Anyone here win the Mask?

[perezfan]

It's not every day that a Thayer Style Catchers Mask turns up on ebay. If not so strapped for cash, I could have made a better run at it. Just curious if anyone here happened to win it (see attached pics...)

Earliest known version of the Catchers Mask, and this ebay example looked superior to the one featured in Hunt's a few years back. Here's the link to that one, which exceeded $2,400 with the Juice...

http://www.huntauctions.com/online/i...1095&lot_qual=

Someone got a pretty raging deal

[yanks12025]

What did it sell for? I saw it but passed over it because I thought it was junk...lol Guess I have to research more stuff.

[deebro041]

Went for $687.77

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

What did it sell for? I saw it but passed over it because I thought it was junk...lol Guess I have to research more stuff.

It does look like junk... very crappy in fact!

Not a particularly attractive piece, but (in this case) the historical significance outweighs the aesthetics. More evidence that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

[CarltonHendricks]

Don't fret Mark...I will make one of those tonight and send it to you so you can have one!

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by CarltonHendricks

Don't fret Mark...I will make one of those tonight and send it to you so you can have one!

Well, I guess you could in fact make one without too much trouble... thank you, Carlton (but please don't give the bad guys any ideas!)

There was lots of talk recently in this forum about fake/reproduced Lemon Peel Balls. Makes you wonder if the same is being done with other vintage equipment. I know this Mask to be old, based on its materials and construction. Plus, it was offered along with an equally old (yet beat-up) Catchers Mitt of the period... found together.

Tough to fake some of this stuff... although I'm starting to see those Repro leather football helmets being artificially aged, and sold as authentic. I'm guessing Baseballs would be the easiest form of equipment to pass off as antique. It would sure be nice if ebay would terminate those auctions, the way they do for phony autographs. Very disturbing trend, either way.

[CarltonHendricks]

Does anyone have a photo of a Thayer mask?...and....what is the evolution of them?...Actually...can anyone offer a definition of a Thayer mask...How long were they used before the catchers mask was no longer a Thayer mask?...I know they are named after Fred Thayer....and as I recall invented by him in 1877...

[perezfan]

Supposedly there is one on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame (with provenance linking it directly to Thayer/Harvard). I would love to see it in person, along with about a thousand of other things there.

I think the Thayer style became "history" when Catchers Masks started being widely produced by the likes of Spalding, W & D, Reach, etc.

Here's some history that talks to key dates, patents, etc. (in case anyone's in a mood to do some reading...)

Thayer's Invention -

The catcher's mask in baseball was invented by Frederick W. Thayer, a Harvard baseball player, who once played the game in Omaha. He modified a fencing mask which enabled the catcher to move closer to home base and receive the ball without fear of being struck in the face. Thayer received a patent for his invention early in 1878. Later in the year, A. G. Spalding and Brothers Company, the leading American sporting goods dealer, began selling the Thayer Catcher's Mask for $3. In 1883 Thayer sued Spalding for patent infringement, and Spalding was ultimately forced to pay royalties.

The Omaha Daily Bee on April 6, 1886, noted Thayer's recent patent victory and recalled his baseball days in Omaha: "Old ball players in Omaha and lovers of the sport, who have watched the game for the last seven years, will remember the first professional nine organized in this city in the fall of 1879. . . . In two of the most important games played the nine was reinforced by a clerk from the B & M headquarters, Fred Thayer, whose brilliant fielding and tremendous batting elicited tumultuous applause from the audience. Thayer was the famous captain of the Harvard university nine of '76 and '77, and is now brought into prominence through being the winner of a heavy patent suit, involving the invention of the catchers' masks.

"The Globe of Boston, tells the story as follows: No catcher thinks of playing behind the bat now without having his head encased in a mask. . . . Comparatively few people who are interested in the national game to-day, know that professionals owe this necessary implement of warfare to an amateur. It was conceived in the ingenious brain of a Harvard college student, who was one of the best players in his day, and probably as good a captain as the University nine ever had.

"In the winter of '76 and '77 the candidates for the Harvard nine were practicing as usual in the old round gymnasium, and Captain Fred Thayer was training them. Harold Ernst, the greatest pitcher the Harvard nine ever had until Nichols made his debut, was to do the pitching, and Jim Tyng was expected to catch him. Although straight arm pitching was still in vogue, Ernst had a remarkable swift delivery, and after awhile Tyng informed Captain Thayer that he would not catch such pitching unless he could have some contrivance to protect his face. . . . Various experiments were tried, and finally he [Thayer] completed a rude but satisfactory protection for Tyng's phvsiognomy."

This first catcher's mask was "a cumbersome affair and resembled a fencing mask. . . . Before the mask came into use there was many a broken nose among the catchers, but now [1886] the only injury is a slight cut from an occasional broken wire."

[baseballart]

Mark

Any thoughts on this mask and its date?

[perezfan]

It's a very early one, Max... I would guess around late 1880s/early 1890s, based on the style, simple design/crudeness, lack of welded joints, etc.

Maybe someone here can pin-point it better. Looks a bit more refined than a Thayer... perhaps the very next phase. I know there are some Equipment collectors out there, who should be able to help/chime in.

Neat Mask!