1997 World Series Trophy in Stuart, FLA.

The Marlins 1997 World Series trophy is on display at the Elliott Museum in Stuart, Florida.

It’s hard to dominate any room where you can look left and see a game-used bat signed by Babe Ruth or turn to the right and see a rack of baseballs autographed by everyone from Joe DiMaggio to Don Larsen.

The Elliott Museum’s newest addition, however, does more than dominate the renowned baseball exhibit, it adds a whole new dimension.

Monday afternoon, the museum added the Florida Marlins 1997 World Series championship trophy to its room of rare collectibles...

No problem there.  It is nice that baseball fans are getting the chance to witness the trophy up close and personal.

Now comes the weird part.

...thanks to a loan from former Marlins owner and Martin County resident H. Wayne Huizenga.

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"We are thrilled that Mr. Huizenga has been this generous."

This begs the question: Who owns the trophy?  Is the trophy the property of the owner of the team at the time it was won?  Or does it belong to the team once the former owner sells the franchise?

If Huizenga made a request of the Marlins to place it in a museum exhibit, then no problem.  But if he has full rights over the trophy, I will be pissed.

Given the time when I saw this I can't fire off emails to find out the answer, but something is seriously wrong if the trophy is his.