CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte businessman paid $21,000 for a short letter written by a 17-year-old Hank Aaron, in which the future home run king tells the owner of a Negro League baseball team that his parents approve of him joining the team.

The Charlotte Observer reported today that Jeffrey Gitomer outbid several others, including the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, for the letter at a sports auction outside Philadelphia.

The seven-line letter is dated Nov. 22, 1951, from Mobile, Ala., and written to Syd Pollack.

The letter reads: "Dear Mr. Pollack. I receive you letter, and it is entirely satisfactory with my parents Mr. & Mrs. Aaron, that I may join the Indianapolis Clowns next season."

It ends: "Sincerely yours, Henry Aaron."

The letter is part of a sports memorabilia collection owned by the 62-year-old Gitomer that consists mostly of one-of-a-kind items, including jerseys, balls, programs and photos. They're stored in a well-wired hideaway known to few.

A previous estimate by David Hunt, owner of Hunt Auction estimated the letter's value at up to $4,000.

Gitomer, a college dropout who has written eight best-selling books including the original, "Little Red Book of Selling" — said he paid more than the auction estimate for the letter because Aaron is his hero.

"Here's a guy who can make it through anything and be a champion," he said. "Not make it through anything and be a good guy but be a good guy and a champion."

When he saw the Aaron letter on March 9, he was determined to own it. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., coveted it as well.

"That letter that's where the light goes on for people," said Bob Kendrick, the museum's spokesman. "All of a sudden, these stories start to ring a little more true. They know what Hank accomplished and what Willie Mays accomplished. But that letter, it's a validation, a piece of our story."

The bidding quickly zoomed toward $20,000, too pricey for the Negro Leagues Museum. "We really wanted it," Kendrick said, "but it just wasn't in our budget."

At the end, there was "very active, heavy bidding," Hunt said, but Gitomer was determined.

"You have people who bid for investment, and that's it," Hunt said. "And you have people like Jeffrey, who collect for themselves and only show a few people. These people they really do care about an item. They really do understand what it is."

Gitomer said he wants to let the museum display a few of his pieces including the Hank Aaron letter, although he's not sure how that would be arranged.

"People should get to see this," Gitomer said.