by Vindoggie » August 3rd, 2007, 2:53 pm
I was almost in the new glove business a few years ago. I was looking for different gloves, not Rawlings, Mizuno, Wilson, or Easton... One of the manufacturers I found was Trevino. I purchased a glove and it was beautiful and nicely made. It was very stiff and made from thick, top grain steer hide. I tried like heck to break it in... I like a glove to keep its shape, but this glove wouldn't budge! I could never use it. It was made from too good, too thick leather? My youngest boy likes his gloves floppy. He hated the Trevino. Although Sonny Trevino stays under the radar, making him almost impossible to reach by design... I perseverred and got a hold of him. He was so impressed with my work, we spoke for nearly two hours by phone. He runs a small operation, mostly family, making their gloves by hand, one at a time. According to Sonny, he hand picks the hides so not to have tic bites or any imperfections. His gloves are made from only the top layer. He said that a lot of gloves are dyed black nowadays, to hid the imperfections. When I got off the phone with him, I wanted my Trevino to break in. I wanted to sell the Trevino line in my store. He told me that the best way to soften up a glove was to A) Coat it inside & out with straight vaseline B) Put a ball in it & tie it up C) Wrap it in a pillow case then wrap that in another pillow case d) put it in a commercial clothes dryer. When it was done, whatever vaseline the glove absorbed would soften it up. The ball would bang around (your wife will kick your bottom side if you do this at home in the family dryer!) & pound it while it tumbled to help soften it. I did it at home while the wife was out (Shhhh!). The glove softened a bit, but it was never soft enough for me to use. I resold it on Ebay... The Trevino gloves are superior in every way, but for my taste and my son's, that did not translate into a better playing glove...
To hell with the expression "You don't really know a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes" How about- "... until you've caught nine innings using his mitt!" A bit more accurate, don't you think?