What made you a glove collector?

[vintagebrett]

I always wonder what drives people to collect gloves so I'd like to hear from the people on this forum and see what got you started?

My story is boring - my dad has been collecting since I was 11 or 12 years old so I sort of grew up in the environment. My favorite part of the hobby is going to flea markets and antique shows and looking for gloves - sometime's the hunt is more exciting than the find!

Please share what got you infected with the Glove Collecting Disease!!

[ebbets55]

In 1993 or 1994, my girlfriend at the time (my wife soonafter) got me two gloves for Christmas. One was a big turn of the century Spalding sewn pocket catchers mitt. It had what appeared to be a metal frame inside and I couldn't squeeze it. The other was a splitfinger fielders glove from the 40's. I thought these were the neatest things in the world. I remember waking up with the catchers mitt on my hand the next morning. (Funny, I don't remember going to bed with it on my hand.) It's the center glove in my glove display to this day.

How cool was it that you could actually put these things on your hand, drop them on the floor and you didn't have to worry about them falling out of mint condition. They smelled good. You could clean them or relace them if necessary. It was fun to work on them. Growing up a card collector in my youth, I thought this was a great change.

Those two gloves started out my obsession and now my whole house is decorated in baseball. Whenever my wife gives me crap, I just remind her that it was her who started the whole darn thing off. She's been very understanding and supportive, and although will never admit it, I know she actually likes them.

JD

[crackofthebat]

I got started in 1989 after picking up a couple of old gloves at a local tag sale. I had been collecting baseball cards along with my 3 sons, but soon gave up the cards in pursuit of the leather. My grandfather got me into baseball at an early age and I use to spend a lot of time taking gloves apart, swapping webs, trying to come up with the "perfect glove". My grandfather was a train engineer who had the run from Hartford to Boston and would share all kinds of stories about his beloved Red Sox. While my dad was not a baseball fan, my grandfather spoiled me by letting pick out a new glove almost every year from the Sears catalog for my birthday in the spring. I have been in the hobby a lot of years and must say that the nicest people in the world are glove collectors! While I do a lot of work on bats for people my first love is still baseball gloves. Believe it or not I don't have many bats in my collection!!!! I'm very proud of my oldest son, Brett, who has become quite the collector in the past couple of years - I think he knows more about hobby than I do!

[glove-works]

While writing may not be my strong point (no crap about spelling, or punctuation, please) , I feel the need to share my story.

My interest in glove collecting only goes back about 3 years (yup, just 3). It started with a need to relace my old A2000 from HS, which took me nearly a full day to relace . I was so pleased with the results, I picked up an old FB mitt to relace, that was quite the experience, taking close to 2 day's.. . I had picked the FB mitt up for I think $8 on eBay, and decided to list it, much to my surprise the mitt fetched $60+.. That's kinda what got me going. I started picking up old gloves, reconditioning them, and reselling. What one can do to an old piece of leather is amazing, I was instantly hooked. The Glove-Works website has been up just over a year now, and has become a very popular stop, with a monthly hit rate some fortune 500 companies might envy, it's something I would have never imagined just a few short years ago.

I never really intended to collect gloves, but every once on awhile, you slip a glove on your hand, and it has that certain feel, you just can't let it go. So...................I seem to always have 100 or so of those "can't let go gloves on "the Wall".

It's the look on a customer's face when they pick-up their "old friend" after it has received an overhaul, they are in awe, some have even weeped, it's a great feeling and very, very rewarding. Treating every glove as if it were your own, is key.

While my knowledge of gloves has improved dramatically, without the great circle of collector's (many who have become great friends) out there, especially, MV, BR, HT, RR, BL..........and Joe P., your informational guides have without question have been instrumental.

Anyway, thats my story, and I'm sticking to it.

[mjkm90]

Like probably every memorabilia collector, I started with cards. I loved them and still do, but gave up collecting them in the late 80s with the mad rush of new material. Like Jim, I tired of having items that were so delicate and more importantly, difficult to display and handle . I was also intrigued by the scarcity of gloves relative to cards. I still collect gloves, but have since branched into many, many other areas. I go for a look as well as quality. My only absolute requirement, is that it must date to pre 1970. Most of what I'm after is pre 1950. Gloves are fun to clean, display and wear . I used to have far more gloves than I do today. I sold many of them because so many were stored away in crates. It was no different than my cards in boxes . If I don't have it out, I usually sell it. This keeps the quality up, and allows me to free up funds for additional purchases. A glove is a beautiful thing to behold, but they always looks better next to a pennant, trophy, photo, old ball, or uni. It's great fun to put displays together. If you havn't branched out yet, give it a shot.

P.S. Sorry for all the faces, my daughter just loves to put those in.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q304 ... P01623.jpg
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q304 ... P01596.jpg

[Brennerbaseball]

I grew up playing and watching baseball and collected cards as a kid. After college I was dating my soon to be wife back in 1996 and she asked me to go shopping with her. I was not really too thrilled to shop but we ended up going to an antique store looking for something I don't even remember. After a while in the store I noticed an old baseball glove low on a shelf behind some bottles. I pulled it out and was amazed at how crude the glove looked. I put it on my hand and WOW I was hooked instantly. When I got it home I cleaned it up and it was beautiful. It was a Goldsmith G12 Mace Brown and is still my most favorite glove. The best thing about this story is that I later showed it to my brother and got him hooked on collecting. We now both share this wonderful hobby and are able to remain close.

[Number9]

i got my start in 1987 when i received a mitt from an elderly neighbor. he was a great guy and used to entertain a few of us kids with his baseball stories. he grew up in and around the game as a batboy for the braves, he caddied for babe ruth, and later got a tryout based on the babe's recomendation. the glove he gave me was a gift to him from george sisler, george was winding down his career in boston at the time. this glove has twice been a very special gift.

around ten years later, i started collecting more. mostly focusing on early 20th century as these were the kind that were used by some of the great players in all those stories. a minor diversion for me has been red sox split fingers of the 1946 team.

you never forget your first and i have yet to top it.

[Bleacher Bum]

I recently started this past spring when I found my father's Rawlings TG 36 in his garage that had been heavily used when he was a kid. It was a glove given to him by my late great-uncle who played some pro ball in the 40s and 50s. He let me have it, so I started looking online for vintage gloves that was just like my father's, but in the original condition. I came somewhat close when I found another TG model that was in like-new condition. I then thought it would be pretty neat to collect older gloves so that I could teach my son the evolution of the game while educating myself as I love baseball and its history.

The first glove I purchased online was a Nokona Ray Moore J111 and I was hooked. From the moment I put that super-soft glove on my hand, I knew I had found the hobby I was looking for. I used to be big into collecting Michael Jordan memorabilia and some ball cards, however, I couldn't go out and play with those in the backyard with my son. In the matter of a few months, I have a variety of Nokona gloves and mitts as well as some Rawlings TG models that I also enjoy.

I am with Brett, the hunt is sometimes more fun than actually finding something of value. I haven't been very successful at this point, but with two young children, it is hard to get out to flea markets, auctions, etc.

I must add that this forum and the people involved have been great to deal with. I enjoy the conversation, sharing of knowledge, and overall kindness of everyone I have encountered in this hobby. That above all, has made me enjoy the hobby just as much as playing catch with a vintage glove.

Thanks to all!

Bleacher Bum

[softball66]

Went to the big Texas flea market in Canton last Friday and bought one glove, a Ray Moore J111. Front is nice but owner has some writing on the back. Yep, it's a glove that will hook you and it's a tough 50s Dodger glove to find.

[oldballfan]

I guess what got me caught up in the hobbyagain, was the fact that my daughter is willing to go to the local antique marts in the summer and fall and walk around helping me look for gloves and older bats. Its a great way to spend some time with her, as well as our new son who gets a ride in the backback. My first gloves came from my grandfather, who grew up in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. After he was done playing ball, he gave them to his oldest son, then my father got them to use. In the early 90's he gave the gloves to me. He had played semi-pro ball against some of the traveling negro teams of the late 20's and early 30's. He would tell me several great stories of when he played. These stories are what started me on the road to collecting the older gloves and bats, and everybody is right, your first one(s) is (are) always the most special.

[mudman]

Collecting gloves brought back a less complicated time in my life, when I was a young man and played baseball every time I had spare time or the weather permitted. It was always so cool in those days when one of the guys got a new glove and we were all checking it out.

That was in the mid 60's to mid 70's. Those memories still linger on as the best times of my life, with the exception of when my children were born. So I guess that the love of baseball, plus the great times in my life were both contributing factors to my glove collecting hobby.

[wjr953]

I'm not really a collector of gloves, although I do enjoy seeing some of the older and unusual gloves. I like to buy older gloves (Ebay, flea markets), restore them and then put them back up for sale on Ebay. I don't make a lot of money doing this, just barely enough to break even. I got into glove repair/restoring quite by accident. I was looking for decent older gloves for my two grandsons and I happened upon guy offering a downloadable guide for fixing old gloves, which of course I bought. I then went out and bought a bunch of beat up old gloves and quickly found out that it's not all that easy. It's hard, dirty work and it gets very frustrating alot of the time. Of course, when I started, I didn't have much of the equipment that I have now. Once I started getting the hang of doing this, I bought more and more gloves, more glove conditioner, better tools, better rawhide (thanks Brett), more gloves, etc., etc. I now have about 40-50 gloves in my "inventory" that are patiently waiting to be processed. I spend about 10 hours a week doing this, more if my wife doesn't mid too much which thankfully she rarely does. I really love to see how the glove looks when I finally finish it. Again, I barely make enough to break even doing this. It's a fun hobby, and whatever I make selling goes right back into buying more gloves and more supplies. I love the fact that I can take a glove that is 30, 40 or 50 years old, and give it brand new life. It's my way of giving something back to the game of baseball, which I love. I put a lot of pride in my workmanship and I always offer a money-back guarantee on everything that I sell. The last thing I want is to make anyone upset because they feel that they bought something that was misrepresented. I also try to help other guys that do this kind of work, whenever I can. Others have helped me (once again, thanks Brett) so I'm always willing to help others, I think it's only fair.

br

[Cowboy7130]

I really didn't realize I was a glove collector, all these years. I just considered myself a packrat. From time to time I would go through and throw out the stuff in my closet that I no longer used or wanted, but something inside me considers it a sin to throw away a baseball glove, and I have always felt that way.

My oldest son was born in '91. I was a baseball fan, but when he started playing Little League, and he started watching and imitating Ken Griffey, Jr's. swing, he fell in love with baseball, and I fell even more deeply in love with the game. He's a lefty, and finding a kid-size southpaw mitt was kind of tough. Back then, we had a Play-it-Again Sports store in town, and a friend of mine from church mentioned that he had seen a nice little Wilson mitt down there. He said he would pick it up for me and "get it ready" to play. Well, a couple days later, I go over to his house and he hands me the most beautiful little Wilson fielder's glove you can imagine. He had cleaned it and relaced it. He saw me looking at it with my mouth open and my eyes wide, and smiled and said, "Come in, I want to show you something." Well, it turns out my friend from church had turned one end of his living room into a one-man custom baseball glove factory. He showed me gloves and mitts of all styles that he had built, based on old gloves that he took apart, copied and improved. He had a stack of about a dozen gloves that he was rebuilding for some local college players. And, he had a collection of about a half-dozen vintage gloves from the 50's through the 70's. I spent three hours in his house that night, looking at ball gloves and how they are made. When it was time to go, he refused to let me pay him for the glove, making a gift of it to my son. Of course, my mind immediately went to the back room closet of my mom's house, where all my old gloves had been piled up. I got him to rebuild my Wilson George Brett glove, with black laces (which I think look great on the rusty orange leather), and my Little League Revelation model. Of course, I did pay him for those!

For the past 10 years I have been a Little League coach, and for the past 6 years I was a high school baseball coach. I was around gloves all the time, and came to appreciate the difference between a department-store beater and a well-made, reliable glove. I also began to reminisce about the "glove that got away," the "black star" glove I remembered from my youth, that I never had. So I logged on and started looking. I didn't find one for years, because I didn't know what I was looking for. Then I happened to find ebay, and started haunting the "used" and "vintage" sections to see if I might spot the black star glove, and validate my memory. One day, I messed up. I typed "vintage baseball gloves" in the Google search bar instead of the ebay search bar, and guess what popped up? That's right, this forum! Not only did the fine gentlemen on this site help me find the black star, now I am hooked on a new, very enjoyable hobby.

Side note: last night I completed my first re-lacing job on one of my son's old gloves. It was very fulfilling to turn a $7 flea-market find into a solid, reliable, and if I do say so myself, attractive gamer. However, my fingers are sore from pulling the double-thick Louisville Slugger replacement laces through the Wilson holes! I didn't know relacing was so hard! I worked up a sweat! (-;

[Hrking4675]

I started collecting in about '01. My dad had an old XPG Mickey Mantle (Not a HOH one) and I grew up always playing around with it. I always wanted an A2000 or a HOH when I was in little league, but my parents would not get me one. I eventually saved up and got the A2000 X2 when it was pre released in a Baseball Express Catalog (in 2001 i believe) ever since then I had been looking on Ebay for a cheaper pro preferred and thats where it all kind of kicked off. Since then I have been buying and selling gloves since. Im also a huge fan of restoring too. I bought a PRO1000HCB for $30 two years ago, cleaned the whole thing inside and out, relaced it in red and got about $130 for it.

[Brennerbaseball]

Br,
I would love to see some before and after photos. Do you have any?

Thanks,

Alex