In 1999, Frank Murray, an air-conditioning CEO and map collector, placed a bid at Sotheby’s without having the catalogue. He recalled interest in item No. 323 and bought handwritten revisions to the rules that helped codify baseball. The papers were later shown to antiquarians, who dismissed them as a snooker. The documents were stored away until Murray rediscovered them in 2015 during spring cleaning. A recommendation led him to consult John Thorn, Major League Baseball’s official historian, who reacted strongly. Murray later sold the documents in 2016 for over three million dollars and prepared for public display in Cooperstown, while promoting their historical significance.
"He is no longer their owner-he sold them in 2016, for more than three million dollars, a profit of some twenty-five thousand per cent-but he retains a personal interest, verging on a crusade, in the cause of promoting their significance. He showed a slide to his guests with an image of the Hall of Fame plaque honoring Alexander Cartwright, a Knickerbocker founder, as the "Father of Modern"
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