Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

Greetings everyone. this is my first post on this forum. Please bear with me if I violate any of the protocol.

I found you guys while stumbling around on the net trying to find information on a cool glove I have. I have a good feeling you can help.

The glove is a split fingered model, probably from the forties and endorsed by Jimmy Brown. It is in incredible shape, especially after an intense session with me and a can of Horseman's One Step. It cleaned up to a beautiful honey color and the markings are quite legible. It has a couple of surface scratches, but no tears.

I wonder if you can provide, or direct me to, information about this glove. Is it rare?, collectible?. What is its market value?, etc.

I am not a collector of gloves, so ultimately I hope to find a good home for it. If it is collectible, my hope is that it can go to someone that will appreciate it and care for it properly.

I have been trying desperately to post pictures and was able to get these, but no more. I may need to make another post to show the palm and markings.

Can you help? Thanks in advance. If you wish to send me an E mail, my address is johnny.torrez@comcast.net Thank you.









[img]http://johnnyt55.smugmug.com/photos/433082564_22LDV-L.jpg

Here goes an attempt at a couple of additional pictures.

Your glove certainly cleaned up nicely and looks to be in great shape.

The Jimmy Brown endorsed G20 model was issued by MacGregor Goldsmith Company (note the stylized "MG" on the wrist button). Prior to 1944, this company was known simply as Goldsmith. They added the MacGregor name to their products in 1944 and eventually became known just as MacGregor in 1953. There are some gaps in the historical data for MacGregor Goldsmith around the war years, but it's safe to say your glove is from the mid 1940's.

Brown was a solid infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals who had an unusual career. He didn't reach the majors until he was 27 years old, playing seven seasons before enlisting in the Air Force in 1943. By the time the war was over and his stint was up, he was 36 years old and played only a partial season as a utility man with the Pirates before retiring. He then had a long second career as a coach and manager in the major and minor league baseball. He made the All-Star team in 1942, and St. Louis won the World Series that same year.

As for the glove's value, a couple of things are working against it. These gloves are not especially rare and an abundant supply exists today. While being a solid player, Brown wasn't exactly a DiMaggio, Ruth or Gehrig level of player, so there isn't a huge demand for his memorabilia. The combination of high supply and low demand limits the value as a collectible.

The collecting guides list the following values for this glove (I would grade yours as being in "Excellent" condition) :

Very Good condition: $25
Excellent: $35
Near mint: $75

Regardless of the value, that is a nice old glove and a wonderful piece of baseball history from the World War II era.

Nice job BretMan.

Welcome aboard JohnnyT. Nice glove you have there.

Informative reply. I had read up on the player, but not on the glove nor glove company. Is there a definitive manual or guide that I could look at?

I am very interested in selling the glove, but quite frankly I thought something in this excellent condition may bring a bit more.

I just bought a "Mint" unused Goldsmith....Same exact glove Joe Cronin

endorsment, "Which is very rare" for $75.00 "Buy It Now" It's a Model DW,

I think thats a Dixie Walker Model. The outside of my glove is a bit

oxodized, But the inside looks Unused. It cleaned up "Minty Fresh" With

Fast Orange and a tiny bit of Lanolin. I'd say your glove was worth $50.00

max before the recession. Nice glove though......I'd hold on to it for

awhile.

The glove pictured sure is similar to the "DW" model, which was endorsed by Elmer Riddle, Dixie Walker and others in the 1940's. The web looks identical. My impression from the photos, and the Riddle glove I have, is that the G20 was a less-expensive model when first sold.

The "Catalog Source Book" backs that up. The DW models retailed for about 35%-40% more than the G20 gloves, denoting a relative gap between the construction and materials used.

But your post does point out some of the differences that figure into a glove's value. Is the glove a top-of-the-line model, a mid-priced or kid-sized glove? Is the endorser a popular Hall-of-Famer or a lower-tier ballplayer? Is the glove from early in the player's career or is it a later model? And, of course, supply, demand, age and condition always play into the equation.

Just some of the fun guesswork that goes into the glove collecting hobby!

$50 for this G20 would probably be a high top-dollar retail price, and if a seller got that price he could consider himself lucky. Somewhere around $30 sounds about right for something like this on eBay (though I must admit that I haven't been watching the eBay market as closely in these recessionary times). The Elmer Riddle DW I have, which is in similar condition, I paid $35 for about three years ago at an antique show- after some dickering with the seller. That glove is a slightly older model, bearing just the "Goldsmith" logo, before they added the MacGregor brand name.