Special Order Gloves.

[mikesglove]

A 1955 Bob Grim Personal Model 2054 glove. Purported to be a Jackie Robinson gamer from 1955-56. I think Wilson used that red/white logo patch for only a year.

Yankee pitcher Bob Grimm didn't have a catalog offering of a personal model glove. The earliest mention of the model 2054 is the Early Wynn glove of 1956.
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[mikesglove]

A 1961 catalog listing of the Rocky Colavito personal model 42-203. It was Spalding's top of the line glove. The glove was a one year only model but lived on as a special order because the glove pattern proved to be popular with MLB players. Sandy Koufax used the Colavito glove during the 1966 season.


Other players also used the 42-203 glove. Below is a Bobby Mercer special order gamer with a Carl Yastrzemski Personal Model endorsement. This one features the H-web.



Below is a Don Drysdale Personal Model 42-203 gamer.

[mikesglove]

A 1966 Rawlings ad for the Ken Boyer/Brooks Robinson MVP model glove. Beside a couple of softball models, this was Rawlings only baseball glove with the Big Wheel web.

Below is a 1966 special order Rawlings model PLW glove made for Harvey Kuenn. It has all the features of the Boyer/Robinson glove and an additional upgrade to the HOH leather.

[mikesglove]

Rawlings introduced the X-web Big 8 glove in 1964. The ad shows the eight MLB players who promoted the glove. The Big 8 retail model can easily be found on ebay these days.


Not so easily found is the upgraded version available to the MLB. Below is a photo of Ken Boyer with a Rawlings X-web model glove. Note the V-anchored web, not available on the retail version.


The glove below is a 1964 Rawlings Ken Boyer gamer. It's an X-web HOH model DG. The DG refers to Dick Groat, one of the Big 8 promoters.

[mikesglove]

Eddie Mathews with a Rawlings H-web glove.

At first I thought it may be the XPGH model of 1968. Upon closed inspection, there is no H-Web stamp on the thumb stall and the spiral lacing is cinched around the H-web strap. So more than likely he's using the mantle model XPG6-H.

Below is a photo of Mantle with the same spiral wrapped H-web strap.

[mikesglove]

A cool Tommy Henrich Rawlings glove from the 1940's. The glove was made special for him by Rawlings and is facsimile stamped on the pinky and wrist strap. The glove features a rolled lace web and double laced fingers. The finger lacing is unusual in that the grommets are only on the front. That design was a Rawlings patent from the 1930's. The idea was that the fingers could slide sideways along the lacing to better capture a fly ball. The Henrich glove is an updated version of the Billy Herman model BH of the mid 1930's when the patent was first approved. The Henrich glove sold multiple times on REA, each time increasing in price. It topped out around $1800. The glove originally was from the Henrich estate sale.