The MLB was formed as the National League in 1876 and only recently integrated into one organization in 2000. In all this time, many superstar baseball players have starred in numerous record-setting World Series performances.
The gloves they used in these games have become sports legend and frequently sell at memorabilia auctions for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Continue reading to learn about the most expensive baseball gloves ever sold.
8. 1957 Eddie Mathews Game Used Fielder’s Glove
Brand: Rawlings
Date: 1957
photo source: SCP Auctions
This 1957 Eddie Mathews Game-Used Fielder’s Glove was sold at an SCP Auction for $41,893, which puts it at the bottom end of our list of the most expensive baseball gloves ever sold.
This Rawlings glove came with perfect authenticating documents, proving that it was used during the 1957 World Series.
Mathews started playing with the Braves in 1952 and played for seventeen seasons for various teams. The glove features heavy wear from extended play with faded webbing and extensive leather scuffing.
The glove came with a signed letter by Mathews certifying the glove’s authenticity circa 1989, which is an unheard-of amount of security for sports memorabilia.
Did you know?
Edwin “Eddie” Mathews played for the Braves, Houston Astros, and Detroit Tigers. Mathews was an All-Star player for nine seasons and hit 512 home runs in his career.
7. Early 1950s Roy Campanella Game Used Catcher’s Mitt
Brand: Wilson
Date: 1950s
photo source: Heritage Auctions
Roy Campanella’s game-used catcher’s mitt sold at a Heritage Auction for $44,812.50. The glove was a gift to Campanella’s Dodgers teammate, Carl Furillo, after Campanella was paralyzed in a car accident. Despite this, Roy won three National League MVP trophies in 1951, ’53, and ’55.
This Wilson glove was sold at auction with the assumption that it played in at least one of those esteemed seasons.
Denny Esken, the baseball glove expert, identified the qualities of this 1950s glove, including its original spiral lacing. Even though the pocket was missing from the lacing, the expert suggests that Campanella probably made this alteration himself.
Did you know?
Roy Campanella debuted in 1948 and played with the Brooklyn Dodgers until 1957. His early career as a superstar catcher was tragically cut short at the beginning of 1958 when he was paralyzed in a car crash.
6. Late 1950s Yogi Berra Game Used & Signed Catcher’s Mitt
Brand: Spalding
Date: 1950s
photo source: Heritage Auctions
This glove, dated to the late-1950s and worn by Yogi Berra was one of the gloves the superstar wore after he came back from WWII, where he had served on a ship that had capsized. He came back and became one of the most famous backstops in the sport’s history, despite a shaky early start.
The glove is a Spalding model, genuine leather, with Berra’s autograph written in blue sharpie on the mitt’s palm. The signature is certified as authentic with 9/10 quality.
The glove also included a letter of provenance from Berra when it sold at a Heritage Auction for $50,400.
Did you know?
Berra played nineteen seasons of MLB for the New York Yankees, except for the last season when he played for the Mets. He was on the All-Star team eighteen times and a ten-time winner of the World Series, which is still more than any other baseball player in the history of the MLB.
5. 1955 Ted Williams Game Worn Fielder’s Glove
Brand: Wilson
Date: 1955
photo source: Heritage Auctions
This 1955 Ted Williams Game Worn Fielder’s Glove is the glove of a player who accrued a massively successful record in his time playing baseball, hitting 2,600 hits, 500 home runs, and 2,000 walking runs. He won two Triple Crowns and served five years in the military in the meantime.
One of the reasons this glove reached its enormous value at its Heritage auction is that fielding gloves are the rarest collectible gloves of any major leaguer’s memorabilia.
This is because unlike jerseys and bats, the fielder’s glove is most likely to be worn and reused until it disintegrates.
This amazingly well-preserved example from 1955 sold for $71,700 at its auction.
Did you know?
Ted Williams was a Major League left fielder who played for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960, with time taken away to serve in both WWII and Korea. He’s the last player in the MLB to score over 400 runs in a single season and as a nineteen-time All-Star player, two-time MVP, six-time AL battle champion, and two-time Triple Crown winner, is one of the most decorated players in the sport’s history.
4. 1973 Al Kaline Game Used Outfielder’s Glove
Brand: Wilson
Date: 1973
photo source: Heritage Auctions
This 1973 Al Kaline Game Used Outfielder’s Glove was sold from the Al Kaline Collection at a Sports Heritage auction. Kaline or “Mr. Tiger” wore this outfielder’s glove in his final season after winning 10 Gold Glove Awards in a row, earning him the reputation of being one of the greatest defensive players in the sport’s history.
The glove may have worn finger sleeves and a torn wrist strap, but it also has “Kaline” written on the thumb in green marker, personalizing this find for its lucky buyer.
The glove was on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum before being sold at an auction for $126,000.
Did you know?
Al Kaline played 22 seasons of MLB for the Detroit Tigers, hence his nickname. In addition to his Gold Gloves, he also played in eighteen All-Star games and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, which was the first time he was ever on the ballot.
3. Sandy Koufax 1959-60 Game Used Glove
Brand: Rawlings
Date: 1959-1960
photo source: Goldin Auctions
Unlike most of the gloves on this list, which gain their value from the touch of some of the greatest athletes the sport has ever seen, the Sandy Koufax glove’s value comes from a player with a mixed record.
Koufax played five seasons of MLB and didn’t fair so well. By 1960, he ended with an 8-13 record and quit.
Even though he didn’t intend on returning to the sport, he had some kind of revelation in 1960 and played 6 more seasons, securing some of the greatest consecutive season records in the sport’s history.
He went 129-47, winning an MVP award, three Cy Young Awards, and played on the All-Star team in all six seasons.
This Sandy Koufax game-used glove from 1960 sold at a Goldin auction for $105,697.65, sporting photo-matches and a positive DNA test to prove its ownership.
Did you know?
Koufax’s career may have started out rough, but when he came back to the sport, he accrued some of its most coveted statistics of all time. He’s one of the few players in the league’s history to pitch a perfect game.
2. Mickey Mantle’s Glove
Brand: Rawlings
Date: 1965-1966
photo source: Goldin Auctions
Mickey Mantle’s Glove from the 1965/66 season is an extremely rare example of the superstar’s memorabilia from the height of his career. Compared to jerseys and bats, these gloves in game-worn condition rarely come up in auctions, with only three or four examples of this quality known to exist.
Mantle had played fifteen major league seasons at that point, making the All-Star team in 65/66 and scoring nineteen home runs for the season. The fleece-lined strap at the wrist is matted to indicate its game-worn condition, with finger scraping and sweat stains on the leather.
The pro-grade webbing is still intact, however, indicating the quality of this glove’s storage conditions.
Mantle’s glove sold at a Goldin sports memorabilia auction for $177,750.
Did you know?
In 1956, Mantle won the league’s Triple Crown. In his 20-season career, he played on 16 of the league’s All-Star teams and won the Gold Glove once and the MVP three times.
1. Lou Gehrig Mitt
Brand: Ken-Wel
Date: 1939
photo source: Forbes
The most expensive baseball glove is the Lou Gehrig Mitt. This glove was sold on September 29, 1999 and holds the record with the Guinness Book of World Records for the most expensive baseball glove.
Its final sale price was $389,500 when it passed across Sotheby’s auction block. It previously sold for $287,500 at another auction.
The glove was from 1939 and belonged to Lou Gehrig, widely known as one of the greatest players ever to play the game, voted the single greatest first baseman in the history of the sport.
In his seventeen-season career, Gehrig, known as “the Iron Horse,” won the Triple Crown, was voted the leagues MVP twice, and was on six World Series Champion teams.
Did you know?
In the late-30s, Gehrig was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, a neurodegenerative disease that slowly took control of his motor functions away from him and killed him before his 40th birthday. This is why ALS is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease in America.
