There are game-used and game-worn items that come up for bidding. Jerseys, hats, helmets, gloves and so on. For fans of catchers, the prized catcher’s mitt is about as close as you can get to a player’s past. Now imagine it is Johnny Bench’s catcher mitt that is up for grabs – the greatest catcher in MLB history!

Some game-worn and game-used items from the vintage era are more common than others, but if you have ever played baseball you know that breaking in a baseball glove doesn’t happen overnight. and breaking in a catcher’s mitt is a delicate blend of labor, science and patience. Now imagine how much punishment a catcher’s mitt takes compared to any other player’s glove on the field. It is fair to admit that most MLB catcher’s mitts take serious abuse over the course of a season.

Heritage has an auction for a 1972-73 Johnny Bench game-used catcher’s mitt that has been certified as PSA/DNA authentic from Bench’s National League MVP era. The reserve amount of $32,000.00 comes to $38,400.00 after the buyer’s premium. Heritage has an estimated value of $40,000+ on this piece of history.

Image by Heritage Auctions.

Heritage describes this prized catcher’s mitt of Johnny Bench:

His bulging trophy case contains a pair of National League MVP Trophies as well, and the offered catcher’s mitt corresponds with his first, a 1972 season that saw Bench lead take two-thirds of the Senior Circuit Triple Crown (40 home runs and 125 RBI’s) en route to the pennant.

The experts at PSA/DNA assign a two-season vintage to this Rawlings RLIP mitt, beginning with that remarkable 1972 campaign. A quick check of the photos of that season in Getty Images finds no shortage of style matches. The pocket of the mitt is rubbed raw by thousands of impacts from pitches delivered by such Reds aces as Gary Nolan, Don Gullett and Pedro Borbon. The interior of the mitt is deeply toned with Bench’s sweat, which has molded it to the exact shape of his left hand. A number “5” on the exterior thumb is faded from wear and age.

There is arguably no other position on the baseball field in which the importance of offensive skills as opposed to defensive is so heavily skewed to the latter. Following this line of reasoning, there is no fielder’s glove quite so important as a catcher’s mitt. We then realize it is no great leap of faith to conclude that a mitt once owned and operated by this Hall of Fame hero should qualify as one of the most appealing fielder’s gloves to reach the auction block in recent memory.

These are just some of Bench’s career standouts:

• an All-Star for 14 seasons (and 13 consecutive!)
• 2-time MVP (1970/1972)
• 10 Gold Gloves!
• 2,048 career hits
• 389 home runs
• 1,376 RBI

This 1973 Topps card of Johnny Bench would have almost certainly been from a photo taken in the 1972 season. This card embodies Bench’s aggressive playing, and it may be the very same glove up for grabs!