5oz Oil Tanned Leather Palm Pad Emulating Rawlings Dual-Core System
DONUM HONORARIUM: Michael ‘Laser’ Lucero
*All-Star - Pro-Elite - CM3000SBK - RHT - 33.5"*
When you point to my cap and ask, "You play baseball?", you best expect daggers back. Because I know where this is going and I'm not about to suffer a random fool's thinly veiled shame . And if I reply with, "Maybe...", know that's more of a dare to press forward and clarify than any invitation. But if you respond to that gauntlet with an earnest, "Do you want to?", then -damn- you've certainly had the jump on me all along. You'll flat-out catch me off guardnand find me just standing there for far too long in an awkward suspension of confusion. Pretty much a sure-fire way to cut me to senseless ribbons.
This is how I met my dear friend, Michael and this restory is only just part of how he would go on to help save my life. And this gift is partly how I'd like to even approach trying to repay him for that.
Michael's the founder and tireless keeper of RVA Sandlot, a co-ed, all inclusive baseball league that he began 9 years ago on a nearly forgotten school field in shambles at a nearly forgotten school that was to be imminently shut down at least twice for being perpetually in shambles. Over the course of time, he nurtured the group from thinly numbered, poorly supplied Sunday afternoon gatherings to umpired games with full equipment that meet at least twice a week. Including a night game under the lights. All booked solid with a mounting waiting list within hours of posting the event. He's also created an advisory board to help guide the league and long ago earned the trust of the field overseer through his diligently led field upkeep. Guy was quite literally handed the keys to the field and discretion to use the stadium lighting when he saw fit.
Through it all, he's been nothing short of selfless in order to make the group as happy and inclusive as possible. He's found a way to balance and incorporate this open inclusion into play itself by making sure every person present, regardless of talent level or experience, has an equal chance to play without any competitive discouragement. From former pro-level players to people from foreign nations that have literally never touched a baseball in their lives, he's found a way to bring them all into the fold by focusing on spreading the joy of the game at it's core. The very ideal that springs to mind from 'Sandlot'.
But there's a problem. He's often too selfless. As with the mid-level mitt he bought for himself but never actually uses himself at his catching position. Instead, he opts for the far lesser donated mitt because he simply wants others playing the position to have the best experience possible. Allow me to clarify 'far lesser': It's a youth sized thing and for years it was held together by zip ties and incantations.
All that changes now though. Because Laser deserves it.
All-Star is a glove company specifically regarded for their catchers mitts. They are considered the pinnacle of quality at the position and the 'Pro-Elite' series is the very top of their entire line. To flesh that out a bit, it's estimated that at any given time there are 30-40 All-Star 'Pro-Elites' being used across all active catchers in MLB. Maybe not a very telling figure in itself, but... there are only 60-70 catchers in total across all active MLB rosters at any given time.
Found this piece on FB marketplace and I guess as kismet tends to go, it was being sold by someone with ties to Sandlot. He got back in to baseball by attending Sandlot games and mentioned the league helped rekindle his joy for the game. Since then, he now primarily plays in very competitive wooden bat leagues but likes to drop back in every once in a while to experience that fundamental joy Michael's worked so hard to curate and maintain.
Along with a deep clean and slow conditioning of this piece, I relaced with varying widths (3/14", 3.5/14", 1/4") and skived (thinned) where appropriate and to pro standards. Changed web lacing style from stock ‘X’ pattern to pro preferred, doubled I-bar pattern. But the gorgeous aspect of this piece is that I cut and incorporated an oil-tanned rawhide leather palm pad based on Rawlings 'Dual-Core' system which is relied upon in their highest end mitts. An aspect that places them in the highest tier as well. It's also a couple ounces thicker in gauge than what they normally use and therefore a lot more effective in impact and pocket shock transfer. That part field-tested by glove pro mentors via actual pros who all mod their mitts with more padding. May look ragged, but the factory ones actually look crazier. And at this thickness, this one holds true to their patent specs and will continue to do so for years to come. So, in essence, Michael now technically has a higher level mitt than anything available on the market.
Because he goddamn should.