Louisville Silver Slugger Gloves, Wear the Flare in White

A few years ago Louisville Slugger’s Pro Flare series turned heads in the baseball world by giving us gloves straight off the shelf with their thumb and pinky fingers already bent outwards to mimic the preferred glove shape of many infielders, especially players from Latin America.

Now Louisville offers the Silver Slugger glove series, with stylish new models in that same Pro Flare shape and in a sweet silvery white color. This is about as close to a white baseball glove as you can get now, since the Mizuno GMP6BBRG was unfortunately banned.

There are 7 models in the Louisville Silver Slugger glove series.

5 Silver Slugger glove sizes in the silvery white color

11 1/4″
11 1/2″ (also for lefties…that’s left hand throwers, not commies)
11 3/4″ (also for lefties)
13″ (also for lefties)
Catcher’s mitt

2 Silver Slugger glove sizes in BLACK (yeah, we don’t get this either*)

11 1/2″ black (also for lefties)
12″ black (also for lefties)

* Seriously, how did this happen? Our best guess is that some guy at Louisville was in a meeting and said “Hey, maybe a pitcher will want a Silver Slugger glove but they won’t let him pitch with this silver/white color because it’s deceiving to hitters, so we should make a black glove.”

And then apparently no one replied, “Uh, that kid could just buy a black glove. Why do we need to make him look like a moron for having a black glove called Silver.”

Both of these people should be fired.

LINKS to Silver Slugger gloves – Get Some

- To see all 12 gloves or to get a lefty glove for $209.95, click here to Louisville’s site.

- For the best deal on right-handed Silver Slugger gloves (except 11.75″) and the Catcher’s mitt, click here to Baseball Rampage. They tie for the lowest price ($199.99) and offer free shipping which saves you $7 you’d pay at Baseball Express or Homerun Monkey.

- For the 11 3/4″ right-hand throw glove, get it from Baseball Express

45% off Rawlings custom gloves of “Patrick” and “J Hurt”

Since custom gloves usually cost an arm and a leg, we’re always excited when we spot a good value.

Well this weekend Rawlings is offering some custom pro-level leather at discounts of up to 45%.

These are Pro Preferred and Heart of the Hide custom gloves made to the exact specifications of top players such as

the wildly colorful “J Hurt”
one-name international soccer phenom turned power-hitting lefty first baseman “Patrick”
steady performers “Sam Myers” and “Joshua Cotton” who are #16 in your programs but #1 in your hearts

hahaha…yeah, we haven’t heard of those guys either.

These are “one-off” custom gloves that apparently Rawlings got suckered into making, only to have the customers no longer want them or return them or something.

Regularly priced at $400 and $300, they’re marked down to $245 and $185, respectively.

And then you can use this weekend’s clearance coupon code 10OCTOBER (expires Tuesday, Oct. 11) for another 10% savings, which makes your total discount a sizeable 45% off the original price that “Bollenbacker” and “Jake Vaccari” would have paid.

(The glove pages say “Not eligible for discounts or promotions” but we tested the coupon and it works.)

And…at last glance there were 18 to choose from, down from 19 yesterday, so someone must have bought one. (You could be next!)

Click here to see the awesome custom Rawlings gloves of complete strangers

Wilson’s selling the exact glove Evan Longoria uses, A2000 BBEL3GM

Behold, the new Wilson A2000 BBEL3GM, Evan Longoria “Game Spec” glove, available on BaseballExpress.com (go here, then search for Longoria Glove). Originally $219.99, BaseballExpress is taking $20 off ($199.99) as part of an Internet Special.

“You know what really grinds my gears?”

When I see a pro player using some really sweet glove or bat or cleats and then I can’t actually get the same thing for myself because it’s made custom for the bigshots but not for sale to us little guys…arrrrrgh! So frustrating!

Well in 2009 when I saw Longoria using the all-tan, single cross web glove but it wasn’t for sale anywhere, I sent an email to Wilson and let ‘em have it (actually not really, it was very polite and un-Peter Griffin).

And then in 2010 Wilson started selling the same model but in an entirely different color scheme, I posted this disappointing report (including my email to Wilson).

Then months later, I was made to think…Wilson…”just when I think you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this…AND TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!”

I got an email from Michael Markovich, head of Wilson ball gloves, who said he read my post here on MoreBaseball and explained a little of what happened behind the scenes.

Michael wrote:

Evan was a new athlete for us in our 2010 product offering, and at that time, the black and blonde gloves were getting great feedback from players at all levels – college, pro, high school, etc.

With Evan’s glove being a new pattern, it was a great opportunity to offer his exclusive game pattern that we worked on with him directly in the new color combination.

So, we charged forward into production (which is finalized in December of 2008 for release to the market in August of 2009).

There was one small problem – Evan didn’t like the color.

[He] loved that classic looking glove that we made for him with that color of leather that we had in our shop. It turns out, lots of other people did too.

Awesome!

And now in 2011 you can finally get the exact Wilson A2000 glove that Evan Longoria uses, right down to the boring cool old-school all-tan color.

Did you see him flash that leather in the Rays triple play on Tuesday night?!

And click here for a pic from that game’s gallery where you can see the glove.

And below, gratuitous photos of the Evan Longoria Wilson A2000 BBEL3GM glove from the DeMarini / Wilson store at the 2011 College World Series.

To see this glove at BaseballExpress, (click here, and then search for Longoria Glove

Moneyball the movie is finally here!

“What is this sabermetrics stuff?”

That’s what my dad asked me last month while we were watching a Red Sox and Royals game.

I started to explain and probably did a horrible job…and then told him he should just watch Moneyball when it comes out in September.

Well it’s finally out…and even though hardcore statheads might take issue with some of the details, for most baseball fans this Moneyball movie will be a fun introduction to the modern approach to assembling professional sports teams.

And apparently the movie is pretty good.

So far Moneyball gets a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. Not too shabby, considering other baseball favorites Bull Durham 98%, Field of Dreams 88%, and Major League 85%.

And the critics are loving Moneyball, too, saying…

WAIT, WHO’S IN IT?

Yup, Brad Pitt is the lead actor, playing Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane.

Surprisingly (but good for us) A’s manager Art Howe (this is based on the 2002 team) is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

And Jonah Hill (the fat kid from Superbad and Get Him to the Greek) plays Beane’s young number-crunching assistant “Peter Brand,” a made up name for the real guy, Paul DePodesta, who later became the GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Reports say DePodesta didn’t want his name or likeness to be in the movie. I wonder if he regrets it now that the masses will see Jonah Hill waddling around in his place…a weird image, because DePodesta was quite an athlete, playing baseball and football at Harvard.

See more of the cast on IMDB.

ISN’T MONEYBALL BY A FAMOUS WRITER OR SOMETHING

Yeah, both the movie and the book behind it were penned by bigtime writers.

original cover and movie tie-in cover

The book Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game (2003) was written by Michael Lewis, who also wrote The Blindside, which also turned into a huge movie. See all Lewis’s books here, including Liar’s Poker and The Big Short.

And the screenplay for the Moneyball movie was partially written by Oscar-winners Aaron Sorkin (other works: The Social Network, A Few Good Men, The American President, and The West Wing TV show) and Steven Zaillian (whose name I didn’t recognize but Wow! he’s written a lot of awesome stuff like Schindler’s List, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Gangs of New York, and more).

JUST SHOW ME THE MONEY (er, I mean the TRAILER)

And if you want, check out the official movie site.

OKAY, NOW I WANNA READ THE BOOK TOO

You’ll love it. I couldn’t put it down, so I stayed up all night to finish it.

It’s under 10 bucks in paperback or electronic at Amazon. Or here’s a link to the book with the new movie tie-in cover.

FOR THOSE KEEPING SCORE

Moneyball $20.6 million over the first weekend, second only to The Lion King 3D with $22.1 mil.

But seriously…how can you beat the Lion King. I mean, he was already a lion AND a king. And now he’s in 3D?! Unstoppable.

I’ll be throwing $10 toward this weekend’s box office take. If/when you see it, let me know what you think — just shoot me an email at ian@morebaseball.com.

Evoshield Makes Tulowitzki Glowing Wrist Guard for All-Star Game

After spearheading a “mullets for kids” campaign in 2010, Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was in excellent position to become a perennial trendsetter in baseball when he showed up to the 2011 All-Star Game with a GLOWING Evoshield wrist guard.

See it in the very first of this video from Evoshield.

If you can ignore the cheesy part of the video where Evoshield co-founder Justin Niefer compares Tulo to Batman…

“We were trying to depict his character… his quiet unstoppable confidence when he steps in between the lines. We thought we had the perfect logo that almost gave an Iron Man glowing heart feel, a Batman in the sky feel.”

…then you want a glowing/pulsing Evoshield wrist guard just like Tulo. And I want one, too. Okay, let’s get some.

We’ll just go to Evoshield’s web page entitled “Troy Tulowitzki Glowing Wrist Guard” where they give us the hard sell, telling us…

“When the time comes, GLOW LIKE TULO”
“Evoshield wrist guards…can light up your game”
“get your Evoshield today and shine like Tulo”

I definitely want to Glow, Light Up, and Shine…all of that stuff. Okay, I’m sold. Where do I buy?

…and then they sneak in the fine print.

(Note: Actual Wrist Guards do not glow. Troy’s glowing EvoShield was custom-made.)

So after getting us all hyped up, Evoshield drags down Tulowitzki’s reputation for caring about kids and earns our nomination for the 2011 All-Star Game “Biggest Tease” award, disappointing youngsters (and oldsters who refuse to grow up) everywhere.

And until “the time comes” when we can actually glow like Tulo, we’re relegated to the standard Evoshield Spartan Wrist Guard A150, which we will, until further notice, refer to as the Evoshield NON-GLOWING Wrist Guard.

Where to buy Evoshield NON-GLOWING Wrist Guards
usually $21.99

Lighter than Leather: Carpenter Synthetic Gloves

The best baseball gloves are made from high-quality leather, cowhide, right?

Maybe not anymore.

On June 16th Brian Gordon was the starting pitcher for the Yankees against the Texas Rangers, and he was also the first player to use a non-leather glove in Major League Baseball.

It was a custom glove of all synthetic materials, made by a guy named Scott Carpenter in Cooperstown, New York.

On his Carpenter Trade Company website, Scott says he went from making his own sneakers (they’re pretty cool, too!) back in 1999…to working in the Rawlings glove factory…to starting development of his own vision for a better baseball glove in 2001.

Hundreds of iterations later, Scott Carpenter has refined a process for making custom baseball gloves that he says…

are made from a Clarino synthetic microfiber material that is stronger and more supple than leather
are lighter weight than traditional gloves (up to 10 oz less — that’s the weight of 2 baseballs!)

Where to see Carpenter baseball gloves

You can see one of his gloves in the Baseball Hall of Fame (since 2008…crazy it’s taken this long for an MLB player to use one), and you can check out some nice photos through the links below.

BUT…it’s tough to get a Carpenter glove for yourself right now. They’re all made by hand, custom-built for each player’s hand.

AND the gloves aren’t for sale. Only available for trade this year, for people who offer something valuable to benefit Scott and his Carpenter Trade Company.

We’ll apply for a glove to do an in-depth, hands-on review. We’ll let you know if we get one.

For now, hit up these links.
Read the AP story on the MLB debut of a Carpenter synthetic glove

Check out Scott Carpenter’s website
(it’s really good…simple, easy to read, gives you the full story of his glove and how it’s made…and shows some sweet photos of his workshop and gloves in different stages of development)

As for Brian Gordon

He might be credited for ushering the synthetic glove into Major League Baseball, but hard telling if the Minor League journeyman will make it back to The Show.

On July 2nd the Yankees optioned him to Triple-A upon Bartolo Colon’s return from the disabled list.

Then on July 8 Gordon was sold to a team in the Korean Professional League.

Summary of his pro career here.

Thanks to Austin “A-Train” Ryan for the tip. Austin plays shortstop and pitcher for the Labette County Grizzlies in southeast Kansas.

Adrian Gonzalez uses Trinity wood bat, launches 31 bombs in 2011 Home Run Derby

That was one heckuva home run derby!

Adrian Gonzalez tying the record for most homers in the final round (and hitting 31 overall), and then Robinson Cano storming back for the win, thanks to some sweet-looking meatballs served up by his own dad.

Did you notice the brand of A-Gon’s bat?

If you didn’t recognize the logo, don’t worry. Not many people know about this wood bat company yet, and I never saw a good shot of it during the home run derby.

the seven stars are from Bible verse Revelation 1:16, John's vision of Jesus including seven stars in his right hand

But next time you notice this oval with a big T and stars, you can tell your friends it’s a bat made by Trinity Bat Company in Fullerton, California.

Trinity Bat Company started in 2005 and has grown through going directly to players and offering custom bats with personal service, just like Marucci, whose bats have become super popular in the majors (did you see HR derby winner Robinson Cano using a Marucci bat? more on that below).

Interesting facts about Trinity wood bats, according to a recent story in the Orange County Register…

Trinity bats were first used in the MLB in 2006 by then-Angels players Vladimir Guerrero and Orlando Cabrera
as of June 2011, Trinity wood bats are used by over 50 MLB players, including much of the Angels team
Trinity bats sales to MLB teams have doubled in the past year

We found a cool TV segment by Fox Sports from around last year’s All-Star game, in which Trinity Bat Co. Vice President Jeff McKee walks you through their process of making custom wood bats. You’ll see the cutting, sanding, flame-treating, buffing, painting, adding decal, laser engraving, etc. The video is less than 5 minutes long. Check it out.

So back to Adrian Gonzalez and his bat…what have we learned?

model Trinity PS 27:1, named for his favorite Psalm (unlike our first guess: a typical copy of the classic Louisville C271, which Trinity does with their T-271 model)
wood type – Ash
size/specs – 34.5 inches, 31.5 ounces (so if you want the same, order weight -3)
Trinity bats site says it has “a large barrel, a medium handle with a larger flared knob.”

Where to buy Adrian Gonzalez Trinity wood bats

Trinity Bat Co. official shop ->
Ash $70
Birch $80 limited-time 25% off All-star discount to $60
Maple $105

They’re offering the same 25% off All-star discount ($60 for Birch) on the Howie Kendrick T-HK47 model here (same as Louisville C243 cut).

More photos of Adrian Gonzalez using his Trinity bat

hugging Cano after home run derby click the pic for larger view
May 2011 story about A-Gon adjusting his swing like Ichiro click pic for larger view
as a Padre

Robinson Cano Marucci bat

2011 All-Star Home Run Derby champion Robinson Cano swings a Marucci maple bat, model number RC24.

Oddly, we can’t find the RC24 on either of Marucci’s website pages where they list their wood bat models.

Main site gallery – click “Specifications” below the photos of Bryce Harper and Albert Pujols
Marucci official shop

We could only find it at one store, a size 34″ priced at $124.99 with free shipping.

Whoa! FIVE SEC Teams at the College World Series?!

With three of college baseball’s final four teams hailing from the Southeastern Conference, the 2011 Men’s College World Series certainly deserved the label “SEC Invitational.”

#Omaha, home of the #SEC invitational! Will UVA or Cal join our party at the #CWS? #Domination!

June 22, 2011 9:51 pm via UberSocial ReplyRetweetFavorite

@Southern_Sports

Southern Sports View

(as you’d expect, plenty of regurgi-tweeting same phrase here)

But if an easily excitable (or tailgate-tipsy) SEC fan strolled into the new Nike Fieldhouse store near Omaha’s new CWS ballpark, he — actually, let’s say she, for the more pleasing mental image and increased likelihood of said fan not having a clue which teams were good at baseball this year — anyway…she might have thought 5 SEC TEAMS MADE IT TO OMAHA! OMG!

Well, 5 SEC teams didn’t actually get into the 8-team CWS tournament, but they did make an appearance in Omaha, very near the site of the CWS.

In the Nike Fieldhouse store…beyond the mannequins with uniforms for actual CWS teams that wear Nike…

…and into the locker room…

BAM!

Mock lockers (mockers?…nah) dressed up for Kentucky and Georgia baseball.

Now…in the Kentucky locker…the black Nike Shox Gamer “Omaha” cleats…those are the same Nike gave to Vanderbilt.

And the white Nike Hypercool “Omaha” undershirt…that could have been for Vanderbilt and/or Florida also. (Nike made burnt orange ones for Texas.)

BUT THE RED CLEATS! The red Nike Shox Gamer “Omaha” cleats have to be straight up Georgia. No other Nike team in the CWS wears red.

2011 SEC East baseball final standings

At first glance, we might chalk it up to a ~~little~~ whole lotta wishful thinking by Nike on teams who’d make the CWS. After all, Kentucky was 8-22 in the SEC and 5 games under .500 on the season. (Wildcat fans would be quick to point out that Tennessee was worse, if only by one game )

Georgia fared a bit better. An in-conference record of 16-14 in the SEC, behind 3 of the final 4 teams in this year’s NCAA tournament….nothing to sneeze at.

But we know better…those Georgia “Omaha” cleats are more likely a product of Nike having they can do whatever they want. Hey, no complaints here! Those spikes are SA-WEET!

And just so you know…the Georgia thing wasn’t the only CWS gear anomaly in the Nike Fieldhouse.

They had a locker made up for Nike school Illinois of the Big 10 (or is it 12 or 14 now).

Man, those are the cleats Florida should have worn!

And of course, Nike took care of their beloved Oregon Ducks, too.

What do you think?

Which cleats are the coolest? And which of these Nike teams who weren’t really in this year’s College World Series have the best chance of making it next year?

NCAA to Raise Safety Standards for Baseball Jousting

Popularity, disagreement fuel controversy

The growing interest in baseball jousting has been met with equal concern about safety, for players in both “knight” and “horse” positions.

In response to the ESPN upload on Youtube, commenter wrigley826 snarked, “I’m just waiting for the barrage of ‘irresponsible’ and ‘they could have gotten hurt’ comments.”

To which user Dllshockk replied, “They could have gotten hurt. How irresponsible.”

baseball-jousting-youtube-video-comments

See? We’re not making this (part) up.

Common questions, concerns, and ideas that people have voiced regarding the safety of baseball jousting, without thinking too hard, include the following:

OMG they led with the knob of the bat instead of the barrel!
They should have to remove their Phiten necklaces to restore the Power Balance between horse/knight duos.
What if they used the barrel as the tip of the lance, and mandated golf-style head covers?
The knight from High Point is lucky we switched to BBCOR this year. S#!t used to hurt a lot worse back when the bats packed more punch.
The horses should wear catcher masks also. It’s a “no-brainer.”

Karen Smith, president of Mothers Against Dangerous Jousting (M.A.D.J.) says, “The NCAA should go to whatever lengths necessary to protect our boys.”

Baseball purists argue that the NCAA shouldn’t impose any rules and restrictions beyond the rules for jousting already in place. Instead, “[the NCAA] should just let the players play the game.”

Whatever changes the NCAA might announce for players, it’s uncertain whether the new rulings would impact jousting between other parties on the field.

Some umpires have expressed interest in jousting with coaches who question their calls.

remember that one time...that was Awesome!

“I can’t speak for the rest of my crew — Dum, Boo, and Bum — since they’re calling the bases,” said umpire Yuk from Bases Loaded. “

But I already have a mask and chest protector back there behind the plate, so if an angry coach stormed out of the dugout to joust me without the proper gear, I’d definitely have the advantage and probably whoop his a$#.”

NCAA seeks quick action on important issues

A jousting announcement would be the second major rule change in NCAA baseball in the past year.

A new testing and performance standard for bats called “BBCOR” was adopted for the 2011 season, replacing the previous “BESR” certification.

On June 18, the first Saturday of the College World Series (also known as the “day when the rest of the country pretends they’re real baseball fans”), the New York Times reported that, as of mid-season, a couple months ago — because those were “the most recent figures available” because, like, no one really keeps statistics for baseball, right? — runs scored, home runs, batting averages, and ERA were all lower in 2011 “compared with the same point last season.”

Despite the decline in offense, it was time for a change, says an NCAA official who spoke under the condition of anonymity.

“We’re making progress. I mean, it might have taken us 12 years after adopting the BESR system that we figured out some legal bats were performing way better than others after people ‘rolling’ the bats or even ‘hitting’ or ‘practicing’ with them, basically just ‘using’ them a lot.”

“The important thing is that we’re acting quicker. Look, it only took us about 6 and a half years to revoke USC’s 2004 football national championship.”

“Now if we get this baseball jousting thing right sooner than that, well, that’ll be something we can really be proud of.”

We Prematurely Nominate Tony Kemp for CWS Most Outstanding Player

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