Good glove photos are tough to find

[mikesglove]

1908 Tufts University baseball team.


Close-up of one player with a "Peach" of a glove. Love the snap button closure at the wrist opening.

[mikesglove]

1898 Tufts University baseball team.


Nice mitts in the close-up below. The mitt at the bottom has a tag similar to the very early and narrow A.J. Reach cloth patches. Note also the lefty catchers mitt .

[mikesglove]

The digital photo archive at Tufts University is outstanding. Here is a link.
http://dl.tufts.edu/catalog?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=baseball&search_field=all_fields

below are two photos of the Tufts University baseball team photo from 1890. the first is from the University digital library and the second is the same photo colored by a young Boston artist, Dana Keller. Pretty mind blowing transformation. Here is a link to Keller's work with other historical images. http://www.danarkeller.com/

[mikesglove]

I received the book Brett recommended, The Photographic Cards of Goodwin & Co. It is a true historical baseball compendium. It was much easier leafing through the book then searching online. As far as posting photos online, there are some digital libraries that are very good. Two that I used are the library of Congress and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. http://www.loc.gov/search/?q=+goodwin+%26+co.+N172&st=gallery
http://metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search?ft=old+judge+n172&rpp=30&pg=15

Below is an 1889 photo of Wm. Fuller with the Sauer's patented glove.


The only reason I have interest in this glove in the 1888-1889 time period is I believe the Sauer's invention to be the transition from the padded workman's glove to the catchers mitt. There are two reason's. One, the glove is larger and two, the glove is more padded. The Sauers glove was well received by catchers through out the various leagues as evidenced in the Goodwin & Co. photos. It is amazing that a seemingly obscure patent would become the norm for a year or two. It was just the right time for such an invention. There is little known about Joseph Sauers. He was born in Milwaukee WI., the son of a general store owner, William Sauer. William was also an inventor and was issued patents for industrial items. Joseph helped his father run the general store. Below is the only known photo of the Sauer's glove and was auctioned through ebay a number of years ago. it is a shame the patch repair to the pocket has not been taken care of. William could make this historically important glove really shine like it should.



There is one true catchers mitt included in the Goowin & Co. photos. It is from 1889. I challenge any of you to guess the players name. This is a test!!

[mikesglove]

Great guesses! Anyway, the player was Harry Decker shown with his 1889 patented mitt. Look closely and you can see the finger guard pretty clearly in the two pictures. It wasn't what I expected. The mitt is fairly thin and not like the pillow mitts to follow. It's cool though and resembles the patent drawing below.

[Number9]

Ha! I'm sure all the guesses were flying in via PMs It's only fitting that Decker would have been the guy with the mitt, but I'd have had trouble spotting it too. I love the Goodwin book, but looking for details in those photos, especially with modern eyes that are accustomed to high definition images, can be frustrating. Hard to complain about the subject matter though. I bought the book when it first came out, sight unseen, based solely on the idea that there would be tons of pre-glove and early glove images.

[mikesglove]

Yeah, the PM's took a left turn and are lost in Keokuk! I thought someone like Buck Ewing would show up with a mitt in the Old Judge cabinets especially since he endorsed his own line of catchers mitts for Keefe & Becannon Sporting Goods, but it wasn't to be. Even Joe Gunson's cabinet shows him him with a workman's glove and not his mash-up mitt. I agree it was only fitting Decker would be the guy. He was a bonafide genius inventor. This last Old Judge cabinet of Decker was hard to find. It's blurry but shows the front of his mitt.

[mikesglove]

Below is a photo of Buck Ewing in the 1890's with the catchers mitt he developed and originally sold through Keefe and Becannon.


Below is another photo from the 1890's showing a catcher wearing a mitt with a crescent pad only at the top.


Below is an 1893 catalog page from H.H. Kiffe Sporting Goods, a mail order retailer. The mitt at top left has a crescent pad at the top only. The Buck Ewing mitt is also offered.

[Number9]

Buck Ewing is sporting a fingerless as well. Cool!

[mikesglove]

A couple of photos from my stomping grounds. First is the Ukiah, CA. team circa 1890. The catchers mitt looks to be a Decker patent model by the reinforced edging along the top and sides. It's odd, despite Spalding selling the hell out of the original Decker patent model that no examples exist today except maybe in the Gary Cypres museum but that is under lock and key.


The photo below was taken at the seaside town of Fort Bragg in the teens. The Ukiah nine were playing the local Fort Bragg team. The playing field is now a Safeway shopping center just outside town. The view east is the Coastal Range.

[mikesglove]

Another California team, San Diego in the 1890's

[mikesglove]

Several HOF player game used gloves changed hands recently. I had a couple of favorites. The top was this Goldsmith "Eddie Collins" model 72. A super rare glove in its own right let alone a Collins gamer glove. I think it sold for a little over 13K.

[ebbets55]

I have seen and tried this glove on many times at my buddy Mikes. It is simply fantastic and the real deal.

JD

[mikesglove]

I was familiar with the Reach models but didn't know there was a Goldsmith "Eddie Colllins" endorsed model till this one popped up.
My other favorite was a Spalding "Professional Model" used by Tony Lazzeri. The glove is in super condition and the solid web using athletic tape is great. There are some views of him around the dugout with a similar customized glove a page or two back in this thread. Some of his Yankee team mates did the same. it was probably a popular adaptation back in the day. I have a couple 1930-40's store model gloves with a similar treatment. The Lazzeri glove went for a little over $7300.

[Number9]

The Mears sticker on the Collins is saweet!