Waco man returns lost childhood baseball glove to Texan after 65 years

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A Texas man was reunited with his lost childhood baseball glove after 65 years when a Waco man retrieved it and tracked him down on Facebook.

Griff Moore played baseball as a teenager in his Dallas neighborhood during the 1960s. His mother wrote his name on the baseball glove he used before it was lost.

Steven Ridlehuber purchased the glove at a flea market in April of 2024. When he noticed the name “Griff Moore” inscribed on the glove he began to search for Moore. He reached out to both Moore and his wife, Tonya Moore.

Tonya didn’t notice the message until late Nov. She wanted to retrieve the glove to surprise her husband, Griff, with it for Christmas. Ridlehuber was enthused at the prospect.

“When she made contact with me I thought ‘This is pretty cool, I’ve gotta get her the glove,’” Ridlehuber said.

Tonya offered to reimburse Ridlehuber and pay for the postage to send the glove to their home in Allen, Texas. Ridlehuber declined, asking for a different method of payment.

“I didn’t want any money for it or anything like that,” Ridlehuber said. “I just wanted to see the video and see his surprise when he opened it up. And he was truly shocked.”

Griff was shocked to unwrap his childhood baseball glove on Christmas morning.

“I immediately recognized it,” Griff said. “I said ‘What in the world is this?’ Cause I hadn’t seen it in 60-65 years.”

Tonya plans to display the glove in their home.

“It’s got to be a God thing that brought it back to us,” Tonya said.