What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

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What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby theglovester » June 25th, 2013, 1:23 am

Tough Question.. while looking for my G105 macgregor mays (found one after 20 yrs), I found a G101 first(after 15yrs. of looking), but before those my Willie Mickey and The Duke display was Haddix Mick n Duke. It took to much explaining to non collectors, so I moved the HH to another shelf.

Jim and I talked the other day for a while, and Mays gloves were brought up. There are a bunch of them, GC12 with black crown is pretty nice but Jim and I agreed that a 50's style Mays was the ticket.

Ranking them I go
1- 1950s Macg G105 spider reverse wrist strap
2- 1950s Macg G105 spider normal wrist strap
3- late 50's early 60's G101 (seen in a bunch of ads by Macg) similiar to an A2000
4- GC12 70's Basket web

What do you guys think?

What years were the reverse wrist and normal wrist staps, identical gloves but wrist different?? When for which one??

I think I am leaning to Goldsmith-Macgregor/Goldsmith gloves for my collection, Why, I don't know, Cool gloves though..

VOTE FOR OUR YANKEE!!

Long time glove question.. Come on new collectors... I have a Valdes Modelo Glove but can't find any info on this player?? Does anyone know who Mr Modelo played for or his stats???
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Re: What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby mikesglove » June 25th, 2013, 3:30 am

circa 1954 ad for the "Willie Mays" model G105 with reverse wrist strap button from Joe's catalog source book. Probably my favorite too.
zmacd.jpg


The cloth patches may tell the tale on dating the reverse wrist strap. From brief research, the black patch with Cincinnati 32, Ohio is the early one, circa 1953-56. Gloves with the reverse wrist strap button seem to have this patch.
zmacc.jpg

Ewell Blackwell model G110
zEBlckwlB_800.jpg

Red Schoendienst model GC1. Note the wrist cinch lacing.
zmacx.jpg


The blue patch with "Made in USA" was circa 1956-58
zmac.jpg

"Willie Mays" model G105 with normal wrist strap button location
zWillie Mays MacGregor G105 Personal Model Back Joey_800.jpg
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Re: What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby theglovester » June 25th, 2013, 8:07 am

Thanks for the info... the green Macgregor with two red verticle lines would be next?? thats what is on my G101 mays, Hope I'm right
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Re: What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby softball66 » June 25th, 2013, 9:54 am

Don, you have so many questions.
Seems after Mays signed his MacGregor contract his name went on the G25 model which previously had Bobby Adams name on it.
Might consider that his rookie store glove I guess, if that's right.
Gamers? Mays must have switched around from Rawlings to MacGregor and back again. he was quoted one time as saying something like: "i only used Rawlings once and made 4 errors with it and gave it away."
Also heard he wouldn't wear the MacGregor GC10 with Bell's signature on it. Maybe he used a personal model GC10 where Mac put his name on it. Who knows?
The Goldsmith craftsmen, as I understood it, were fine experts and their gloves, for me, generally stood up to the Rawlings and Wilsons. As the story goes, when Brunswick bought out MacGregor, the corporate
environment changed and the glove specialists exited the company. I sure didn't like the MacGregor 70s models very much. :roll:
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Re: What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby theglovester » June 25th, 2013, 11:44 am

Thanks Mikesgloves! and Great to hear from you Joe!! Hope all is well in Texas... I agree, the brunswick macgregors make may hand hurt to put on, Never had one on that was confortable and tend to shy away from them unless a Kangaroo..

Well I'm no Willie Mays, but If I snagged that Wertz shot with a HH I would be hard pressed not to have Rawlings make me one sans endorsement.. Different time and era I guess.

I have also heard that some current players have had a Rawlings patch sewn on a Wilson glove an vice versa, due to endorsement contracts with one company but found another glove they liked better by another company. Any truth to this, or did I make it up out of the raging sea of glove knowledge I think I have :roll:

Jim said he had a G25 or G28?? so I guess that is his rookie glove. and should be on the list of Favorite Mays gloves as the first Mays endorsed glove. Pretty unique in that regard.

If anyone hasn't put on a GC10 Bell you are missing it, In my opinion the best glove of the 60's hands down, HOH & A2's included!

Hey Joe, I ask questions to keep you on your toes, Thanks again Big Guy!!
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Re: What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby mikesglove » June 25th, 2013, 12:36 pm

theglovester wrote: the green Macgregor with two red verticle lines would be next?? thats what is on my G101 mays, Hope I'm right

That seems right to me. I haven't seen a "Spider Web" model with the green and red tag. I'm guessing the green tag is circa 1958-60. Brunswick took over during this time and later added the Brunswick "B" to the stampings and labels.

"Hank Aaron" model G101
zaaronautopmglstore1.jpg


Willie Mays model G24
z$T2eC16dHJIkE9qU3lQQoBRgudm,hgg~~60_12.jpg

z$T2eC16RHJHIE9nyseHDCBRgudoKV!w~~60_12.jpg
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Re: What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby ebbets55 » June 25th, 2013, 1:06 pm

Thanks for the chat the other day Don and the texts of those models. Those pics helped a lot. Appreciate it. So which one are you gonna send? :D

We were just discussing the right Mays model to get. I just want one, and only one, and was looking for his two cents worth on the right model to get. I want a 50's model, not a 60's model.

Here's a transition Brunswick-MacGregor tag for my GC28 Mays Personal Model from the early 60's. Would love to trade it plus cash and prizes toward the right 50's model so I can check it off the list forever and never look at another Mays glove again as long as I live.

JD
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Re: What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby mikesglove » July 18th, 2014, 10:31 pm

Besides the different tags, reverse wrist strap and full-on "SpiderWeb", there were some other cool web variations on the May's Personal Model over a brief number of years. The classic G101 "SpiderWeb" from the mid 1950's is pictured below.

Image

The glove below is a purported "gamer" from Lelands Auction. It is also a G101 and has a solid web with only the top portion showing "SpiderWeb" lacing. Never seen that before and pretty cool looking. It is said to be from 1957-58. One other thing is the front is stamped "Willie Mays" with no "Personal Model" stamp. Interesting.

Image

Another variation in that time period is this G101 with a two piece web attached with X-lacing and again with the "SpiderWeb" lacing only at the top. Note the "Wrist Lock" still being used but soon to be abandoned.

Image

The glove below is the revamped Personal Model dubbed the GF28. The "SpiderWeb" is gone in favor of a two piece web with "Tri-X-Web" lacing across the top. Note also the "Wrist Lock" is gone in favor ot the "Adjusta-Wrist" lacing. This model also has the last of the old style MacGregor tag.

Image

The model GF28 glove below has a solid web variation with the "Tri-X-Web" lacing at the top. This a very sleek and modern style glove. It carries the MacGregor/Brunswick tag.

Image
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Re: What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby mplsgloves » October 2nd, 2021, 7:34 am

I really enjoyed reading this debate about top Willie Mays mitts back when I was first getting interested in fixing up vintage gloves. 50s/60s MacGregors and specifically Mays mitts have become some of my favorite gloves to hunt down and work on. But because of this thread, the Mays G105 model has always held a special place at the top of my search list. So it was very exciting to snag one a couple months back. Amazingly the condition was right in my sweet spot - beat up and dirty enough to not draw much bidding competition but still largely intact and free of major repair issues so it would be a great rehab project for my skill set. I never get hung up on missing/damaged cloth wrist patches but for this one, I think I'll finally try my hand at a patch transplant when I can find the right donor. Until then, here's the before and after:
ImageImage
ImageImage
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Re: What Willie Mays Glove is the most coveted..

Postby vintagebrett » October 2nd, 2021, 10:14 am

Looks great! Great model glove.
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