A wildlife foundation is suing one of its former employees and the Detroit Tigers over the purchase of Ty Cobb memorabilia.
The Jack Miner Migratory Bird Foundation claims Kirk Miner, a relative of the family founder, stole a Cobb bat, ball and two signed letters and sold them to the Tigers for $24,000. The Foundation claims it owned the items that were originally gifted by Cobb.
The suit, filed in Wayne County (MI) Court, says Cobb had befriended Jack Miner and his son Manly and gave them the items. When Manly Miner died in 1985, papers say he gave almost everything he owned to the foundation, meaning they no longer belonged to the family.
Kirk Miner was fired by the foundation in 2012 and attorneys for the foundation say that’s when the items went missing. The foundation claims it found out about the payment to the Tigers in January. They also say Miner has more Cobb memorabilia that doesn’t belong to him including a second bat, an autographed baseball and Cobb signed letters.
Courthouse News reports the foundation is asking for the return of the items and is also seeking damages for conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, statutory conversion and claim and delivery.