“My collection
went from one wall
to several shelves
to an entire room.”
Sterling with framed jerseys from Philadelphia Eagles and Steelers players.
memorabilia from discredited players like
Pete Rose, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire.
He also collects memorabilia from the
Negro League and the Rockford Peaches,
which were part of the All‑American Girls
Professional Baseball League, made famous in
the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own.”
His collection also includes footballs
signed by Randy White, Deacon Jones,
Tommy Maddox, Ben Roethlisberger and
Brett Favre, as well as numerous autographed
photos segregated by sport. He has dozens
of hockey pucks and sticks from players
like Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros and
Mario Lemieux. He’s also attended nearly
a dozen Final Four tournaments and has
collected about 40 to 50 basketballs from
championship games. He also has a variety of
framed jerseys, but prefers to collect smaller
objects because jerseys “take up too much
wall space.”
He has several unique pieces, including a
signed cue stick from billiard world champ
Steve Mizerak, who Sterling says was “the
size of Cleveland.” He has a game-used base
from the first time the Philadelphia Phillies
played against the new Washington Nationals
in Philadelphia, which was sent to him by his
friends in Major League Baseball’s licensing
division. He also has a leotard from Olympic
gymnast Dominique Dawes, which came to
him through extraordinary circumstances.
“Dominique was at the meeting we were
having with Under Armour to introduce their
new line of women’s apparel. She began to
pontificate about what we should be doing in
our stores,” Sterling explains. “It was obvious
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that she hadn’t been to any of our stores to see
what our limits are.”
Sterling says he chastised her in front
of the entire meeting, telling her it was an
“absolute disgrace” that she had not done
her research before speaking. Following the
meeting, he learned that he had, in fact, been
reprimanding an Olympic gold medalist. That
evening, he had the chance to be properly
introduced to Dawes, where they chatted
about his sports memorabilia collection.
“So, later on, I get this small envelope in the
mail and inside is a postcard from Dominique,
saying that she wants to thank me for giving
her a business lesson. She signed it ‘Leaps of
love,’ and inside the package was her leotard
from the Olympics.”
He framed both the leotard and the
postcard.
Sterling, who is retired, now splits his time
between Pittsburgh and a home in West Palm
Beach, Fla. He says he’s thankful that both
his wife, Rona, and daughter, Stacy, share his
love of sports. They’ve both traveled with
him to various sporting events; his daughter,
particularly, is a huge baseball fan and has
traveled with him to 26 different stadiums.
He has been to approximately 35 baseball
stadiums, several of which are no longer
standing.
Sterling says he has no intention of ever
selling the collection, or of turning it into
more than just a hobby.
“I don’t do this for the money. I do it for
the enjoyment,” he says, before adding, “I’ve
been very fortunate.” ■
Sterling holds a size 22 game-used shoe from Karl "The Mailman"
Malone, who played with the Utah Jazz and LA Lakers.