Dennis Walker segment - different versions?

[justins5256]

Last night, I watched the NBC version of the Dennis Walker segment (originally aired 10/12/88). For those who may not remember, Walker was an investor from the Medford, Oregon area who built a pyramid-scheme and then used his investors' money to purchase baseball memorabilia. According to the segment, Walker even become somewhat close with Pete Rose and actually purchased a lot of things from Rose directly, such as Roses' baseball bat and championship belt. After the government began investigating Walker, he hit the road and apparently took his collection of memorabilia with him. He eventually turned up dead in a Las Vegas motel room in 1987. The majority of his collection was never found, but Stack cautioned that owning anything from Walker's collection would be illegal today.

What threw me for a loop was the part of the segment where Walker's death was discussed. A DA was interviewed and he said something along the lines of the authorities had no idea how Walker died, and that his death was "one of the mysteries."

Now, I could have sworn that when I saw this on Lifetime, it was stated, perhaps by Stack, that Walker had either committed suicide or died accidentally.

I did some digging on the forum before posting and found a few posts which indicated that Walker was the victim of a Mafia hit.

Does anyone know for sure which is correct? It occurred to me that the NBC version aired probably not long after Walker's death, so possibly, at that point, they didn't have a cause of death, but maybe it was clarified later on. I have the Lifetime version on VHS, but it's in storage and a pain to get to, but I suppose I can check if it comes to that. Just figured I'd ask here first, as it would be the path of least resistance, so to speak.

Thanks in advance.

[DarkDante]

Originally Posted by justins5256

Last night, I watched the NBC version of the Dennis Walker segment (originally aired 10/12/88). For those who may not remember, Walker was an investor from the Medford, Oregon area who built a pyramid-scheme and then used his investors' money to purchase baseball memorabilia. According to the segment, Walker even become somewhat close with Pete Rose and actually purchased a lot of things from Rose directly, such as Roses' baseball bat and championship belt. After the government began investigating Walker, he hit the road and apparently took his collection of memorabilia with him. He eventually turned up dead in a Las Vegas motel room in 1987. The majority of his collection was never found, but Stack cautioned that owning anything from Walker's collection would be illegal today.

What threw me for a loop was the part of the segment where Walker's death was discussed. A DA was interviewed and he said something along the lines of the authorities had no idea how Walker died, and that his death was "one of the mysteries."

Now, I could have sworn that when I saw this on Lifetime, it was stated, perhaps by Stack, that Walker had either committed suicide or died accidentally.

I did some digging on the forum before posting and found a few posts which indicated that Walker was the victim of a Mafia hit.

Does anyone know for sure which is correct? It occurred to me that the NBC version aired probably not long after Walker's death, so possibly, at that point, they didn't have a cause of death, but maybe it was clarified later on. I have the Lifetime version on VHS, but it's in storage and a pain to get to, but I suppose I can check if it comes to that. Just figured I'd ask here first, as it would be the path of least resistance, so to speak.

Thanks in advance.

This is based solely on memory but the "Lifetime" version (Stack not Farina) I remember watching years ago did feature the "one of the mysteries" statement from the DA regarding Walker's death that you referenced.

Re-Edit: From memory the segment never made any reference to a gangland style murder but did note that Walker was living under an assumed identity at the time of his death which could've meant he was on the run from some type of crime syndicate or just be indicative that he was on the run from the authorities. I personally however, wouldn't rule out the theory advanced by Dennis Walker's son Greg that I posted to the forum some years back. Of particular interest he does mention the fact that the FBI eventually concluded that foul play was involved in his father's death (not sure if that was mentioned on the segment or not)?:
===================
- Finally the following dated June 2007 from a sports memorabilia message board from someone claiming to be Dennis Walker's son:

"Pete Rose came to my dad's sports museum opening in Medford, Oregon in 1985. We hung out with him a lot. It was during my Junior year of high school basketball and we had a game that night. My dad was telling Pete how I was the best player in the state and Pete said I'll be there tonight to watch ya. He never showed. He said the next day that it would have caused too much of a ruckus if he showed up. Anyway, it would have been cool to tell people that Pete Rose came to see me play a game in high school."
======================
After being asked if this was the abandoned bank building in Medford, Oregon, Walker's son responded with the following:

"Yea, that's the place Howard. That was my father's. He had about everything: Babe Ruth complete uniform, Players rings, team trophies, tons of gamers, 3 Honus Wagner T206 cards, etc. I think he charged a dollar a person to come view it all. It really was amazing. This was mid-80's before everyone starting going crazy collecting the stuff. He did a lot of business with Rose. He had Rose's Hickcock belt and many of his bats, rings, etc. In two of Rose's books-Hustle and the Rose/Giamatti book it talks of their business dealings for a couple of pages. It all ended ugly in 1987 when Dennis Walker was found dead in a Vegas hotel. Foul play was what the FBI determined. All his stuff disappeared. It's a long story. My father was doing some shady things with some shady people unfortunately. My mom and his 5 sons had to move to Nevada to live with my Mom's parents. He left us with nothing. For my graduation in 87 he had given me a Michael Jordan rookie home jersey. BUT, we had to sell it two years later to pay bills. Sold it for 2,000! If nothing else he left us with the sports collecting bug and all of his sons are doing really well: College professor, Lawyer, High School teacher and coach, and two big time insurance guys. That's the story in a nut shell." - Greg

[wiseguy182]

Okay, so this is semi-OT, but what do y'all think about allowing Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame?

My personal feeling is this: There was Pete Rose the manager, and Pete Rose the player. They are, in a way, two different identities.

Pete Rose the manager may have done some shady things. He may have bet on games. But in recent times, with the game being tainted due to steroids, strikes, long/boring gameplay and idiot fans (I'm looking at you, Steve Bartman), Rose's actions seem like small potatoes, not to mention ancient history. He's been Tombstoned and Stinkfaced. He's paid his dues.

But even if you feel Pete Rose the manager shouldn't be allowed into the Hall of Fame, there is no reason Pete Rose the player shouldn't be allowed in. He is an all-time hits king. The man deserves to be there.

My brother thinks it's fun to keep him out and hear him complain about. Thoughts?

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

Okay, so this is semi-OT, but what do y'all think about allowing Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame?

My personal feeling is this: There was Pete Rose the manager, and Pete Rose the player. They are, in a way, two different identities.

Pete Rose the manager may have done some shady things. He may have bet on games. But in recent times, with the game being tainted due to steroids, strikes, long/boring gameplay and idiot fans (I'm looking at you, Steve Bartman), Rose's actions seem like small potatoes, not to mention ancient history. He's been Tombstoned and Stinkfaced. He's paid his dues.

But even if you feel Pete Rose the manager shouldn't be allowed into the Hall of Fame, there is no reason Pete Rose the player shouldn't be allowed in. He is an all-time hits king. The man deserves to be there.

My brother thinks it's fun to keep him out and hear him complain about. Thoughts?

Let him in. I think there are Hall of Famers with integrity and character issues FAR worse than Pete Rose.

[RobinW]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

Let him in. I think there are Hall of Famers with integrity and character issues FAR worse than Pete Rose.

Yep. Ty Cobb, the man whose record Rose broke, may have been the worst human being to ever play the game of baseball, but he was allowed in the Hall the first year it opened without hesitation. I've always been astonished by the hypocrisy of the whole thing.

[DarkDante]

Originally Posted by RobinW

Yep. Ty Cobb, the man whose record Rose broke, may have been the worst human being to ever play the game of baseball, but he was allowed in the Hall the first year it opened without hesitation. I've always been astonished by the hypocrisy of the whole thing.

Agreed Pete Rose, should be allowed into the HOF. For what its' worth, I think that eventually he will be inducted but it will be a posthumous induction.

As far as Cobb goes, I think baseball has tried it's best to distance themselves from the Tigers slugger in recent years. His name is still mentioned occasionally on MLB broadcasts (and he still has that statue outside of the Tigers ballpark) but I think once Ken Burns did his excellent documentary on baseball around twenty years ago, the word really got out on Cobb and his character. Fantastic baseball player but you really can't celebrate the life of a man like that in society today. As I mentioned from what I can tell baseball has begun to distance itself from Cobb the best they can.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by RobinW

Yep. Ty Cobb, the man whose record Rose broke, may have been the worst human being to ever play the game of baseball, but he was allowed in the Hall the first year it opened without hesitation. I've always been astonished by the hypocrisy of the whole thing.

Yeah. What's amazing to me is that there are still people who fall all over themselves to defend him because "it was a different time", or even worse, attempt to argue that there's no way he could have been a racist because he once made some comment about having a "colored mammy and playing with colored children" as a child.

Originally Posted by DarkDante

For what its' worth, I think that eventually he will be inducted but it will be a posthumous induction.

Me too.