Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the Big Red Machine. I really loved watching Johnny Bench and he was probably the main reason why I wanted to play catcher in little league. Anyway, I was wondering if one of the knowledgeable folks here could give me some advice on finding a Bench-endorsed glove. Do you know of any models? How I would go about locating one? Or is it going to be really tough for me to snag a nice one?

Thanks very much for any help you could provide.

From one Big Red Machine fan to another...

You should be able to find a Bench-endorsed mitt without too much trouble. They were produced in great numbers and, even though it's been a few years since the 70's and 80's, they aren't exactly rare like some early turn-of-the-century antique gloves.

My first suggestion would be to keep an eye on eBay. There are almost always a handful of these up for sale at any given time.

There's also a good chance somebody from this forum has one available and maybe they will offer one up. If not here, try posting in the "Gloves Wanted" section of this discussion board, which is dedicated to more modern gloves: http://glove-works.getforum.org/board/

One more thing to check out: I recall a thread here back awhile ago about the subject of various Johnny Bench model mitts. Try the "Search" function and you should be able to find it. If I remember, that thread had a complete list of all the different Bench models issued by Rawlings.

Guys,
I'm 99% sure that I've got a Johnny Bench endorsed mitt somewhere in my inventory of gloves. I'll check it out and get back to you. I have no recall as to what shape it might be in, but if it was junk I would have junked it by now.

O_G_N

Art Kasapis has 3 or 4 Bench endorsed HOH mitts up for sale on his website. They have been up for quite some time too. He's really good about updating his site so I'm sure he still has them.

http://www.brucerodgers.com/ak/sale.htm

Baseball Dad...

I too am a huge fan of the Big Red Machine! Most exciting team ever, IMHO. I have a pretty decent Johnny Bench Mitt that I can let go for $9.00 + $7.50 shipping = $16.50 total.

While not Rawlings top-of-the-line model, it is still very nice, and remains in excellent condition. No rips, tears, holes, broken laces, ink or other such detractors. If you want photos of the front and back, just drop me an email... imstroft@yahoo.com

(I can't figure out how to post photos here)