Sports, scam'n' forgery sells
Hayward author's book on bust of $100 million ring draws rave reviews
Column by Carl Steward
DO YOU have a favorite sports autograph purchased from a memorabilia dealer? Are you convinced it's real just because it was authenticated?
If you read Kevin Nelson's engrossing new book titled "Operation Bullpen: The Inside Story of the Biggest Forgery Scam in American History," you might be inclined to have it examined again.
Nelson, a 1971 Hayward High graduate who two years ago authored "The Golden Game," a brilliantly detailed history of baseball in California, has topped himself with a remarkable, multifaceted account of a gang of crooks who bilked gullible consumers out of more than $100 million by forging and peddling signatures of sports stars and celebrities through equally unscrupulous major memorabilia wholesalers.
The FBI bust of this scurrilous network made national news in October 2000, but the intricate details of how the operation originated and grew and the colorful, almost Sopranos-like characters who drove it have never been fleshed out until Nelson's fascinating and heavily anecdotal narrative, which required three years of interviews and research to complete.
Released this week, the book has received sensational earlyfrom Sports 1
notices. To wit, it's either the sports book or the crime book of the year, but either way, it's a movie crying to be made.
"Whenever I told the story, people were interested," Nelson said. "Some of them went, 'Wow, so why do you have this information? Why isn't David Halberstam on this
story?' I just said, 'Well, David Halberstam never actually inquired.' I just started asking questions, and you know how it goes ... you just let your natural curiosity lead you."
Nelson was granted access to the FBI files of the case and also interviewed many of the agents assigned to it. But what makes the book so compelling — and fresh — is that the author also talked to the crooks to get the full story, including the two key figures of the operation: Wiry, chain-smoking, tattoo-laden Wayne Bray, the mastermind who ultimately flipped on his fellow cohorts, as well as the master artist — pot-smoking, reggae-listening Greg Marino, whom FBI experts called one of the most remarkable forgers in American history.
Bray and Marino met in 1994 in Bray's San Diego area card shop, where Marino was attempting to peddle some of his father's sports lithographs. After striking up a friendship over a period of time, Marino walked into Bray's shop one day, pulled down a piece of Mickey Mantle memorabilia and replicated Mantle's beautifully rendered signature, which, as a lifelong Yankees fan, he had practiced relentlessly to perfect. Bray's reaction was pretty much instantaneous: Cha-ching!
Bray, who already had filled orders for forged merchandise with a corrupt major East Coast wholesaler named Stan Fitzgerald, was astounded by Marino's craftsmanship. One thing led to another, and at the point of Mantle's death, the always high interest in Mantle-signed merchandise exploded. So, too, did the forged merchandise enterprise.
Marino not only worked tirelessly signing fake Mantles, but he also quickly added countless other sports stars and celebrities to his repertoire — Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan and Mark McGwire as well as celebrities and well-known figures such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Albert Einstein, and in the most sensational find following the bust, five baseballs that were purportedly signed by Mother Teresa.
Of course, they were all expertly signed by Marino, who estimated that he produced more than 1 million forgeries, occasionally working 15 hours a day at his dining room table when demand, spurred on by the advent of the Internet and TV auction outlets, grew hot. He kept photocopies of authentic signatures in log books and could reproduce them on sight.
The forgery racketeering ring grew to include 20 individuals who were all busted on the same day in 2000, including Marino's brother, father and mother, the latter of which served as a ruthless money manager for the family. More than $10 million worth forged memorabilia was seized.
"It just astounded me how much money was involved and how much these guys could make," Nelson said. "Signed memorabilia is a $1billion annual industry, and these guys were the McDonald's of forgery. The requests that were coming in were so off-the-wall, but these guys didn't even blink an eye."
Their myriad tricks of the trade were so brazen they'll make you laugh. For signatures of deceased stars and celebs, the gang would buy up old books from thrift stores and use the blank, yellowing pages in the back to give off the appearance of age. They did the same with baseballs, reproducing old stamps and using old inks to craft a vintage autograph, then dipping the balls in shellac and putting them in bags of dog food to give than "that old smell."
There are dozens of such amazing anecdotes throughout this captivating tale, except the tale is all true. The ultimate testimonial? Even Bray called the author to tell him how well he'd nailed the details.
Check it out. Then go check on your prized autograph.
Column by Carl Steward
DO YOU have a favorite sports autograph purchased from a memorabilia dealer? Are you convinced it's real just because it was authenticated?
If you read Kevin Nelson's engrossing new book titled "Operation Bullpen: The Inside Story of the Biggest Forgery Scam in American History," you might be inclined to have it examined again.
Nelson, a 1971 Hayward High graduate who two years ago authored "The Golden Game," a brilliantly detailed history of baseball in California, has topped himself with a remarkable, multifaceted account of a gang of crooks who bilked gullible consumers out of more than $100 million by forging and peddling signatures of sports stars and celebrities through equally unscrupulous major memorabilia wholesalers.
The FBI bust of this scurrilous network made national news in October 2000, but the intricate details of how the operation originated and grew and the colorful, almost Sopranos-like characters who drove it have never been fleshed out until Nelson's fascinating and heavily anecdotal narrative, which required three years of interviews and research to complete.
Released this week, the book has received sensational earlyfrom Sports 1
notices. To wit, it's either the sports book or the crime book of the year, but either way, it's a movie crying to be made.
"Whenever I told the story, people were interested," Nelson said. "Some of them went, 'Wow, so why do you have this information? Why isn't David Halberstam on this
story?' I just said, 'Well, David Halberstam never actually inquired.' I just started asking questions, and you know how it goes ... you just let your natural curiosity lead you."
Nelson was granted access to the FBI files of the case and also interviewed many of the agents assigned to it. But what makes the book so compelling — and fresh — is that the author also talked to the crooks to get the full story, including the two key figures of the operation: Wiry, chain-smoking, tattoo-laden Wayne Bray, the mastermind who ultimately flipped on his fellow cohorts, as well as the master artist — pot-smoking, reggae-listening Greg Marino, whom FBI experts called one of the most remarkable forgers in American history.
Bray and Marino met in 1994 in Bray's San Diego area card shop, where Marino was attempting to peddle some of his father's sports lithographs. After striking up a friendship over a period of time, Marino walked into Bray's shop one day, pulled down a piece of Mickey Mantle memorabilia and replicated Mantle's beautifully rendered signature, which, as a lifelong Yankees fan, he had practiced relentlessly to perfect. Bray's reaction was pretty much instantaneous: Cha-ching!
Bray, who already had filled orders for forged merchandise with a corrupt major East Coast wholesaler named Stan Fitzgerald, was astounded by Marino's craftsmanship. One thing led to another, and at the point of Mantle's death, the always high interest in Mantle-signed merchandise exploded. So, too, did the forged merchandise enterprise.
Marino not only worked tirelessly signing fake Mantles, but he also quickly added countless other sports stars and celebrities to his repertoire — Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan and Mark McGwire as well as celebrities and well-known figures such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Albert Einstein, and in the most sensational find following the bust, five baseballs that were purportedly signed by Mother Teresa.
Of course, they were all expertly signed by Marino, who estimated that he produced more than 1 million forgeries, occasionally working 15 hours a day at his dining room table when demand, spurred on by the advent of the Internet and TV auction outlets, grew hot. He kept photocopies of authentic signatures in log books and could reproduce them on sight.
The forgery racketeering ring grew to include 20 individuals who were all busted on the same day in 2000, including Marino's brother, father and mother, the latter of which served as a ruthless money manager for the family. More than $10 million worth forged memorabilia was seized.
"It just astounded me how much money was involved and how much these guys could make," Nelson said. "Signed memorabilia is a $1billion annual industry, and these guys were the McDonald's of forgery. The requests that were coming in were so off-the-wall, but these guys didn't even blink an eye."
Their myriad tricks of the trade were so brazen they'll make you laugh. For signatures of deceased stars and celebs, the gang would buy up old books from thrift stores and use the blank, yellowing pages in the back to give off the appearance of age. They did the same with baseballs, reproducing old stamps and using old inks to craft a vintage autograph, then dipping the balls in shellac and putting them in bags of dog food to give than "that old smell."
There are dozens of such amazing anecdotes throughout this captivating tale, except the tale is all true. The ultimate testimonial? Even Bray called the author to tell him how well he'd nailed the details.
Check it out. Then go check on your prized autograph.
posted by Authentic1 at 9:10 PM
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