First restore for an elite athlete along with what may amount to the finest compliment I may ever receive in this glovesmithing venture. Finished this Wilson A2000 in early November of 20' for a lightning fast utility player on a D2, NCAA championship team.
When 'Smooty' was a little girl, her ceaseless gymnastic-rambunctiousness was not lost on her abuelo. And he set out to rein it in and develop it in the only way he knew how. Calling on the training he received from his impoverished youth, he would cut up broomsticks into little discs and from his overturned bucket, dart them at lil'Smooty tasked with striking them squarely with a broomstick of her own. Her abuelo was an endearing yet diligent man and would have her do this a few hours at a time. More often than not- twice a day. When her hubris mounted from steaks of ripping those discs around the yard, he'd change them to bottle caps and finger snap them with dizzying speed and precision until she was humbled yet determined.
He recognized her speed and athletic ability and set out to make her a center fielder. This didn't quite translate until college because throughout high school, she primarily played short stop. But when she hit college, and due to such an already stacked team, they also recognized her abilities and had her play both infield and outfield as a utility player. Utility may sound like an afterthought position, but it's actually the most important piece of any competitive team. Her versatility gave the team both situational advantage and the ability to trim the positional roster by one or even two positional players allowing them to add more arms to their pitching roster which is important considering how much action pitching squads must endure at that level. From when she was little -up and throughout high school when she got this very glove- her abuelo would work on her outfield reaction instincts by setting up an elastic net tilted slightly upward and have her run towards him while he threw a ball as hard as he could at the net behind her. When she got to a certain point towards him, she would have to whirl around and quickly react to where the ball was. He may have been training her for outfield, but since she had acclimated to middle infield in high school, little did he know that he was setting her up to have the reactions and ability to literally play anywhere on the field.
She'd go on to set the state record in triples in high school and was considered the finest fielder in her league. In college, she was utilized often as an underclassman from her freshman year and found herself a steady role in utility her sophomore year. Then covid sadly stole her junior and senior year and the rest of her collegiate field pursuits will have to wait. But they will happen.
It was a joy to restore this glove. Did multiple runs of deep cleans and then conditioned the hell out of it in a slow, steady manner with Ballplayer Balm products. Used 1/4" laces from BFG in web and 3/14" for rest of glove. This was before I got a leather skiver so I had to order the pre-skived laces (thinner gauge) for the palm. Also reshaped the pocket with a little bit of oven heated glove grease by GluvLuv.
I was so happy to see the look on her face when she got it back. That's always and by far the thanks that truly counts but this time I received a nod that may never be outdone. A bit later, she simply sent me a text that read: "My abuelo approves"
