Operation Bullpen: The Inside Story of the Biggest Forgery Scam in American History

by Kevin Nelson

Now under development to be a motion picture, Kevin Nelson's Operation Bullpen is the first full account of the case that made national headlines and has been featured on CBS, CNN, Court TV, Primetime, HBO and more. Filled with the exciting, at times comical real-life criminal escapades of the gang that ripped off American consumers for $100 million and created the notorious Mother Teresa baseball, this is a terrific, fast-paced nonfiction true crime and sports story.

Genres: Nonfiction

287 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2006

About the author

Kevin Nelson is the award-winning author of Operation Bullpen, The Golden Game, Lunches With Mr. Q, and many other books.

Reviews

[David Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on the largest and most infamous sports forgery takedown by the FBI and how it came about. Truly frightening for anyone who has ever collected or purchased as a gift any autographed item they have not personally witnessed being signed. I could not put this book down, finishing it in two days.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I found the subject matter fascinating, it took several start and stops for me to get through the entire book. It's detailed, well-written, but not always captivating. But I don't think you'll find a better researched book on the matter.

[Ted Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, interesting story for any sports or memorabilia fans out there. Love the first hand accounts the author was able to dig up, very well told and I highly recommend it.

[Katelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was incredibly excited to get this book because my father was involved in the original case as a victim. The book drags on for the first 200 pages. It took me over a year to read the book, simply because the story was overly detailed and the details didn't add to the story.

The best part of the book is the last few chapters where they tell you what happened to everyone. However, the author throws in information about cases that came later and rushes through those stories quickly. If he had split the book between Operation Bullpen and those events it might have been worth 300 pages.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read. A true story about a large "fake autographed sports memorabilia" ring. As a sports fan, I was fascinated reading about how the forger was able to perfect the signatures of so many famous athletes. Fun to watch the drama unfold as power and greed ultimately take a small, underground operation and make it big enough to become visible and ultimately shut down by the FBI.

[Jeff Stanger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this one down. The real-life account of how the FBI brought down the largest sports memorabilia ring in America was right up my alley. The author meticulously interviewed both the criminals and the law enforcement officers involved, so you get to see this unfold from both viewpoints. Well done!

[Chris Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting account of the Federal investigation into the sports memorbilia world. Sometimes it was a bit tough to keep up with all of the different characters; the author does a fine job of bringing these people to life. Amazing to think how much money was invested and wasted.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wowsers! This is one crime packed case. This is a true story of sports memorabilia fraud that occurred here in San Diego and stretched across the US. Kudos to the FBI for their work on this case. I will NEVER pay up for anything autographed again.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Couldn't put it down and enjoyed every page.