My name is Ted, from Carlisle, Pa.
After 20+ years away from baseball, I'm back! Life kinda got in the way ;-> Now my son is playing Little League and his interest has rekindled my love of the game. We started with vintage cards (I gave him what was left in the shoebox... the 77' Phillies) and now my interests are developing towards vintage pennants and gloves. As an old book dealer (my day job), I believe the hunt is the best part. I sense with gloves that rings true. I love the visuals of the old cards and the connection they provide with the history of the game, but somehow the hobby seems a bit "cut and dry". I'm hoping vintage gloves are chess to baseball card's checkers. At this early stage my interest trends towards endorsed gloves of the 40s through 70s with earlier gloves a possibility if they can be reasonably obtained.
I almost bought a few old gloves recently on Ebay before realizing these near mint gems were either left-handed (my son and I are rightys) or obvious youth models. Decided it might make sense to actually know a bit first. I have since purchased a few references and I'm trying to track down the following titles:
"2007 Vintage Baseball Glove Catalog Source Book"
"Baseball Glove's Merge with America's Past" by Cunningham
If anyone can point me towards a copy I would be most appreciative.
Lastly, I have had an old catcher's mitt since forever. I suppose I've been a glove collector and never knew it
It was in the shed when I was growing up. Have no clue how it got there. Never used it in Little League, but it got a lot of use while I was pretending to be Bob Boone in my backyard. Somehow it survived all my moves in the Marine Corps and I finally cleaned it up this summer. From what I can see, it has no markings of any kind. It does not appear to have ever had any webbing. It has sheepskin under the wrist guard. The only clue is stitch marks next to the thumb, presumably from an old tag. I can put my hand in the glove but it is a little small for actual use. A youth model? Dimensions are 11 1/2" across at the widest spread and 10" top-to-bottom. If any light can be shed on this old mitt, I would be forever grateful! I have attached a few pics.