In November 1998 , the Major League Baseball commissioner 's office purchased about 20 percent of his collection , then donated the items to the Baseball Hall of Fame , which housed many of them at its Barry Halper Gallery in Cooperstown , N.Y . In September 1999 , Mr. Halper auctioned the bulk of his collection at a widely publicized Sotheby 's auction in New York for $ 21.8 million .