Mantle MM4

[Centerfield]

I’m a little perplexed and wondered if anyone had an answer to my query, or at least some opinions. There is a Rawlings MM4 Mantle on eBay (sorry to out this auction, but it’s not like it will go un-noticed) that has a patch which doesn’t date to the glove’s manufacturing timeframe. In other words, the MM4 was produced to 1958, but this style patch began in 1959. So, there are a few possible solutions to this riddle; (1) the patch was replaced at a later date, (2) Rawlings ran out of black anniversary patches and began sewing their new patch on to gloves in late 1958, (3) the MM4 production run continued into 1959 or beyond. Is there anything I’m missing here (I’m probably overlooking an extremely simple thing) or perhaps a story someone can tell that would shed a little light on this bewildering subject.

[BretMan]

Any of those explanations sound plausible.

One thing I've always wondered about the black "anniversary" patch- did every glove in the Rawlings line-up get the patch in '58, or was it only found a some of their models (like the higher-end gloves)?

[Centerfield]

Not sure if all Rawlings gloves had black patches in '58, but I know the MM4 came with a black patch. I've seen a few of them.

[softball66]

the thing to remember about patch dating is that there may be overlaps to a later year and end of previous year starts for patch introductions. This was not necessarily a big deal in some manufacturing concerns. When they ran out of the old, then they may have started the new patch patterns.

[Centerfield]

Thanks Joe, kinda figured that was the case, but won't know for sure on this particular glove until inspecting it in person to see if it was replaced. Has any one seen an MM4 with a post-58 patch before (that wasn't refurbished)?