Glove of the Week: Jan 21 – Jan 27 (Bottomely base mitt)

[burker72]

Take your pick this week…soooo many to choose from…

A very nice Spalding Lloyd Waner 3 finger model earned $511 on 17 bids. I’d say, considering what we’ve seen other “bee sting” models go for, this one seems to be very reasonably priced so congrats to the buyer. I still have no idea how you’d catch with one of these…



A Rawlings Jim Bottomley JB model earned a whopping $775 on 12 bids. I guess I had no idea this was such a rare endorsement. Granted it was a top of the line model in the day, and yes it is in good condition, but wow - $775!!! Maybe one of our experts could help us out here and clue us in on the appeal of the model

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This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but here is a unique design from Peerless, maker of the rare Duck Web model. In this case it is a Tuck Stainbeck “57” model. The glove has a unique design with grommet style webbing between the fingers. This oddity sold for $484 on 14 bids.



And of course, a Mickey Mantle entry… A mint XPG 26 model that went for $400.



What a catch we have here, a Roy Weatherly OK brand “758” model. I thought the most interesting part of the listing was that the seller advised that “... Roy "Stormy" Weatherly's gloves are listed as "Very Rare" with 9 or less gloves found or offered for sale.” …but how do we know there are only 9 or less? Regardless, a great glove with strong stampings in mint condition. $253 on 16 bids



I can’t help it, but any time a Ken-Wel model pops up I stand up and take notice. Here is avery nice “564” Harry Gumbert model. A great full size glove, it features clean leather and a great Ken Wel patch. This one sold for $240 on 12 bids.



Here is a mix of great gloves that sold this past week, clockwise…

A near mint, medium to low quality Denkert Frank (Hans) Grube M30 Decker Patent - $282 on 13 bids

A rare endorser,Tony Lazzeri JC Higgins model 1678 - $184 on 15 bids

A solid Brine “Hy Grade” model sold for $178 on 10 bids

One of my personal favorites, a MacGregor G21 Jackie Jensen Personal Model featuring the MacGregor “Spider Web” sold for $153 on 21 bids.



For our bargain of the week, how about this '30s tunnel loop web Sam West model. Not without its flaws, this glove has a great look to it and looks like a quality glove. Best yet, how about all of $41 on 7 bids

[BretMan]

Gee- maybe it's time to let go of my Denkert M30 Frank Grube catcher's mitt. I've seen maybe four or five of these on eBay the last few years, but none has approached the price that one went for. I paid $10 for mine about 5 years ago!

One interesting note on these mitts: Every single other one I've come across has had vinyl piping. Mine has thick leather piping and slightly different construction, with a sturdier looking wrist strap and different seams running up the fingers. The others come off as cheaper models, but the one I have is a thick and heavy mitt.



On the Weatherly glove and the issue of "rarity": This information appears in the Vintage Baseball Glove Pocket Price Guide. It offers a "general formula" defining the rarity, or availability, for every glove in the guide. For instance, "Very Rare" equates to less than 10 such gloves "advertised or known to exist". There are also various figures given for "Rare", Common", "Very Common" and "Surplus".

I'm pretty sure that this data was taken from the list compiled by Joe Phillips and Dave Bushing that was discussed in a previous thread back awhile ago. That list was from the early '90's and the data has likely been skewed since those days. The explosion of the internet market has since made it virtually impossible to keep this information up-to-date.

As such, the "availability" ratings in the newer price guides are suspect. But they do give a good general glance at which gloves are found less often today. The actual numbers might be off, but genreally the gloves that turned up most frequently back in those days still turn up frequently today.

[Mike**Mize]

Re. your question about the Bottomley Base Mitt. Not that I'm an expert, but I am a base mitt enthusiast....I just think with the Bottomley model what I always look for is the laced in 1" web (see Fred Lowman's Bottomley or my white buck skin palm-patch Rawlings base mitt on JD's site) and the very small size. This particular Bottomley is clearly from the late 30's. It looks like a big, long base mitt a lot like the Hal Trotsky glove. I guess the endorsement and the overall condition of the glove make it compelling. My preference will always be the earlier (20's/ early 30's) versions. Just considering how very small these pro quality gloves were and all the diving, reaching and stretching involved in playing the initial sack leaves me astounded. In all their smallness, the early Bottomley does have a very deep, wide pocket clearly designed for getting a firm grip on the ball. Once it's in, it stays in.