Bag Veteran
'He says he doesn't like how his brand new mitt feels.' said the father. 'May be having issues breaking it in, but I think he just wishes he had his old one back.'
Wilson - A2000 - ‘Pudge’
I hear this a lot, actually. And I don't blame them. New gloves or mitts can be extraordinarily tough to break in. And all modern pieces are equipped with terrible laces no matter how high-end the piece may be. In fact, it's recommended that a new piece be given to a glove pro to completely disassemble, clean, condition and relace before even attempting to break in. And if you get a piece professionally broken-in, that's part of the initial process across the board. Know that sounds a bit crazy, but it's certainly a fact. Have pulled at the laces of a brand new $500 piece and realized they were the same clefty, leather strips that go into mostly synthetic tee-ball gloves. It's pretty maddening actually. Well, maybe not so much for me anymore… #Zing
So happy I could put this back in action for the kid. And speaking further with his father, it turns out his dad and I crossed paths many times in our youth on the field. We couldn't recall each other specifically, but there was certainly a light of recognition when I mentioned I was an unabashed trash pitcher literally my entire life.
One may go on to live a full life beyond striking out on a 42mph, 4ft-drop slurve, but… they never truly forget
This mitt received my standard service of cleaning and conditioning with Ballplayer’s Balm products, extraction of palm adhesive and application of Gluvluv glove-grease to reform and hold pocket, and the fantastic laces by Flatbill Baseball that I hand skived in palm and close. Upgraded webbing to quarter inch lace as well as incorporated the doubled I-Bar pattern them there pros are all about. Also went in and tightened up the threading of the felt stacks. One of the free aspects I like to throw in -and if I have the color to match- is touching up worn spots on the piece with Fiebing’s Pro leather dye. The finger rest on this mitt was woefully cracking and degrading. Covered that area in dye and sealed it with a healthy amount of Resolene which should greatly stave off further degradation from sweat.
'Pudge' series of mitts, named after the great Ivan "Pudge' Rodriguez are seriously well built. The shelf tag certainly reflects that, but these things are worth it if taken care of properly.
