Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

Hi all-

I am new to the forum, and not a baseball glove collector. I am helping my parents try to identify, and possibly sell some items they have accumulated over the years. One of the items is what appears to be a pair of fingerless A.G. Spalding baseball mitts. Doing quick google research, it appears these may be quite rare and quite valuable, so I am turning to you folks who are truly passionate about these items.

Please advise with your thoughts about properly identifying, and potential value of the pair. I am happy to answer any questions that I can.

Things I noticed for identification purposes are that each mitt has the numeral 3 in the heel of the palm on the outside. Also, each mitt has what appears to be a capital letter L in ink on the inside. Other than that, you see the red Spalding tag. I do not see any other identifying marks. One glove is missing the lacing, as you will see.

All your input is much appreciated my me and my parents.

Thank you

Bob in MN

Cool... Thanks for posting them! I'm pretty certain they're not baseball gloves, thinking boxing speed-bag gloves. This is just my opinion and would love to hear others' thoughts, especially those who are more knowledgeable about Spalding products and have access to more catalogs than I.

The black Spalding tag predates the red one, so these date to the early 20th century, around 1910, long after fingerless catcher's gloves were replaced by crescents and even full-web gloves. They're neat, but not baseball.

I concur that they aren't baseball, but they are cool looking. Glancing through a few out of focus Spalding catalogs from the 1910's and early 20's, my money would be on golf or weightlifting. I'll see if I can track down some high quality page scans to help you out.

Thank you, gentlemen. Indeed disappointing news.

Hopefully others may have additional input so I can further identify.

Thank you both very much.

I'm looking at the pics on my phone right now and I can't read the Spalding tag clearly. Is it a USA tag? If not, they could be Fives gloves. That is a game played primarily in England at the high school and prep school level. It's quite an old game that dates back hundreds of years. It's similar to hand ball, which was common in the states around the 1910s and 20s. They could also be hand ball but this would be the first that I've seen fingerless hand ball gloves. Interestingly, the tip of the left thumb appears to be trimmed off. Is there an eyelet missing on that hand as well? Or is it a different style altogether? They look similar enough to be a matched pair.

the tag does say "Made in the U.S.A." and "registered U.S. Pat Off"

I do not believe the thumb tip is trimmed - it appears to be the angle of the photo. Also, the angle of the photo hides the eyelet on the left glove - it is indeed there.

This is pretty cool trying to ID them and I really appreciate all the ideas and input - keep it coming.

I got this email from a gentleman that knows more about Spalding than Einstein knew about physics:

" It looks like they are probably no. 3 Spalding handball gloves most likely from 1915 - 1918. It appears that those are the only years they made a fingerless handball glove with designation of no. 3. Spalding did not make fingerless handball gloves at all after 1918. I wondered if it could have been a remake of 19'th C Spalding fingerless gloves from the 40's or 50's as that tag really resembles the examples from that time period, but not so much from an earlier time period. They could have been made for a showcase in the Spalding headquarters in Chicopee or for and exhibit elsewhere. The fact that they are stamped with a model number and possible size (L) makes it more likely they are handball or some game I am not familiar with. Golf gloves were always button back even back to 1900. "

I'll count this as a victory

For any that are interested, I listed these on Ebay last night for my parents - starting the bid at $50 with no reserve. Thank you again for all of the ideas and help. Bob

Here is a very similar glove to the one above. The pair are from a Hunt Auction and were removed prior to auction end. The model D stamped on the heel of the gloves can be traced back to a 1899 Spalding baseball catalog but the glove pair don't look like the illustrated examples in the catalog. The cloth patch is a black one but instead of "Makers" the patch has "A.D. 1876" which may put it at a later manufacture.

They were pulled from Hints because they are handball gloves - they matched up with a set offered i the 1910’s. The model
Number does match the fingerless baseball but the tag post dates those models