Rawlings MM4 LHT

[awarsoca]

I've mentioned before that I bought my dad a Rawlings XFG125 Heritage Pro last year for his birthday. I did it because he thought his old glove had been stolen. He told about a month ago that he found his old glove, it had fallen ehind some books in his office.

I happen to be at my folks this weekend to take my dad to the Brave/Mariners tomorrow. I'm in his office getting a beer out of the fridge and i walk past his desk. Next to the XFG125 is this gorgeous piece of leather. The piping is a bit rough, the tag is gorgeous, bright and red and cleary a Rawlings. I flip the glove over and see MM4 stamped in the heel. Still not having it all click, I see the pic and the name and am absolutely floored.

I had no idea his glove was a Mantle. I will take some pics and post them when I get home.

Any idea what the glove is worth? I may try to convince him to put it in the trophy cabinet

Clint

[jwoody]

VINTAGE BASEBALL GLOVE POCKET PRICE GUIDE-NO.8 LIST THE MM4 AS A MID PRICE GLOVE..VG $50...EXC $100...NRMINT $150...VERY COMMON....BUT A MICKEY MANTLE LEFT HANDED THROWING GLOVE WILL OFTEN SELL FOR HALF OR LESS THAT OF A SIMILARY GRADED RIGHT HAND MODEL...THIS INFO FROM THE GUIDE...

[robin_buckeye]

I've noticed that generally LHT gloves sell for considerably less than RHT ones. I wondered if this was just as true if the endorsing player was left-handed?

Does the endoser's throwing status make a difference?

[GloveCrazy]

Yes, generally speaking lefty thrower gloves are much less desirable, unless the endorser was a known lefty. For those, lefties command even more than a righty but it seems like that gap has narrowed over the years. I honestly don't know how the lefty premium concept even got started unless there is some outside hope that the glove was a gamer.

I may be in the minority but I still prefer righty versions of even those gloves -- yes, even of Babe Ruth -- so I end up trading or selling to "correct" hand collectors. About the only guys I personally would prefer to have lefty versions are guys named Lefty, and then I still don't care all that much.

A good glove is a good glove, though, and the MM4 is a nice model that seems more hard to find than the MM9 or even the MM5. Some lefties that are fun are old catchers mitts (not too many lefty catchers out there), or a reverse twin of righty version you already like.

Rob

[ebbets55]

I gotta disagree with you pal on the lefty Babe Ruth's. I go out of my way to find them in lefties. Ruth gloves are one of the few gloves I try to find in left-handed models. Since I'm a righty, I generally like most of my gloves right-handed with the exception of Ruth. I do think those and a few others command a premium but as a general rule, they don't.

Lefties prefer left-handed models as they feel more natural on their hands but come time to sell, they are selling to a much smaller audience. The decrease in the quantity demanded keeps the lefty prices down and below that of the righties. That's the way I see it.

JD

[jwoody]

PRICE GUIDE....BABE RUTH (Add20% for left hand models)...

[softball66]

JD is basically right (or left) about the glove selection and value I believe. Righties prefer right hand throwers.
Left handed buyers, on the whole, don't mind left handed gloves and might select them as a choice even without the "player use factor."
The "Player Use Factor" brings into play how the player wore his glove. When we collect our glove(s) we want our store model glove to reflect the player's use. If he was right handed we want a right handed model, if he was left handed, we might prefer it that way, but we might take it any fit depending too upon the glove's rarity.
It seems sort of strange to get a right handed glove for "Lefty" Grove, "Lefty" Gomez or maybe Steve Carleton.
So other factors also play into this. I think few really care about getting a left- handed Harvey Haddix HH, for instance, because so many great catches were made with a righty by other players.
Jim Storey at Nocona told me one time that they traditionally made nine righties to one lefty on fielders gloves. Bob C. has an idea of the ratio at Rawlings too. Now different ratios for 1b mitts and certainly for catchers mitts.

[Bubdoggy]

From the southpaw side, there are advantages sometimes to getting the wrong hand version, i.e. price.

I picked up a Nokona CM225 left handed mitt for about half what you righties would pay (good for me). I like the lefty versions just so I can put it on and play catch if I wanted.

I also picked up an Eddie Mathews PM16 in a lefty model to go with my boyhood Hank Aaron MacGregor lefty that I played with. (Looking for a lefty Warren Spahn for my Braves triumvirate.)

I know you purists cringe at it but it's still a game for me.

Not that I pass on good deals for a righty glove.

[GloveCrazy]

Oh, I'm not saying that I wouldn't hold out for a premium on a Ruth lefty, I just wouldn't be so inclined to call it my "keeper" Ruth if I liked a righty version better. By the way, I'll be by your house tonight Jim to pick up your discarded righty Ruths

[vintagebrett]

I generally only buy RH gloves because that is what I like. However, if I come across a model or glove that is LH that I really want/need, I don't mind adding it to the collection.

I'm with Rob on the Ruth gloves though - if I was to own one, I would prefer one for a right handed thrower.

[Mike**Mize]

Pretty thought provoking....Lefty vs. Righty. I don't recalll seeing too many lefty G41's out there (other than replicas and of course JD's very nice tradmark original ). As a righty thrower, I mostly collect RHT gloves. I like to put the glove on, toss a ball in the air and get a feel for the way the glove closes on the ball. Every now and then I spot a lefty that looks too interesting to pass on. For instance, I've got a nice snare web Mac/Gold RL Model that looked way too cool to pass on. I guess the thing about lefty gloves I've always found a little mysterious is that they look almost otherworldly to me. It's not as simple as a mirror image of a righty glove. There's something else going on there; something about the way lefty gloves tend to have a very deep, strong diagonal break through the pocket. Anybody else have this sense of lefty gloves? My eight year old daughter Layla is a pure lefty and every now and then I'll pick up an old LHT fielders or basemitt and when it arrives and is cleaned up I'll call her into my workshop and say. "Hey Layla, I got you a new one!" She'll put it on just as naturally as anything, look it over and pound it a few times and say, "Thanks Daddy!". I write left handed and kick left footed, but bat and throw righty, so I know about some of the quirky lefty stuff. As far as Ruths are concerned, mine are all righty, but I'd add a lefty G41 in a heartbeat if I could.

[jwoody]

SO FAR I ONLY OWN RIGHT HAND THROWERS...BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE BABE, IT MUST BE OR IT HAS TO BE, A LEFT HAND THROWER....

[Mike**Mize]

I've got to disagree respectfully with the LHT only idea. These gloves, The G41 and all the Reach and Spalding Home Run Specials are way too nice to pass on while waiting for a LHT to come up. For me, it's about the condition of the glove, the quality of the model and the great Ruth signature. Face it, it's not going to be a Ruth gamer. I'm pretty sure "The Babe" wouldn't mind. He might even say, "Sure son; Go ahead...Get one you could play with. That's what I did."

[awarsoca]

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjyarborough/MM4

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