Baseball Hall-of-Famer Reggie Jackson sued a Las Vegas company Tuesday in hopes of recovering baseball memorabilia it is auctioning — including his New York Yankees watch commemorating his 400th home run.
In his lawsuit, Jackson alleged that his stepmother and two others were providing the keepsakes to the auction house against his wishes.
Attorneys for Jackson of Carmel, Calif., filed suit in U.S. District Court in Nevada against American Memorabilia Inc. and others.
The suit seeks to recover the watch presented to Jackson by the Yankees and that he later provided to his father. It’s described as custom made by Cartier and is dated Aug. 11, 1980.
Jackson is also trying to recover a ring that he says is a near-replica of his 1977 World Series Championship ring provided by the Yankees.
Jackson, who still has his authentic 1977 World Series ring, had ringmaker Balfour make one for his father, the lawsuit says.
“Mr. Jackson allowed his father, Martinez C. Jackson, to display both of these unique and valuable pieces of jewelry during his lifetime,” the lawsuit says, referring to the watch and the ring. “Mr. Jackson intended that both of these pieces remain as family heirlooms and that they would each be returned upon his father’s death. Mr. Jackson’s father agreed with this intent.”
The lawsuit charges that someone known only as “Wayne,” Jackson’s stepmother, Resurrection Jackson, and her son, Martinez Jackson Jr., “have allowed American Memorabilia Inc. and its president and CEO, Victor Moreno, to deprive Mr. Jackson of his property.”
A request for comment was left with Moreno on Tuesday.
American Memorabilia, which says the auction for the ring ends Thursday, says on its website there’s an “authentication letter” from the family for the jewelry.
The authenticity of the information on American Memorabilia’s website — particularly the claim it’s auctioning “Reggie Jackson’s Original World Series Ring” — is disputed by Jackson’s attorneys with the Las Vegas law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP.
“In addition to their false claim of ownership and among other things,” Resurrection and Martinez Jackson Jr. “are claiming that the Jackson custom ring is the 1977 championship ring. This assertion is false,” the lawsuit says.
In an interview, Jackson said he doesn’t know why his stepmother and the others are auctioning the watch and ring now, given that his father died in 1994, and they’ve had possession of the jewelry since.
“That’s the $64,000 question,” Jackson said.
Jackson, 65, is an investor and a consultant for the Yankees.
He said it was always the family’s intent that all of his baseball memorabilia remain with the family.
Jackson was hesitant to call Tuesday’s court filing a “lawsuit.”
“It’s me saying: ‘I don’t want you to sell it without talking to me,’ ” he said.
Jackson recalled why he provided the watch and ring to his father.
“He wanted to tell his friends, ‘Look what my son gave to me,’ ” Jackson said.
In a video on American Memorabilia’s website, an announcer says, “Reggie really loved his father and why wouldn’t he give his 1977 World Series ring to his father?”
Complicating matters, there are two replica 1977 World Series rings Jackson made for his father. The second one was made after the first one was lost, Jackson said.
One ring was returned to Jackson’s side of the family after his father died, while the ring that had been lost later turned up, and it’s now being auctioned, Jackson said.
Tuesday’s suit seeks a court order halting the auction and a declaration that the jewelry at issue belongs to Jackson.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy