#29: Making Ken Griffey Jr's Rawlings Glove Legendary

When a lace on your baseball glove breaks, it can be a jarring experience. Most likely, you've put in lots of time playing catch and shaping the glove to allow it to have the absolute perfect baseball glove break-in. But has the time come to toss it out and go buy a new one? In most cases the answer is "no".Since 2022, Rich Davis has been operating Glove Refresh out of Tallahassee, FL. Glove Refresh is a company that specializes in baseball glove repair and break ins. So if you've found yourself with a glove featuring broken laces and are at a loss for what to do, simply shoot Glove Refresh a message and get the process started for sending your glove into them for repair!2025 proved to be a big year for Glove Refresh as they relocated their operations from out of Rich's garage and threw a party to celebrate the grand opening at their new location on June 28th!On this 30th episode of the Beyond the Glove podcast we let Rich detail his journey from a rural Kansas high schooler and college student fixing gloves on the side to turning it into a successful business venture. Rich has dreams of turning Glove Refresh into the go-to destination for ballplayers when it comes to caring and repairing their baseball glove!

Fresh out of college in the early 1990s, Roman Bormet joined on with Rawlings. Specifically, he was a part of their caravan that traveled the United States every baseball season starting during Spring Training and going through October. His job on the caravan: demonstrate firsthand to fans how a baseball glove is made. Roman became immersed in glove function and technology. Plus, he knew all of the nuances that came with lacing baseball gloves. But best of all was that his new employment opportunity put him face-to-face with some of Major League Baseball's biggest stars. Further, his unique task was addressing the glove needs of big leaguers.One day Roman found himself with Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey was a Rawlings man and on this particular day, Bormet thought he'd make a suggestion for mixing up the look of Junior's all-black Rawlings outfield mitt. He suggested that Griffey Jr allow him to add tan lace to his black glove. The Kid took handed over his glove, Roman added the tan lace and Griffey's legendary TB24 Rawlings pattern was born.However, it wasn't only Griffey who accepted mitt advice from Roman Bormet during this time. He also influenced the web choice and design of both Mark McGwire's and Alex Rodriguez's gloves when they were lighting the baseball world on fire in the early and mid-1990s.Thirty years after his career began on the caravan, Roman Bormet still finds himself working for Rawlings as a Key Account Manager, helping brands like JustGloves have a first class experience when working with Rawlings! Rawlings Gloves Available at JustGloves => JustballglovesRawlings Baseball and Softball Gloves Questions or Suggestions?E-mail: [email protected] Free Telephone: 1-866-321-GLOV (4568)We hope that you enjoy Beyond The Glove! If you have any questions, concerns, or requests, please get in touch with our Glove Experts. They're available for a call or text at 866-321-4568, email at [email protected], or you can live chat on our website. Don't forget, we're JustGloves, and we'll be here for you from Click To Catch!

A lifetime spent around the sport of softball gives Megan Rembielak the experience needed to provide advice not only how to play the game, but also how to get the perfect glove. Through her MegRem Softball channel, she is one of the most respected voices on YouTube when it comes to softball instruction. The knowledge she shares is collected from her experience competing at top levels through high school and college. Her personal career culminated in a decorated fastpitch career at NCAA Division 1 Appalachian State. And further, her early childhood was influenced heavily by being the daughter of a successful collegiate baseball coach.Megan has always thought of herself as a glove-first fastpitch player and when she sat down with us on our podcast to share her softball journey, she was able to share her insights on the differences between baseball gloves and softball gloves plus the important aspects to focus on when glove shopping.Lastly, Megan is a brand ambassador for Valle Gloves, the company that is shaking up the training glove market and she was willing to share three of the gloves she enjoys using for training sessions!Check out MegRem Softball Channel ➡️ YoutubeMegRem Softball Check out MegRem Softball Website ➡️ MegremsoftballMegRem Softball | Softball Practice Plans, Training Clinics and More Questions or Suggestions?E-mail: [email protected] Free Telephone: 1-866-321-GLOV (4568)We hope that you enjoy Beyond The Glove! If you have any questions, concerns, or requests, please get in touch with our Glove Experts. They're available for a call or text at 866-321-4568, email at [email protected], or you can live chat on our website. Don't forget, we're JustGloves, and we'll be here for you from Click To Catch!

Scott Carpenter crafted the very first synthetic baseball glove used in an MLB game in 2011. And the list of MLB player gloves he's worked on is impressive, including the glove of the 2016 World Series MVP, Ben Zobrist. In the early 2000's, Scott left a successful career in the New York City art scene to pursue his youthful passion of baseball gloves. This took him to rural Ava, MO to work at a Rawlings factory as a janitor during the final year it produced gloves in the United States. While in Ava, he picked everyone's brain in the factory about glove design, including the legendary Rawlings designer, Bob Clevenhagen. From Ava, his next move was to Cooperstown, NY to learn the full history of baseball gloves at the Hall of Fame and predict their future. He determined the future was synthetics. With this conviction in mind, he started his brand, Carpenter Trade. And as mentioned earlier, he eventually crafted the first all synthetic glove used by an MLB player named Brian Gordon of the New York Yankees. At the same time, he was crafting the most ergonomic hand stalls for gloves and started getting requests from MLB players, like Ben Zobrist, to have their gloves modified.Ultimately, his work started to be noticed in the market and Marucci picked him up to help lead their glove design team. In his time at Marucci, his synthetic gloves and ergonomic hand stalls became widely known through Marucci's C-Mod and C-Type gloves. After a handful of years at Marucci, Scott is back working on his own. Currently, he is crafting Nexguard thumb protectors, which are considered by many to be the premier catcher thumb guard available. And very soon he hopes to be back crafting or modifying gloves for the best baseball players in the world.

Jeremy Guthrie knows the connection between the design of baseball cleats and that of baseball gloves. Since his retirement from professional baseball in 2017, Jeremy has worked to make Custom Cleats the premier location for athletes looking to convert sneakers to athletic cleats. His keen eye for footwear started in his youth with an appreciation of the Jordan 1 sneakers that his older brother's middle school basketball team rocked one winter. From there, he was always on the quest to grab the latest footwear from Nike. Fast forward to late high school and Jeremy found himself as a premier pitching prospect for Major League Baseball teams. From there he embarked on a journey in which he was drafted three times and eventually landed with the Cleveland Guardians (at that time the Indians). During his grind through the minor leagues, he decided to refresh some of his equipment. He ended up changing his glove to model the Rawlings glove worn by Red Sox legend and Cy Young winner, Pedro Martinez. New glove in hand, Jeremy went on to start over 270 games across parts of 13 MLB seasons and he never wavered from that model of glove.During his run in pro baseball he crossed paths with the company, Custom Cleats. They converted a number of pairs of sneakers into cleats for him during his career and in 2015 as his Kansas City Royals were competing in the World Series, Jeremy signed a deal to own a portion of Custom Cleats. And since retiring he has become the sole owner of Custom Cleats.As the baseball glove market grows each and every year, it shows a lot of signs that it is becoming something similar to that of the sneaker market. The desire to draw attention to a glove due to its look and design continues to increase. As well, gloves are being collected as pieces of art nowadays separate from their ability to defend balls on a baseball field.We hope this interview with Jeremy profiles both the sneaker and glove industries and sheds light on their similarities!Check out Jeremy's Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/therealjguts/Check our Custom Cleats' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/customcleats/Visit the Custom Cleats Site: https://www.customcleats.com/Shop gloves from JustGloves: https://www.justballgloves.com/Questions or Suggestions?E-mail: [email protected] Free Telephone: 1-866-321-GLOV (4568)We hope that you enjoy Beyond The Glove! If you have any questions, concerns, or requests, please get in touch with our Glove Experts. They're available for a call or text at 866-321-4568, email at [email protected], or you can live chat on our website. Don't forget, we're JustGloves, and we'll be here for you from Click To Catch!Like this comment

Jay Reilly has become a respected photographer and videographer within the baseball glove market all while handling his regular duties as the lead videographer of the Brooklyn Cyclones (NY Mets Single-A Affiliate) and the creative producer for New York University (NYU). Jay grew up on Long Island playing baseball and loving his favorite New York Met, David Wright. After high school, he pursued a degree in film which allowed him to make stops at schools in New York and California. His initial hope was to become a film director, but during the COVID shutdown he decided to zone in on sports and landed his jobs with the Cyclones and NYU. When he's not shooting film for the team or university, he can be found with one of his collection of 100 baseball gloves giving it it's own specially curated film and photography shoot. Jay has provided creative content for famous glove brands like Wilson, Emery and many more. For those looking to make their mark in baseball glove space with creative content, this episode is a must listen! Check out Jay's Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/jayreilly.mov/ Check our Jay's creative portfolio: https://jayreillywelcomehome.myportfolio.com/home Check out the Wilson DW5 Jay mentioned in the podcast: https://www.justballgloves.com/product/wilson-a2000-dw5-12-winter-collection-baseball-glove--wbw10252212/38199/ Shop gloves from JustGloves:https://www.justballgloves.com/ Questions or Suggestions? E-mail: [email protected] Toll Free Telephone: 1-866-321-GLOV (4568) We hope that you enjoy Beyond The Glove! If you have any questions, concerns, or requests, please get in touch with our Glove Experts. They're available for a call or text at 866-321-4568, email at [email protected], or you can live chat on our website. Don't forget, we're JustGloves, and we'll be here for you from Click To Catch!

Kyle Diangkinay from What Pros Wear consistently finds himself on warning tracks and in the dugouts at big league stadiums chatting baseball gloves (and more) with some of the game's top players. In this podcast episode, Kyle explains how he is able to gain access to the diamonds of baseball's biggest stadiums and he shares his insight on some of his favorite players that compete at baseball's highest level. Kyle's work has allowed him to interact with players like Francisco Lindor and Julio Rodriguez, but you'll be surprised to hear about his personal favorite player! The What Pros Wear site focuses on the products that professional athletes use in order to make buying the best athletic gear easier and more fun! When you reference What Pros Wear's baseball content, you'll find more than just what gloves the pros are using. You'll be able to find out about their shades, footwear, bats and even more! Visit the What Pros Wear site right here: https://www.whatproswear.com/ Checkout What Pros Wear's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatproswear/ Shop gloves from JustGloves: https://www.justballgloves.com/ Questions or Suggestions? E-mail: [email protected] Toll Free Telephone: 1-866-321-GLOV (4568) We hope that you enjoy Beyond The Glove! If you have any questions, concerns, or requests, please get in touch with our Glove Experts. They're available for a call or text at 866-321-4568, email at [email protected], or you can live chat on our website. Don't forget, we're JustGloves, and we'll be here for you from Click To Catch!

The Fielding Bible Awards are a mystery to many fans. In contrast, the average fan knows plenty about the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. The Beyond The Glove Podcast takes on the responsibility of enlightening fans about the 3 differences between the two awards: (1) Who votes on the awards (2) The amount of the awards (3) The transparency of the voting results. Further, we tackle the topic of what each award might be lacking in contrast to the other. The Rawlings Gold Glove Award is a shining example of prestige and marketing while it may not rely as heavily on statistical analysis as the Fielding Bible Awards. In opposition, the election process of the Fielding Bible Awards is steeped in examination of advanced defensive metrics. However, there is a lack of promotion surrounding the award which is probably the sole reason that average fans have not heard of it. Further, this episode takes fans further as we break down the awards from a glove brand standpoint so that you know which brand was used the most among winners. And we don’t stop there. If you’re wondering about the most popular colors, series and webs; please know that we have you covered! Shop Rawlings gloves at https://www.justballgloves.com/produc... Read our blog on the Rawlings Gold Gloves... https://www.justballgloves.com/blog/p... Read our blog on the Fielding Bible Awards... https://www.justballgloves.com/blog/p... Questions or Suggestions? E-mail: [email protected] Toll Free Telephone: 1-866-321-GLOV (4568) We hope that you enjoy Beyond The Glove! If you have any questions, concerns, or requests, please get in touch with our Glove Experts. They're available for a call or text at 866-321-4568, email at [email protected], or you can live chat on our website. Don't forget, we're JustGloves, and we'll be here for you from Click To Catch!

Wilson is releasing A2000s and A2Ks four times a year beginning in the fall of 2024! Aaron Gillette, the Senior Brand Marketing Manager for Wilson Gloves, joined the Beyond the Glove podcast to shed light on their updated cadence of launching baseball and softball gloves. These gloves are going to be as colorful as ever...but they're going to be limited! If you see an A2000 or A2K you like moving forward, get it quickly because it won't be around forever! Shop Wilson today at Check us out today at https://www.justgloves.com/00:00: Introduction 00:48: Glove launch timelines 1:35: Aaron Gillette, Senior Brand Marketing Manager for Wilson Gloves 3:10: Wilson 2024-25 Glove Launches 5:15: Masataka Yoshida's Wilson Baseball Glove 6:52: Wilson's Headquarters in Chicago 9:40: Looking forward to 2025 and beyond 11:00: Gloves in the aftermarket and glove collectors 13:30: The 1724 Glove Pattern 16:06: 1723 vs. 1724 glove patterns 17:06: Wilson glove techology & Shigeaki Aso 18:24: Three Strikes 18:45: What is the best part about Spring Training and Wilson Glove Day? 19:39: What's one thing that most people don't know about Aso that they should? 20:30: What's your favorite thing about Chicago? Questions or Suggestions? E-mail: [email protected] Toll Free Telephone: 1-866-321-GLOV (4568) We hope that you enjoy Beyond The Glove! If you have any questions, concerns, or requests, please get in touch with our Glove Experts. They're available for a call or text at 866-321-4568, email at [email protected], or you can live chat on our website. Don't forget, we're JustGloves, and we'll be here for you from Click To Catch!

KC Mack explains the process he takes when building American-made baseball gloves in Port Angeles, WA.. Listen in to the Beyond The Glove podcast if you've ever wondered about the purpose of "welting" or wondered how long it takes to actually construct a baseball glove! 00:00: Introduction 00:49: Mack Provisions Part 1 Recap 1:29: Building Baseball Gloves in America 3:42: The 8 basic steps of building a baseball glove 4:50: What does welting do in baseball gloves? 7:19: Creating a 1940s vintage gloves 12:13: How to sew pieces of a baseball glove together 17:22: How long does it take to make a baseball glove? 18:19: What is the hardest part of creating a glove? 20:04: At what point did you know that making baseball gloves was for you? 21:30: Three strikes 21:56: Have you ever sustained a sewing injury? 23:19: Since you're based in Washington state, are you a Macklemore fan? 24:20: Have you ever photographed a wedding before? Check us out today at https://www.justgloves.com/ Visit Mack Provisions at https://mackprovisions.com/ Questions or Suggestions? E-mail: [email protected] Toll Free Telephone: 1-866-321-GLOV (4568) Follow us on social media! Facebook: / justgloves X: https://x.com/justgloves Instagram: / justgloves Pinterest: / justballgloves TikTok: / justgloves Blog: https://www.justgloves.com/blog/ We hope that you enjoy Beyond The Glove! If you have any questions, concerns, or requests, please contact our Glove Experts. They're available for a call or text at 866-321-4568, email at [email protected], or you can live chat on our website. Don't forget, we're JustGloves, and we'll be here for you from Click To Catch!