Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

in the 60's rawlings put a series of black dots on their gloves(thumb) as part of the date code. i am looking at a glove for some serious money with 5 dots on the thumb. it is a mantle XPG6H. it has the modern signature and i think that started in 1965 so it would be after that.? any help as to year of manufacture? thanks

I've been trying really hard to find info on the date code with no luck. I know it's been talked about here on the board but I can't find anything. I too would appreciate any info that could be shared.

The Rawlings black dot date codes 1966-80 can be confusing. The code for the gloves fall into four groups. The groups seem to be determined by design and/or factory stamping changes.
1966-70, 1 to 5 dots
1971-74, repeating 1 to 4 dots
1975, 5 dots or none
1976-80, repeating 1 to 5 dots
I was looking at an auction for a Johnny Bench RL-1 mitt attributed to be a gamer from his 1972 MVP season. Anything's possible but it didn't seem quite right to me. I'll go into it and other examples of gloves/mitts tomorrow.

The authentication of the Bench RL-1-P MVP season mitt from 1972 was based on the three dot stamp on the thumb. From my research the second round of date codes began in 1971 with 1 dot, 1972-2 dot, 1973-3 dot and ending with 5 dot in 1975. Also the mitt has an extended palm with no reinforcement lacing which Rawlings didn't issue till 1973. So it seems possible the mitt is from 1973 and not 1972. Anything is possible with a superstar like Bench. Maybe he got an advanced issue of the 1973 mitt in 1972 from Rawlings.

From the 1973 Rawlings catalog.

Another auction for a Rawlings Bench model HOH was purported to be from 1974 because of the 4 dot code stamp on the thumb. It's possible that was interpreted in error and the 4 dote code was from the third round of Rawlings dating which would put it in 1979. This is asso supported by the fact that the model HOH "WingTip" and "Made In USA" stamped on the mitt were introduced in 1979.

From a 1979 Ralings catalog