Babe Didrikson Zaharias' 1934 MLB Spring Training Used Baseball Mitt
Discovered wrapped in brown craft paper inside a cardboard box directly from the Babe and George Zaharias' archives, untouched since George's careful preservation efforts, is Babe Didrikson Zaharias' phenomenal hand stamped 'Babe' 1934 baseball mitt worn during her short but legendary MLB pitching stint in 1934! This custom 'Babe' glove exhibits the hand-done personalization with an abundance of patience, attention to detail and script consistency across the pinky finger end depicted in the second and tenth listing photos. While its consignor The Babe (and George) Zaharias Foundation's namesake was a 10-time major winner in golf, this historically significant artifact crosses over to the ever so potent baseball and United States history collecting segments. Those markets gave witness to her counterpart (Babe) Ruth's game-used glove achieving a record-breaking $1.53 million result at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in November 2022. Other Babe, just as important.
Paving the way for women in sports with a paring of its finest and America's favorite pastime, in 1934 Babe Didrikson became the first women to pitch in Major League Baseball (MLB) when she made three Spring Training game appearances and four innings over six days from March 20 - 25. Didrikson's hitless debut outing in Fort Meyers, FL was as one of manager Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletic, against Casey Stengel's Brooklyn Dodgers - "athletic" perhaps her single most accurate descriptor. The box score read one inning pitched, zero hits and one hit-by-pitch before 400 spectators. So far so good. "My little lambs couldn't get to her," Dizzy Dean was quoted as saying after the truncated no-hitter in his biography after the side was retired by the 5 foot 5 to five foot seven Didrikson weighing in between 115 and 145. After a day off to ice the arm, Babe Didrikson returned to the lineup, this time for player-manager Frankie Frisch's World Series winning St. Louis Cardinals versus the Boston Red Sox! “Under the tutelage of Burleigh Grimes, Dizzy Dean and others, she has learned to stand on the rubber, wind up like a big-leaguer and throw a rather fair curve,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. A controversial non-third strike call while Didrikson tended a fragile base runner positioning of first and third led to a two strike two run double. Babe Didrikson “deserved a better fate than she received,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported. “A hit followed what could have been called a third strike and the third out.” While there were disparaging comments to be had from less than progressive columnists of the day such as L.C. Davis of the Post-Dispatch, resistance to inclusivity was expected - especially in 1934. The Babe's final mound appearance on March 25th consisted of two scoreless innings and lining out at the plate for the New Orleans Pelicans against the Cleveland Indians.
Poised for museum inclusion for continuation of the evolution of women in sports' story, this leather left-hand worn mitt by 'The' Babe while she silenced the bigoted naysayers - even if it was just for a few innings. A signed letter of provenance from The Babe & George Zaharias Foundation, which benefits disabled and underprivileged children, comes with this lot.
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