DENVER, CO – APRIL 1: Bruce “B” Hellerstein is pictured in his National Ballpark Museum at 1940 Blake Street in Denver, Colorado on April 1, 2024. Hellerstein is President, Curator, and Founder of the National Ballpark Museum.
“This is a gift to the community, and as a fourth-generation native here, that’s very important to me,” Hellerstein said. “Passing this on — how the game used to be, and the uniqueness of the classic ballparks it was played in — I see it as a legacy to the city and the community.” All along, he zealously accumulated relics from bygone stadiums, eventually leading to what fellow collector George Tahan called “the of a pie-in-the-sky idea.”
Initially, he sold all his baseball cards to get the money to buy the space for the museum, which is located on the first floor of an old brick warehouse, with his CPA firm housed in the back. That seed money included auctioning off a complete run of Mickey Mantle cards. That’s all because running the museum is essentially a break-even effort that comes with a significant price tag, including enormous insurance and security costs. With all that to budget for, Hellerstein doesn’t have the cash flow to bankroll new additions to his collection, especially in an age where the price of classic ballpark artifacts is at an all-time high.
Once inside, those fans are often led on personal tours by Hellerstein, who regales visitors with various anecdotes and little-known factoids. He’s known to spring pop quizzes upon guests. And the baseball traditionalist in him is constantly coming out along the way.