Are you in one of those moods that make you want to knock off every hat you see? Drop stones in blind men's cups? Answer every "Good morning!" with a "Says who?"
Well, mister, you're about to open a can of feel-good.
Two weeks ago, you read here about a Hall of Famer named Pete Pihos, a great receiver who helped the Philadelphia Eagles win two NFL titles. Pete has Alzheimer's, and his poor ex-wife, Donna, who took him back so she could tend to him, was facing a $6,000 dental bill and many times that much for adult day care for him. Hurting for cash, Donna decided to part with some valuable gifts Pete had given her years before: two Pro Bowl jerseys, Pete's old leather pads, and a football signed by Night Train Lane and 24 other Hall of Famers. A man who said he was from upstate New York came to Donna's house in Winston-Salem, N.C., to buy the stuff. He looked only about 25 but called himself Dr. James Hart. He took Donna's memorabilia and left her with $30,000 in rubber checks and a phone number to nowhere.
Turns out this "Dr. Hart" hairball got around. Not long after meeting with Donna, he wrote another bad check, this one for $5,000, and made off with signed photos of 77-year-old Hall of Fame lineman Lou Creekmur, who helped the Detroit Lions to three NFL titles and suffers from the early stages of dementia. "I'd love to beat the crap out of the guy," says Creekmur. "Thank God, I didn't let him near my memorabilia."
"Dr. Hart" also set up meetings with the Pittsburgh Steelers' great defensive lineman Ernie Stautner, who has Alzheimer's, and legendary New York Giants lineman Rosey Brown, but he no-showed.
Donna Pihos was left with nothing but her tears. Pete had no clue what was going on. The football world was beside itself. The Hall of Fame Players Association put up a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.
Readers were left with nothing but rage. "I'd love the chance to give this guy 'knee-moan-ia' with a 34-ounce Louisville Slugger," Sal Miccio wrote to me from New York.
Suggested Mark Rodriguez of Florida, "Let's make him the only urinal at the World Cup!"
Money, help and expressions of support for Pihos poured in. An SI reader named Bill Jacobs, of New York, is sending $5,000 to the Hall of Famers' association. About 20 other checks are on the way. A memorabilia dealer named Hal Jarvis, of Georgia, is planning a monster one-day signing to benefit Pete. Cops from all over wrote and said, in effect, Any chance this guy did anything in my state? 'Cuz I'd love a crack at the sonofabitch!
In Richmond a collector named Jeff Whitmore was already on his way to cracking the case. Whitmore thought, This smells like the work of Shawn Stevens -- a 26-year-old autograph dealer from upstate New York. You read the feedback from people who have dealt with Stevens on signingshotline.com, a sports autograph website, and it becomes clear that he is to memorabilia what Harold Hill is to marching bands.
Then SI got lucky. "Dr. Hart" had made an appointment with Baltimore Colts heroes John Mackey and Lenny Moore and then no-showed. But he screwed up: He left an address at the hotel where they were supposed to meet: 66 Montgomery Street, Fonda, N.Y.
Next came an amazing twist. The week my column ran, a birth announcement appeared in The Leader-Herald of Gloversville, N.Y., near Fonda. It read, "Shawn and Juliette Stevens of 66 Montgomery St., Gloversville, are the parents of twin daughters." Look what the stork brought! Federal agents!
SI reporter Luis Fernando Llosa went to that address. A woman insisted that nobody named Stevens lived there. Llosa thanked her and left. On the way to his car he noted two mailboxes marked STEVENS and an SUV with the plates 4STEVENS.
Meanwhile, a Gloversville memorabilia dealer named Mike Hauser remembered a photo he'd taken of Stevens at a show two years earlier. He sent it to Donna Pihos and to Lou Creekmur with the question, "Is this Dr. Hart?"
"It is him!!!!" Donna e-mailed back. "I am sure of it ... the eyes are his!!!!" Lou and his wife, Caroline, also I.D.'d Stevens.
Bingo.
All this was handed over to the Winston-Salem police, who, with help from U.S. postal inspectors, the Secret Service and the U.S. attorney in Greensboro, were talking with Stevens's lawyer about charges and recovering the memorabilia. (Stevens did not return calls from SI.) "James Hart has been identified as Shawn Stevens," Detective T.J. Taylor said. "We expect an arrest soon."
Memo to Stevens's lawyer: Get paid in cash.
As for the reward money, it's going to be split between Whitmore -- who plans to give his half to Pihos -- and Hauser, who hopes to invest the money in a show to benefit Pete. So Donna is still crying but only because she can't believe the good news. The dental bills are covered, and a good chunk of the day-care bills will be too. "Oh, my heavens," she says, "I'm overwhelmed by the kindness of people." And Pete? "I don't think he grasps what's going on," she says, "but I tell him, 'There are so many people who love and care about you.' And he's so happy to hear that."
Now, don't you feel better?
Issue date: March 22, 2004