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Sports memorabilia from iconic shuttered New York pub going up for sale
Foley's NY Pub was known as one of the best baseball pubs in all of America. After the iconic spot recently shuttered, a Marietta company was asked to put thousands of its sports memorabilia up for sale.
MARIETTA, Ga. - A store in Marietta gets set to sell off a huge collection of sports memorabilia. They have everything from photos of Muhammad Ali and Elvis Presley to baseball bats signed by stars like Magic Johnson. It’s all from a once-popular sports bar in New York, forced to shut its doors during early days of the pandemic.
Duck’s Dugout is selling all sorts of sports mementos from Foley’s NY Pub, including a World Series home plate signed both Presidents Bush, 41 and 43, baseballs signed by Shaquille O’Neal, Taylor Swift and Tom Cruise and a quirky piece, a mannequin used in Madonna’s "Like a Prayer" video.
"We probably have about 10-thousand pieces," said Shaun Clancy, who owned Foley’s for decades, which Google once rated among the best baseball bars in America. "Foley’s was a place where people would come in as strangers and left as friends."
Celebrities, politicians and players from every sport made Clancy’s bar must-stop spot. "We have baseballs signed by politicians, porn stars, Grammy winners, Oscar winners, astronauts," Clancy said. Foley’s proudly displayed all that memorabilia. "It was definitely part of the baseball fabric of New York."
But the pandemic forced Foley’s to shut their doors in 2020. Clancy couldn’t afford to reopen "i had a choice to make."
Duck’s Dugout in Marietta is selling off all those mementos. "It’s a very impressive collection," said Brad Hainje, a partner with the memorabilia store. "Well over half a million dollars."
"This is an opportunity for people to own a piece of Foley’s maybe take home of a piece of those good times," Hainje said.
They’re selling more than just memorabilia. They’re selling memories. "It’s things people donated from over the last 20 years while Shaun was in business," Hainje said. "Various political pieces, musical instruments, a lot of sports pieces, old stadium chairs, stadiums that are no longer in existence."
Parting with all these memories for Clancy is such sweet sorrow. "It’s emotional to be around it. I know it’s going to help people."
The keepsakes go on sale next week. A good portion of the proceeds will go to charities.