What manufacturer are underrated? underappreciated?

[burker72]

I remember first joining this forum and emailing Brett about Sonnetts and how much I liked them (I sent him a TST model as part of trade), but that they seemed to be underappreciated. So I was wondering, are there other lines out there that you think are under-appreciated?

Personally, what comes to mind these days are George A Reach gloves. I have a black Sam Chapman model, similar to some of the ones on JD's site that has a great look and feel to it. I also submitted pics of an H8 model that is one of my favorite "feel" gloves.

Are there other manufacturers thay you seem to have a unique appreciation for?

[vintagebrett]

To me, Sonnett is like the cool indie rock band. People involved in the business know they exist and respect them but they have small, fanatic base that follow them all over the place. That fanatic fan base would get upset if they got too popular and ended up like a major label band.

Seriously, I think Sonnetts are appreciated but not on a level with see with major brands. I think the people on this forum would agree that they made many quality gloves and were very innovative with some of their styles.

I have handled quite a few Geo. A Reach gloves and a lot of them are very well made and have a nice feel to them.

[mittmutt]

I too am a fan of Geo a Reach gloves, well made and I even like their logo. I also have a glove that seems to have no manufactureres name, however it says professional model and a block letter Mickey Mantle endorsement. This glove is from the 50's and is pretty well made.It feels great when it slips onto your hand, soft comfortable lining. it is a model #A228 in case anyone has any info to share on it. Thanks, Lee

[BretMan]

The few Geo. A. Reach gloves I have seem to be well-made- at least as well as anything else that was selling back in those days. They don't seem to generate much collector interest, certainly not as much as the "big names" like Rawlings, Wilson, Spalding, etc.

I like the Ohio-Kentucky (OK) brand gloves (which, of course, were the forbearers of the Sonnett brand). Good quality leather and construction, and some innovative designs in regards to unusual webs and wrist straps.

One company that seems to fit the "underappreciated" category, but gets a tip of my cap, is Denkert. Sure, many of their gloves were cheaply made and child-sized, but they could- and did- produce some quality leather.

You got to hand it to these guys for plugging away for nearly 50 years in the glovemaking business. From the early days of the 20th century up until they were driven out of business by the imports in the 60's, they had to be one of the most prolific producers of baseball gloves in this country.

Not only did they sell gloves under their own brand, but they were also a huge "private label" maker, producing gloves for a host of other sellers including Em Jay, Olympic, Gambles, Hiawatha, JC Higgins and others.

Give them credit for making a go of it in the glovemaking trade, with a unique business model that probably saw them through some lean times before they went the way of so many other USA-based companies. Denkert always strikes me as the Chicago Cubs of the baseball glove world- lovable losers plugging away year-after-year, even in the face of their ultimate demise, always the bridesmaid, never the bride.