball Hall of Famer Willie Stargell said it is hurt and angry that his widow is auctioning his memorabilia, including his World Series ring and his National League MVP award.
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The auction, being conducted by SCP Auctions Inc., began Wednesday, the Post-Gazette reported. The items were selected by his second wife, Margaret Weller-Stargell.
Dolores Stargell, who was married to the late Pittsburgh late Pirates first baseman from 1962 to 1983, said she, her children and grandchildren weren't told about the auction. She said they were "completely blindsided" by the auction and that her anger was "released" upon hearing of it.
Her daughter is handicapped and her son, a Gulf War veteran, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, Stargell said. The family is living in poverty, she added.
In a letter on Facebook she helped them write, the children said, "Dad would want the accomplishments of his lifetime achievements to be on display and enjoyed by all, as opposed to sitting in someone's basement collecting dust."
Weller-Stargell said the auction is legal, and what his children are saying is simply untrue.
"They were aware of Willie's decision in 2001. He left those items to me and those items are mine to do with as I have done," Weller-Stargell told Channel 11 News.
She said her late husband made his wishes very clear in his will, and said it took her 16 years to make the decision to hold the auction.
"Willie made the decision years before his death that he wanted these items left to me because I know that he trusted me to do what was in the best interests of both a game that he loved, the Pirates organization, and its fans that he honored and respected," she previously said in a statement.
She said she has good reason for putting the items up for sale.
"I want these items to be in the hands of those that will appreciate the significance of them as it relates to the game of baseball, as it related to the Pittsburgh Pirates, that they can be enjoyed by many others," she said.
Weller-Stargell plans to donate some of the proceeds to charity. The recipients are to include the Stargell Foundation, Pirates Charities, and a dialysis unit at a Wilmington, North Carolina, hospital. She will receive the rest of the money from the auction.