One of the greatest teams ever assembled and they have the gloves to prove it.
Standing: Benny Jones, L.D. Livingston, Satchel Paige*, Josh Gibson*, Ray Williams, Walter Cannady, Cy Perkins, Oscar Charleston*. Kneeling: Sam Streeter, Chester Williams, Harry Williams, Harry Kincannon, Henry Spearman, Jimmie Crutchfield, Bobby Williams, Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe. (*Hall of Fame)
Spalding's version of the store model Rawlings Big 8 was a Rocky Colavito Professional Model. The web extends all the way down to the palm on this one.
His endorsement was on quite a few of their higher end and top of the line gloves. Here's the Spalding version of Rawlings' TTP.
Early 1940's Rawlings gamer glove made for Stan Musial from the BBHOF. It is stamped "Muscial"(sic) and "patents applied for" on the front. No model number. The patent refers to the 1943 Latina finger stall seams on the back. The wrist strap is stamped "Stan Muscial"(sic).
Pretty cool the way they did the thumb seam on that one. I've always wondered why so few Mort Cooper MC's show up from that time period. In fact, I've only seen one that I can remember and that was a repro. The others I've seen have the fingers laced. I know that glove production was way down during WW2, but you still see a ton of Bill Doaks and some Keltner KK's and Frey LF's along with the common Goldsmiths and Wilson Professional Models. Maybe the laced finger MC's went into production right after the war ended? I know I've seen more RR's with rolled lace webs than I've seen split finger MC's. Here's that repro.
A game glove of Syl Simon from the mid 1920's. He was in an industrial accident and partially lost three fingers leaving the pinky and thumb. He didn't let that stop him however and played in the majors and minors for about 5 years. His fielding percentage was excellent and had a specially made bat attachment to aid in gripping. Draper & Maynard stepped in and put together a glove for him using a leather football knee pad. The pad was stitched to the tips and edges of the finger stalls and created a fixed curve form to the fingers.