Here is a vintage mid 1960's High Quality made in USA Spalding Joe Torre baseball catcher's mitt or glove for a Right-Hand thrower and thus fits on the right hand. Torre was a right-handed thrower. The mitt was made in the USA and is adult sized measuring 12" long through the pocket and the mitt measures 32.5" around the mitt. The mitt was made only in 1965 based on the Spalding catalog info I have. In 1965 the mitt was the third most expensive catchers mitt Spalding sold (out of 11 made), selling for $33.50, which was the third most expensive catchers mitt by Spalding that year. The other two top-of-the-line Spalding catchers mitts (both Yogi Berra models) sold for $46.50 and $39.95, so it was a high-quality glove. The mitt weighs 1 pound 7.7 ounces.
The mitt features the rarely seen 4-break Multi-Flex-Pad which is pretty cool. It's like the Rawlings similar Flex-O-Matic Palm featured on their Heart of the Hide model FP-5 catchers mitt. As lots of you know, Rawlings was making the gloves and mitts for Spalding during the 1960's. The Multi-Flex Pad mitts were around for just a couple of years and I'm assuming the mitts were probably too flexible after being broken in and maybe hurting their hands, even though the concept seems to make sense.
Stamped on the front of the mitt is Split Action (web), Form Pocket (very faint), Multi-Flex Pad, Joe Torre (facsimile signature), Professional Model, Radial-Laced Heel, Spalding, Made in U.S.A. and 42-713. Stamped on the back is 100% Nylon Stitched and Pat. No. 2,434,171 and there is a nice blue, red & white original Spalding patch sewn on the back.
There is no owner's ink on the mitt. The inside and outside stamping are all readable, although the Form Pocket in the middle of the pocket is very faded/worn. The mitt was not used much and the Multi-Flex breaks are not moving much. The upper part of the pocket did have a lot of glove oil in it which I tried to remove. It did come out, but it lightened the color of the leather a bit in that area (about a baseball width size). Otherwise, the exterior and interior leather is in great condition, being soft but with that quality feel of good leather. Mitt has a nice original blue, red & white Spalding cloth patch on the back showing some light wear. Interior leather is soft and smooth with no chafing on it. The lacing appears original and intact with very light wear. The rolled leather piping/binding is in very nice condition. The thumb and pinky loops are functional and useable. There is some light staining on the mitt here and there. The web is soft. There is nice lamb's wool on the underside of the backstrap which appears to be mostly still there.
Joe Torre was a professional baseball player, manager,
executive and television color commentator. He has served as a special
assistant to the Commissioner of MLB starting in 2020. He previously
served in the capacity of MLB’s chief baseball officer from 2011 to 2020.
Torre ranks fifth all-time in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager.
With 2,342 hits during his playing career, Torre is the only major
leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager.
From 1996 to 2007, he was the manager of the New York Yankees and guided
the team to six AL pennants and four World Series
championships. He was elected to the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager
in 2014.
As a baseball player he was mainly a catcher, and he was a
right-handed thrower and batter. Torre’s professional baseball career began as
a player in 1960 with the Milwaukee Braves, as a catcher and 1st
baseman. He also played for the St. Louis Cardinals (for whom he
played primarily 3rd base) and the New York Mets, until
becoming a manager in 1977, when he briefly served as the Mets' player-manager before
retiring as a player.
A nine-time All-Star, Torre won the
1971 NL MVP Award after leading the major leagues in batting average,
hits and RBI’s.
I have other gloves and mitts on eBay now as auctions and/or Buy it Now, and I like to combine shipping whenever possible. If you win more than one glove on an auction, I'll send you an auction for the combined shipping amount. If you win Buy it Now items which require immediate payment, you'll have to pay the total shown and then when I now the total combined shipping cost, I'll refund you the difference back on the price through eBay.