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About Me
My name is Jim Daniel and I have been collecting gloves and mitts since 1994. I built this website for many reasons. First of all, I felt like I was one of only a few glove guys left without a web presence and it was about time to join the internet age. Secondly, I wanted a forum other than eBay to sell some extra gloves, but lastly and most importantly I wanted to consolidate and share my big glove picture database with other collectors. I love to look at pictures of gloves and I thought others would too. This is such a great hobby and it is a lot of fun to interact with others, share knowledge and help each other research or find vintage gloves. I learned that from The Glove Collector (TGC) himself in about 1995. I’m just a collector, not a dealer, and I’m just having fun and getting more focused and organized in the process. |
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BACKGROUND – Over the years, many people have asked me what my e-mail address, Ebbets55, means. Why that name? Here’s the story. My dad was a baseball writer when I was a kid and he taught me how to read from my 1975 Topps cards and I was reading box scores with a voracious appetite soon after. He covered the Dodgers, Angels and Rams for local Los Angeles area newspapers. His job was to report on the game in the press box and telecopy (as it was called back then) the story back to the newspaper after the game. Since he had to cover all the home games in ’77, my brother (6) and I (8) went to a lot of games otherwise we wouldn’t see him very much because he worked so late. Oftentimes, we were the last two kids running through the stands popping cups and throwing paper airplanes torn from program pages until my dad was done with the story. My second home was Dodger Stadium in 1977 & ’78 and I bled Dodger blue along with my older buddy Tommy Lasorda. I have the fondest memories of those teams and those players and therein began my love for the Dodgers, and come the fall, my hatred for the Yankees. |
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As I got older and read a lot about the grand old game, I came to love and admire the older game, the teams, the players, the stories and the rivalry between the Dodgers and Yankees. The Yanks would beat them every few years in the World Series it seemed until 1955. That’s when the Dodgers finally beat those damn Yankees. No more “Wait Til Next Year”. Anyway, when I got my first e-mail account in the early 1990’s, before I even started collecting gloves, every name I could think of was already in use. I chose that name as like my fifth choice and never surrendered it despite having 10 or so other e-mail accounts. Although my pop is no longer a baseball writer, he is a lifetime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America and every Christmas we have our annual heated discussion about his upcoming Hall of Fame vote, when my brother, brother-in-law and I try to persuade him into voting for our picks. |
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I packed away the cards my dad, my brother and I collected over the years when I went to college in the late 1980’s. I could not keep up with all the new product and my studies at the same time. In 1993 or 1994 while in graduate school, my girlfriend (my wife soon after) 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 fielder’s 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 piece in my glove display to this day. |
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How cool was it that you could actually put these things on your hand, drop them on the floor and you did not 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 and yet you could even trade them with other collectors. |
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Those two gloves started out my passion and now my whole house has a baseball theme. Whenever my wife gives me a bad time, I just remind her that it was she who started the whole thing. She’s been very understanding and supportive, and although will never admit it, I know she actually likes them. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. |
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INTERESTS – I only really collect vintage baseball equipment, mostly gloves. I don’t collect any other sports. I’m the type of guy who wants one of everything and I don’t keep duplicates for the most part. That’s why I’m constantly trading and selling off the extras. I don’t really collect endorsed gloves unless they say Babe Ruth or it is an important model. I have various subsets in my glove collection and my favorite areas to collect include:
- Babe Ruth gloves in different brands
- Pre-war three fingers in different brands
- 19th century gloves & mitts
- Early novelty gloves & mitts
- Folk art or homemade looking gloves
- MacGregor Goldsmiths
- Nokonas
- Boxed gloves
- Any other crazy looking models
- Vintage baseball glove oils
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Lastly, just a quick thanks to Joe and Brett for all they have done to advance this hobby of ours. We all appreciate it and a personal thanks to my other good glove buddies – Rob, Mike, John, Jerry, Brett, Dave, Robbie, Ricky, Paul, Bruce, Don, Mark and Mike. I would not have built this site if it were not for Mike E. He is a great and generous guy. Thanks Karl for bringing my ever-changing vision to life and thanks for sharing my enthusiasm. |
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Thanks for visiting and I look forward to meeting a lot more of you guys. Drop me a note sometime. |
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