We had a day off from everything so we went shopping for some baseball gear. Due to all the new bat regulations, I had to have something for the boys to swing in Pony league play. We are a big supporter of Heath's company and love the Louisville Triton's but had to have something in the 2 5/8" diameter to meet regulations.
I've been pondering the tried and true Black Omaha and picked one of those up and then something caught Brant's eye hanging off a catcher's mitt. It was an old style leather wrist guard on a Shoeless Joe mitt. I have wanted one for a while but only buy gloves in person due to fit. Our local shop had one of each model and I started shopping, lol. I spoke with the owner and he picked up the Shoeless Joe line as he was unsure of the Nokona line's future after the sale of the company. He has always been a big supporter of Nokona but some things have happened that has him looking for other lines.
Anyway, I loved these gloves, they all felt good and it was had to decide on what model I wanted, even the 11.25" glove felt roomy and easy to handle. The leather is like butter, so soft and smells wonderful. It is a "Game Worn" leather but it is not broken in to your liking, you can still do that, fold it where you like. I know this glove won't last like some of the others we own but I can say that it is really "game ready". I like the Rawling's line, mainly as I can get a deal on the higher end gloves, but they take real knowledge of proper break in and it takes a while to get them where they are good to go. I can say this Shoeless Joe off the shelf is where a Heart of the Hide is after a full season, like 75 games and practice for the year. Brant has a Rawlings he started with last December and today it has the same wear/break in.
I may have lost this one today as he is in love with it, he said it was just an extension of his hand and felt great, imagine that, lol.
Here are a couple of pictures of the Shoeless Joe as well as Brant's mitt. His is a Heart of the Hide in the Bloodline Color with "ballistic cloth" backing to make it a bit lighter/flexible. It is a nice glove for him but it still needs a lot of break in before it's game ready. We learned a while back, when available, get their names on them, lol. The name is burned into the leather and stinks to high heaven for a while but it looks classy and "sometimes" prevents lost gloves.
I've been pondering the tried and true Black Omaha and picked one of those up and then something caught Brant's eye hanging off a catcher's mitt. It was an old style leather wrist guard on a Shoeless Joe mitt. I have wanted one for a while but only buy gloves in person due to fit. Our local shop had one of each model and I started shopping, lol. I spoke with the owner and he picked up the Shoeless Joe line as he was unsure of the Nokona line's future after the sale of the company. He has always been a big supporter of Nokona but some things have happened that has him looking for other lines.
Anyway, I loved these gloves, they all felt good and it was had to decide on what model I wanted, even the 11.25" glove felt roomy and easy to handle. The leather is like butter, so soft and smells wonderful. It is a "Game Worn" leather but it is not broken in to your liking, you can still do that, fold it where you like. I know this glove won't last like some of the others we own but I can say that it is really "game ready". I like the Rawling's line, mainly as I can get a deal on the higher end gloves, but they take real knowledge of proper break in and it takes a while to get them where they are good to go. I can say this Shoeless Joe off the shelf is where a Heart of the Hide is after a full season, like 75 games and practice for the year. Brant has a Rawlings he started with last December and today it has the same wear/break in.
I may have lost this one today as he is in love with it, he said it was just an extension of his hand and felt great, imagine that, lol.
Here are a couple of pictures of the Shoeless Joe as well as Brant's mitt. His is a Heart of the Hide in the Bloodline Color with "ballistic cloth" backing to make it a bit lighter/flexible. It is a nice glove for him but it still needs a lot of break in before it's game ready. We learned a while back, when available, get their names on them, lol. The name is burned into the leather and stinks to high heaven for a while but it looks classy and "sometimes" prevents lost gloves.
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