Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

by **vintagebrett** » January 30th, 2009, 9:09 am

If we had a baseball glove Hall of Fame which 5 gloves would be in the inaugural class? Base your decision on impact, collectability, appearance and whatever else you feel is important. Gloves should be retail models that were available to the public. My five choices would be:

-the first Rawlings Original Bill Doak model
-D&M G41 Babe Ruth
-the first Wilson A2000
-Ken-Wel Lou Gehrig zipper back 1B mitt
-D&M Lutzke style three finger

Others I considered were the Ken-Wel Vance style glove and the Rawlings Mickey Mantle MM. I'm still wavering on the Lutzke but those models are really popular with collectors and look great.

Lets hear your lists!

by **swalt1234** » January 30th, 2009, 3:44 pm

Brett, great post. I'd like the respectfully propose for the #5 spot the 1st large 6-finger pro model the Rawlings Musial TG12 from 1960. Although obviously not as collectible as the early 3-finger models, the TG12 and later models had a profound influence on pro gloves that persists today. Like the 1st Doak, and according to Rawlings, it was"a new concept in web design...a built-in web that traps the ball and allows for easier glove flexing..." Based on 'impact score' perhaps it can jump over the Lutzke models to crack the top 5.
Mark

by **okdoak** » January 30th, 2009, 3:44 pm

Just from the gloves I have my picks are:
"Full web" type (successor to the crescent pad? Hard core vintage guys are welcome to straighten me out on this) for the extra flexibility.
Early Bill Doak.
Ken-Wel Dazzy Vance
Rawlings "Deep Well" design w/laced palm and Doak style H web SF (have a Merrill May like that). I'm sure that the later laced full web and fingers were more important, but I love the look of that Doak web.
Early A2000.
Also love the Rawlings TG12 and 24 and Spalding counterparts!

by **Rickybulldog** » January 30th, 2009, 6:20 pm

Here's my list.

1. Early fingerless
2. Workmen's fielder glove
3. Duck Web
4. Early Bill Doak
5. Dazzy Vance

I think 1,2,4,5 were great changes to the evolution of the glove. The Duck web I just like, but would probably get voted in by the veteran's committee.

by **Deacon** » January 30th, 2009, 6:49 pm

Looks like you guys have got it covered.
I would have to go with the innovative styles:
Workman
Full Web
Early Doak
Vance
Early A2000
TG 12
I know that's 6, but I think Cy Young should have been selected the first year.

by **vintagebrett** » January 30th, 2009, 9:53 pm

I considered the workman's and the full web. I guess I was more thinking specific models when I made my list. I could definitely see those on the list though. The TG12 is a great choice as well. I guess it all depends on the criteria - my innovative list would be different than my appearance list and that would be different than my collectable list. I'll add the TG12 to my original list and take off the three finger. I'm still holding to the Ruth and Gehrig over the full web and workman's though.

by **Number9** » January 30th, 2009, 10:22 pm

Come on Brett, if it wasn't for the workman and the full web, there would be nothing to add a zipper back to!

My first five would have to be THE first five.

Fingerless
Finger tip
Workman
Crescent webless
Patched palm cather's mitt

Second class would be...
Original Doak
KenWel diverted seam
Stall and Dean Speed model
D&M G41
Gehrig zipper back

by **vintagebrett** » January 31st, 2009, 8:35 am

Number9, completely agree that if it wasn't for those gloves, the others wouldn't have come next. But, that doesn't mean they necessarily go in the first class. If it wasn't for some of the 1800 ballplayers making the game more popular, maybe there wouldn't have been a Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth. But just because they came first and paved the way doesn't mean they go in with the first class.

I would definitely be willing to add a workman or full web to my list. Maybe at the expense of the Gehrig zipper back. But the Doak and the A2000 have to be on the first list in my opinion.

by **crackofthebat** » January 31st, 2009, 10:12 am

I would like to nominate the Rawlings George Sisler and The Claw/Trapper. Definitely not in the top 5 or 10, but us 1B mitt collectors want to be represented!

by **jwoody** » January 31st, 2009, 10:45 am

My #1 pick of the first 5 would be the glove WILLIE MAYS used in the 1954 WORLD SERIES, and the glove MICKEY MANTLE USED IN THE 1956 WORLD SERIES to help preserve the perfect game...

1..HH RAWLINGS
2..DM G41 RUTH
3..KEN WEL GEHRIG
4..MM RAWLINGS
5..A2000 1957-58 WILSON

by **Number9** » January 31st, 2009, 3:01 pm

Off topic, but interesting. The first class of the HOF was supposed to be players from the 19th century, followed by a second vote for the players of the early 20th century. Players like Cy Young and Napoleon Lajoie were penalized by the voting structure and consequently did not make the first cut because their careers straddled the 19th/20th centuries. When the first voting session failed to elect anyone, the voting was opened up to include all players to date. Technically, "The First Five" should have been mixed in among the top ten or fifteen.

So, you are right Brett, first come isn't necessarily first served.

by **vintagebrett** » January 31st, 2009, 3:55 pm

Wow, that is interesting about the baseball Hall of Fame. Lajoie and Young should have been in the first class no doubt. Maybe we should expand our inaugural list to seven in honor of them. If so, here is my "new" list.

Workman
Full Web
Rawlings Original Doak
D&M G41 Ruth
Ken-Wel Gehrig Zipper back
Wilson A2000
Rawlings TG12

by **Number9** » January 31st, 2009, 6:42 pm

That first election was pretty tough. Cy Young came in 8th with 49% of the vote! Imagine that, 511 wins and the majority of voters said he didn't belong in the inaugural class. Lou Gehrig came in 15th with 22%! Poor Edd Roush, he got 2 votes.

The first few ballots were so stacked with obvious names that once they got through them the writers had trouble electing even 1 person every year for close to twenty years. Shut outs in the voting process were fairly common.

by **softball66** » February 2nd, 2009, 9:26 am

In 2002 while writing an article for a sports collectors publication I was asked for the top 10 collectible Retail gloves. Here's what I came up with but certainly its up for debate.
1. Babe Ruth G41 Draper Maynard
2. 19th Century Fingerless Glove
3. Lou Gehrig Zipper Back 1b mitt
4. Christy Mathewson glove
5. Ty Cobb glove
6. Honus Wagner glove
7. Cy Young glove
8. Joe Jackson glove (this would be higher if Draper Maynard which hasn't been found to my knowledge. But these would be the Nokonas
9. Mickey Mantle glove. Though some might disagree I think the XPG6 would be the most sought after, then the MM, MMP
10. Dazzy Vance (I've added this myself just now)

by **BigD-Moonlight** » February 2nd, 2009, 10:32 pm

I tend to think of gloves in categories of pre-war and post-war. There are some great post-war gloves but my preference is pre-war. Within pre-war the categories I think of are endorsed and unendorsed.
My opinion of top gloves are:
Endorsed (1) Gehrig zipper back, (2) Ruth white G41, (3) Christy M. adult, (4) Ty Cobb Speed and (5) Eddie Collins white Reach.
Unendorsed (1) fingerless (I'm partial to a pair), (2) workman pinacle is the leather finger tip, (3) webless (workman or crescent), (4) specialty such as duck-web, pita, tornado palm, fielder's basemitt or ambidextrous, and (5) great condition white, full web with excellent patch.
Of course the subject of picture boxes and boxes is a whole different category. Also, endorsed very rare non-hofers are very special as well and that list might be impossible to complete.

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