Glove of the Week: Nov 26 - Dec 2 (Bishop Bee sting)

Discuss interesting gloves listed on eBay or other auction houses.

Glove of the Week: Nov 26 - Dec 2 (Bishop Bee sting)

Postby burker72 » December 5th, 2007, 7:51 am

Without question, our Glove of the Week was the Reach Max Bishop DF “Bee Stingâ€
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Postby vintagebrett » December 5th, 2007, 11:44 am

I can't tell you how excited I was to see the Bean Bros. glove and then end up being the high bidder - let's just say the seller could have made quite a bit more money if more people had bid. You are right that this is LL Bean. Having grown up in New England and having parents that took us to LL Bean every year, it's exciting to add this to the collection. This is only the 3rd one we've seen - there is one at the store in Freeport and my dad saw one that went for a lot of money on eBay many years ago. I'll post pictures when it arrives.
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Postby burker72 » December 5th, 2007, 12:17 pm

Brett, congrats on the Bean pickup. I think that living on the east coast and glove collecting is a nice marriage because of the locality of many of the mfrs. I grew up in Northern NY (Watertown) and I'm a big Ken Wel fan because they were made in nearby Utica, similarly, Kren bats were made in Syracuse. Living in Buffalo now I'm on the look out for a nice BLS Ted Williams model, although I just missed on eBay recently. Despite this, I don't think there is a wealth of this stuff lying around in people's basements or hidden in the walls of old houses, or even at antique shows and flea markets. While Kren and Ken Wel were top of the line mfrs by my estimate, BLS was a low end maker so there is a bit less urgency.
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Bean Bros. Glove

Postby ebbets55 » December 6th, 2007, 2:55 am

Hi All,

Here's another Bean Bros. Glove. I knew I had a picture of one in the thousands of gloves in backlog. I'll try to get them uploaded early in the new year.

JD

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the G92

Postby Mike**Mize » December 6th, 2007, 6:00 pm

I have to agree with you Burker about the nice stamping on that D&M G92.
No sooner did I win mine (and it's not like these come up that often), and this beauty comes up. This one's much more clearly stamped. Small world. I was the underbidder on it and the same guy who won the $500 BIN Goldsmith crescent won this one. I'd feel worse except it allowed me funds to go out and get the early Doak J Model Special this week. That's plenty compensation. I don't think I ever saw a really early J (short finger) Model before this one came up. I've got the same model from the late 30's and it really points out how far gloves developed in terms of size and structure in that period ('28-'39). I've always liked the old short finger models. I can't wait to receive it.
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Postby BretMan » December 6th, 2007, 7:18 pm

That J-model you bought is a really cool looking glove! Kind of sad that the leather on the front is a little distressed, but it should look a lot better after a good cleaning and conditioning. Those come up so infrequently that you just have to take 'em how you get 'em!

On the subject of short-finger gloves, I have come across one that has a twist. Back last summer I bought a box of about ten gloves at an auction. Nothing special- just old gloves! They all were quite dirty and since I usually have a long line of gloves waiting to be worked on, I set the box aside and forgot about them.

Last week I was going through the box and one of the gloves caught my eye. At first glance, it looks like a typical 30's or 40's softball glove. It has a two horizontal tunnel web and the cupped "stitched pocket" found on softball gloves from that era. It does not have external padding. The glove is really dirty and stiff, but looks to be in good shape underneath the grime. The stampings seem to be all there, just hard to read from the dirt. I "think" it might be a Goldsmith based on the part of the stampings I can make out. Cleaning should bring them out fully.

The odd thing about this glove is the fingers. The length of the space between the index and middle finger is very short- 1.5 inches- just like a short finger glove. The next space between the middle finger and ring finger is a full 3 inches. Then, the space between the ring finger and pinky is 1.5 inches again!

A very odd configuration- two short-finger spaces and one long one. It's a design I can't recall seeing before. If anyone has run across this I would appreciate hearing about it.

This strange glove is definitely a project in the waiting. I'll try to get some pictures up here soon, maybe even some "before and after" shots to record my attempts to bring it back to life.
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Postby Mike**Mize » December 6th, 2007, 8:38 pm

Sounds like my JC Higgins Larry French Model. I've heard this design referred to as an Extended Palm or Extended Pocket model. I've got mine posted on JD's site. If you check it out you probably notice that the wrist strap looks newer than the rest of the glove. This was a situation where I loved the design but the actual glove was very nearly a lost cause. When I bought it about 5 years ago, the lining was shot and it was stuffed with cardboard pieces and lots of other odd junk. I sent it out to my good pal Kenny Jenkins and begged him to try to pull it together for me. Kenny came up with a stunning piece of soft thin black pigskin for the lining and replaced the torn and rotted wrist strap with a piece of leather he thought looked good. I never do these kinds of repairs anymore, but it really brings back memories of chats with one of the nicest guys in the world. The glove itself is now one you could take infield with. That's the thing about Kenny. When he works on a glove, he's thinking in terms of making it playable. Very cool.
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D&M G-92 Chuck Klein

Postby GloveGypsy » December 6th, 2007, 10:38 pm

Mike, Thanks for the compliments on the glove (D&M G-92) that I recently sold on eBay. It was as nice as it looked.

Although I thought the glove may get above $400, I was pleased with the outcome of the auction and I feel that the winner has much appreciation for the glove. Incidentally, I marked a nice profit on this glove. One that would make Wall Street envious.

Also, I was unaware of the other G92 that recently went through eBay and may have auctioned a different glove had I been knowledgeable of that coincidence.

My focus has narrowed to select Wilson A2000's, so I may be listing a few other choice gloves, time permitting.

-GG
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Postby stockbuddy » December 6th, 2007, 11:18 pm

Hi Bretman, You might look carefully on the bottom of the palm area for the word softball. It sounds like you might have a glove, as mike mize described similar in looks to his J. C. Higgins glove. I used to have one and after cleaning off the dirt it turned out to say softball glove on the lower palm area. I have seen the short stubby finger gloves now in both softball and baseball gloves. Not saying yours is softball but just thought it might be worth looking closely. Cool gloves either way.

Dave
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Postby BretMan » December 7th, 2007, 1:39 am

I went and checked the Higgins French photo, and that is exactly what my glove looks like between the first two fingers. Only mine looks like that between the last two fingers, too.

With the stitched cotton thread pocket, that makes me think it's a softball model. But, so far, I haven't been able to find the word "softball" in the stampings. It might be there- this glove is pretty grungy and the stampings are really obscured.

Wiping the pocket with a damp sponge, and holding the glove under a bright light this evening, revealed a couple more clues. I'm starting to think that the stampings are a little further gone than was my first impression.

What I first thought was the "th" in "Goldsmith turned out to be the letters "oh" in "OHIO". The font looks exactly like the font used on "OK" gloves in their "ADA, OHIO" stamping. I'm pretty sure now that this is an "Ohio-Kentucky/OK" model. Which is great, because I am an "OK" fan!

The other thing that I can read clearly is the number "2417996" in about the center of the palm. Could be a patent number? Model number?

Interestingly, a couple of weeks ago I saw a glove being sold on eBay that had a stitched pocket, where the seller claimed it specifically was not a softball model. He based that claim on the fact that the word "softball" was not stamped on the glove, and also claimed to have knowledge that the particular model was marketed and sold as a baseball glove. How he knew that, I don't know. I can't recall ever seeing any gloves with a stitched pocket that seemed to be baseball models.

I have at least a half dozen old softball models with the stitched pocket and always thought it was strange that this feature wasn't used on baseball gloves. The stitching forms a nice pocket, which seems like a good idea for any glove. While this stitching was used on softball gloves dating from the thirties, it wasn't until the early 50's that similar "cupped pockets" started to appear on baseball gloves, with leather lacing being used to shape the pocket instead of cotton thread.

Anyhow, it's an odd glove and I'll try to find out what I can about it. I'll probably post an update on the "General Discussion" board- as not to further hog into the "Glove of the Week" thread!
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Postby vintagebrett » December 7th, 2007, 11:16 am

I have an OK Softball mitt with the fingers you described. Does it look like the glove in this thread?

http://www.vintagebaseballgloveforum.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=591
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Postby BretMan » December 7th, 2007, 12:53 pm

I should have known that if it's "OK", VintageBrett would have it! By the way, this is one of the gloves I picked up in the auction that you emailed me about last summer, Brett.

Yes, that is the exact same glove- though mine isn't in as nice condition. It should be more presentable when I'm done with it.

At least now I have a "blueprint" to work from. Many thanks! :D
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Postby vintagebrett » December 8th, 2007, 1:46 pm

Here is the Bean Bros. glove from Freeport, ME - it was super dirty and kind of dry when it arrived. Now it looks presentable. :lol: The glove is very large - I wonder who made the gloves for the Bean Bros - I'm guessing D&M because they were the closest in proximity but I'm not positive. There is some think leather welting running from between the fingers to the piping that is really neat.

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Postby Mike**Mize » December 9th, 2007, 9:12 pm

That's a sturdy looking glove. I like the tapered snug fit wrist, too. How big of a glove is it?
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Postby vintagebrett » December 13th, 2007, 5:11 pm

The glove measures 10 inches tall and 10 inches wide.
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