Picked this up a few years ago because I thought >

[brunodav]

I might need it if my son wanted to pitch ! He's only 8 so I think I can use my regular glove for a while longer
From what I can read it's a Hutch Larry Steinbeck model 236, and overall in decent condition considering its age. Do you think this is a mid-40s mitt? It's a bit odd that a minor leaguer got his own glove ! How rare is this model? I was intending on using it but if it's worth something maybe I won't. Interesting regardless...thanks !

[BretMan]

The hinged pocket is more of a 1950's innovation, so usually when you see a mitt with that feature it's a post-40's model. Catcher's mitts were the first to use this feature and used it for several years before the laced hinge/split padding was incorporated into fielder's gloves.

Data for Hutch gloves is kind of scarce, but their 1956 catalog does list a number 266 Steinbeck model mitt. I would put your mitt at around the era.

The player endorsement game has changed tremendously in the past fifty years! Prior to the sixties, it wasn't uncommon for glove companies to sign minor league players to endorsement contracts. They did this for a couple of reasons.

One, they would hope to lock in up-and-coming players, in the hope of capitalizing on their success should they reach the majors.

Also, back in those days the marketing of sporting goods was often a regional affair, as opposed to a national one. Some companies would issue gloves endorsed by local minor league players, where the player might have some local fame even if he wasn't known on a national level.

Old catcher's mitts often have even more obscure endorsements than regular fielding gloves.

While a typical team will have a couple of dozen infielders, outfielders and pitchers, there might be just be two catchers. In a given league, there might only be a small handful of "superstar" catchers and that really limited the options for glove companies to sign endorsement deals. Quite often, the endorsements appearing on their catcher's mitts would be of some relatively unknown or obscure player.

It's odd that Hutch would still be issuing gloves endorsed by a minor league player 15 years after his playing career had ended, but not unheard of back in those days. I've seen this before when the player had perhaps become a Major League coach and had some association with the game at a higher level. I couldn't find anything specifically about Steinbeck in that regard, but did find information that he quit playin in 1941 to become involved with the war effort. Perhaps he found some small degree of fame or reknown in association with his involvement in World War II.

So, yes, this is an strange endorsement, but not altogether uncommon in the earlier history of the baseball glove. Hutch seems to have sold a lot of these mitts, as I see them fairly often and the glove collecting guides list them as "common", meaning that an adequate supply exists to satisfy any collector demand.

Admittedly, there probably isn't too high of a demand for Larry Steinbeck endorsed memorabilia! That factors into the relatively low retail value placed on this mitt today. Book value is only about $30 for this mitt, despite the odd endorsement and the mitt's nice condition.

Beyond any dollar valuable as a collectible, you do have yourself a cool looking and functional old vintage mitt that is an odd footnote in the history of baseball glove endorsements!

[brunodav]

..it's very much appreciated. It looks like this old mitt will see some action again after all ;>

The hinged pocket is more of a 1950's innovation, so usually when you see a mitt with that feature it's a post-40's model. Catcher's mitts were the first to use this feature and used it for several years before the laced hinge/split padding was incorporated into fielder's gloves.

Data for Hutch gloves is kind of scarce, but their 1956 catalog does list a number 266 Steinbeck model mitt. I would put your mitt at around the era.

The player endorsement game has changed tremendously in the past fifty years! Prior to the sixties, it wasn't uncommon for glove companies to sign minor league players to endorsement contracts. They did this for a couple of reasons.

One, they would hope to lock in up-and-coming players, in the hope of capitalizing on their success should they reach the majors.

Also, back in those days the marketing of sporting goods was often a regional affair, as opposed to a national one. Some companies would issue gloves endorsed by local minor league players, where the player might have some local fame even if he wasn't known on a national level.

Old catcher's mitts often have even more obscure endorsements than regular fielding gloves.

While a typical team will have a couple of dozen infielders, outfielders and pitchers, there might be just be two catchers. In a given league, there might only be a small handful of "superstar" catchers and that really limited the options for glove companies to sign endorsement deals. Quite often, the endorsements appearing on their catcher's mitts would be of some relatively unknown or obscure player.

It's odd that Hutch would still be issuing gloves endorsed by a minor league player 15 years after his playing career had ended, but not unheard of back in those days. I've seen this before when the player had perhaps become a Major League coach and had some association with the game at a higher level. I couldn't find anything specifically about Steinbeck in that regard, but did find information that he quit playin in 1941 to become involved with the war effort. Perhaps he found some small degree of fame or reknown in association with his involvement in World War II.

So, yes, this is an strange endorsement, but not altogether uncommon in the earlier history of the baseball glove. Hutch seems to have sold a lot of these mitts, as I see them fairly often and the glove collecting guides list them as "common", meaning that an adequate supply exists to satisfy any collector demand.

Admittedly, there probably isn't too high of a demand for Larry Steinbeck endorsed memorabilia! That factors into the relatively low retail value placed on this mitt today. Book value is only about $30 for this mitt, despite the odd endorsement and the mitt's nice condition.

Beyond any dollar valuable as a collectible, you do have yourself a cool looking and functional old vintage mitt that is an odd footnote in the history of baseball glove endorsements!