Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

Anyone like SAP gloves?

Very nice! Don't remember ever seeing a SAP 3

For those not familiar, SAP gloves were made by Rawlings for export - I have heard for Japan. I have also heard SAP stood for Special Asian Product... They were designed for slightly smaller hands than U.S models. For this reason, they also make great gloves for younger players whose hands are smaller than some adult's. The leather used is Horween but it is not as stiff as other HOH horween gloves. Would love to have more info such as what other SAP models were made, etc...

What's the size of that first one?

My understanding was that the SP series were 'Shallow Pocket'(?). I've only seen middle infielder size SPs which seems to make sense. I have a MLB used PRO-SPT and have owned several SAP, SPB that were consistent with the Shallow theory. Might be a question for 'Clevehagen's Corner' in JP's Newsletter.

swingman,

If you are refering to the SAP3 it is 11.5". It is actually almost identical to the Mizuno WW MWV-600 - my son has used both playing middle infield ( and 3rd base).



SAP gloves have only one Rawlings patch ( no round R) and the shearling is black.

mvalz,

That PRO-SPT must be rare - have never seen one before. It looks like it handles a "full size" hand... With that little SAP, I can have my palm not touch the back of the pocket and "palm" fastballs with no sting...

These were made to try and sell in Japan sporting good stores. Same as HOH but made on small patterns hoping sell american in Japan. good quality, but one in picture was a second and probably bought by a plant employee. Didn't sell well because they could buy our best from ASIC's

docglov,

Thanks for posting! I bought that SAP3 on Ebay from a glove collector selling off a large collection (something like tebub?) when I got it I noticed those 2 little punched holes that weren't visible in the Ebay pictures... Also, in a couple of places the surface of the leather is cracking even though I have taken excellent care of the glove... Maybe the leather had "dried out" too much...

So the smaller patern theory didn't work out with Japanese buyers? I noticed japanese glove tend to be made for smaller hands as well.

They actually cut and stamped the parts then send to us to make, creating the Made in USA but I'm sure our added shipping and profit would be hard to handle, but they were Japan patterns.
The Pro SPT was a very popular glove in the 70,s and 80,s Most remember it as Sandbergs glove

couple more SAP-3 pics:

[quote="Mike_2007"]couple more SAP-3 pics:

That is a sweet looking glove. Does not look like it has been used much if any. Was it a recent purchase?

No, not recent... I haven't seen any SAP gloves on Ebay in ages...

SAP spotted on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rawlings-Heart-of-t ... dZViewItem

Great thread! I had always wondered what the SAP stood for. Wish I would have pulled the trigger on one years ago, would have been perfect for my son at the time.