The American Baseball Missionary Society Mission to France!

[Cowboy7130]

I've got such a big smile on my face, imagining the smile on Moonlight's face!

[Moonlight Graham]

Then your smile must be pretty large ! Mine is so broad it started aching a couple of hours ago! I've spent my entire afternoon cleaning only half of the gloves I received!

Most of them are in really good shape. One needs complete relacing, which is pretty exciting since it's going to be the very first time I try to relace a glove. The only documentation I have on the subject is the book Glove Affairs and this forum of course. So I'll get the stuff I need tomorrow at the local shoemaker's. I don't know if he's got what I need for baseball gloves, I bet he's never seen one, but what I'll find should do I guess.

One of the other gloves, a Rawlings RBG50 Ozzie Smith, looks pretty neat on the outside but is totally ruined on the inside. Any suggestion as how to proceed will be warmly welcome.

I have one rookie question. There are 3 first basemen's mitts in the lot, and I wondered if kids could use them as any other gloves during catching and throwing drills. And, why are first basemen's gloves different from the others? I've never quite understood why.

[Cowboy7130]

Modern first base mitts are unique because of the unique needs of the position. First of all, the first baseman is going to catch baseballs thrown at him at high velocity. So the first baseman's mitt can have additional padding and stiffness in the palm and pocket area. Secondly, the pocket and the web are going to be longer and larger for more catching area. Third, the first base mitt is designed to work on the ground, almost as a shovel. Since a baseman will often have to reach to the dirt at one side or the other, the outside edge of the first base mitt is smoothly rounded to facilitate "scooping" the ball out of the dirt. (One of the best lines of first base mitts in recent years was called "The Big Scoop").

One of my high school first basemen could not get the hang of a first base mitt, so he played first with his fielder's glove. He was not bad, but I do think some balls skipped away from his glove that might not have escaped a mitt.

[BretMan]

Moonlight, you mentioned that you have the book "Glove Affairs" (which I would also recommend to all the leather-heads here- you can find it cheap on eBay).

Check out page 61 for a little more info on position-specific gloves, particularly first base mitts.

[Moonlight Graham]

I had already checked that page in the book, but I still didn't understand why the glove was so different in shape than the others in the field and Cowboy's explanation enlightened me all right.

Besides, the first basemen's mitts you guys sent me are really great! I love the feel and the look of them, I had never seen any for real before so I'm literally delighted with them. And I know the kids are going to love them too.

You know what, I don't want to be too demanding, but I had this idea while cleaning the gloves. They're all endorsed by past players, and I thought the kids would each have their own glove and do some research on the player that endorsed their glove. That would be great to practise their English. What I'd like to add to this idea, to add to the magic already there thanks to you, is to know where the gloves come from, the exact location in the USA and maybe a detail or two about what the gloves meant to you or to the person who gave it to you. I know some of you might feel embarrassed, but I thought it could be great to have an anecdote attached to the glove the kids will be using soon. You definitely have the right to remain silent on the subject, I would understand. Besides this would provide me with the occasion to thank you all personally and individually.

[Moonlight Graham]

And now the second box has finally hit home today! What a big box by the way, I had to help the post woman get it out of her car, too heavy for her! Then my daughters danced around the box before I opened it, saying we were luckier than our neighbours since we had received such a big parcel!

5 bats, 22 baseballs, 10 more gloves, a catcher's mask, a base set and books, newsletters and a DVD! Thank you all! I've spent the entire afternoon listing the contents of the box and I'm not entirely done yet. I'll take a photo of everything you sent tomorrow and will post it here!

For further anecdotes related to the things you've sent, please email me at

laurentcarpentier@yahoo.com

Thanks again! Cowboy, your dream has finally come true! Many thanks to you!

[Cowboy7130]

Very happy for y'all, Moonlight!

Thanks to everyone who participated!

[Moonlight Graham]

Now, as promised, come the photos of the big loot :



You can count the 27 gloves, 22 baseballs, 5 wood bats, 2 catcher's masks and 1 helmet, a base set, 8 caps, a DVD, newsletters, books, leaflets, newspapers...









THANK YOU !

[Cowboy7130]

Now, then, we will expect some action shots real soon!

[Moonlight Graham]

I'm now trying to identify each glove and selecting the best ones for my team, and among them there's a glove endorsed by a player I cannot identify. As I'm not as baseball literate as you guys, I thought you could give me a hand. The glove is a Rawlings GJ60 endorsed by Bob ... Arick, Arieh, ... I can't make out his family name. As I want the kids to find information on the player who endorsed the glove they'll pick, this name might be important since the glove in question is in fairly good condition.

Thanks

[MVALZ]

Good chance its a 'Bobby Grich'. He was a solid infielder for the Orlioles and Angels in the 70's + 80's

[softball66]

That GJ60 name might be "Bob Grich."
First base mitts are designed to primarily catch the ball, take throws from the infielders, hence it needs to be larger and of mitt style rather than glove shape, for scooping and nabbing sometime errant throws. The first baseman normally doesn't need to get the ball quickly out of his mitt to throw, so a mitt works better for his purposes (more for catching) than a fielders glove would.
I'm sure proud of my fellow glovers for participating in this project. So would be Nap Lajoie I'm sure.
Moonlight, my favorite glove is the one that makes the catch, especially the hard to catch-catch. That's why I use the biggest one I can find:14" AMG400K Nokona at my age, 68!!!!@@!!!

[Moonlight Graham]

The first letter doesn't look like a G to me though. Here's the photo of the signature:

[Studboy]

That's it, Bob Grich for sure

[Moonlight Graham]

Well, I guess then that his school teachers weren't too glad with his capital G as a kid...

Thanks for the information!