Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

After researching and buying my son a new glove recently I have been bitten by the glove bug! I have since bought 4 more gloves, though nothing very old yet.

I do have a couple of newbie questions. I'm drawn mostly to Wilson, Rawlings, and Nokona. With these companies is there any general way to tell by the model numbers the quality level of the glove. For example it seems that with Rawlings the lower the number the better e.g. a DB 7 is better than a DB15, and a DB15 is better than a DB25 and so on. Is that true for all the Rawlings glove series and are there any similar tips or "rules" for Wilson or Nokona glove lines/series?

I appreciate any feedback.

Thanks!

As a general rule you might correct. But will vary by the time period and the company different lines. I think you are referring to the Rawlings catchers mitts of the 1960s which, in this case, is the lower the number on those DB "double break" mitts, the higher the quality. And, during the 1960s Rawlings gloves, the lower the "last number" in the nomen clature the higher the quality. But on other gloves in the 1950s and '60s for Rawlings it varied, depending on the quality and glove size of the line. Ditto Wilson in the same time frame, the lower the number on its A series numbers, the higher the quality. Nocona also followed a similar lower to higher number the higher to lower quality generally in this period. This is only a general rule and not specific without viewing the catalogs, and over this time period. Glove companies now are utilizing numbers to designate the height of the glove, i. e. 1175 is 11.75 inches tall pattern.