Vintage Baseball Glove Forum

Hi guys, I was watching the Rays beat the Red Sox today and they had a nice look at Iwamura's glove. Have any of you ever tried an alligator glove?
It looks pretty cool. They even mention it on the scoreboard lol

Amazingly, here is a link to a closeup shot of Iwamura's glove.
I'm not sure if it is a gamer.

Follow the link and click on the image to see it larger

http://tinyurl.com/5nrqsl

I seriously am digging that alligator glove, I want it!

Crazy I love it!!!

Back in the 1980's, I worked in a local western-wear store and sold boots made of calfskin, steerhide, cowhide, bullhide, shrunken shoulder (stretched and specially tanned bullhide shoulder leather),shark, elephant, lizard, kangaroo, alligator, mule, elk, snake, eel, and of course, the king of the exotics, smooth skin ostrich and full-quill ostrich. They were tanned and dyed in every color of the rainbow, and some colors not found in nature!

I have often wondered what kept glove makers from using some of the exotic leathers in crafting gloves. Snake, eel, and lizard would not work. But shark and elephant are good, tough leathers that are very firm when new but break in beautifully. Mule is a very good, tough leather that also breaks in comfortably but firm in a boot, and should do the same in a glove. Elk might be too soft and spongy, as some have said buffalo gloves are ... I don't know. And ostrich, in spite of being so soft and pliable, is a very sturdy and tough leather, although it may be too thin a skin for glove-making.

Just wondering out loud, here ...

... and please, fellas, don't call the ASPCA or some other environmental group on me for suggesting that we go shark hunting for glove leather!

lmao

I have never felt alligator leather, I assume it's a lot softer than HoH?

Nocona told me that he reptilian leathers would split on the turns of the glove after sewing. That's the problem, being turned inside out.
Mule is a stubborn leather. (forget I said that). . .
All that being said, we sold four Ostrich baseball gloves with one of them being bought by Andre Dawson (a story I'm saving for my book). Yep Andre paid a hefty price on it. We started out at $400.

I'm fairly certain that Iwamura's glove is not actually alligator hide (or crocodile, or cayman). It is probably cowhide that's been embossed to look like alligator. The pattern in the leather looks too uniform to be natural.

In any case, exotic designs and materials in ball gloves are fun.

Hello Forum members.

After a splendid vacation in Costa Rica, I am back tanned and rested with my report on the use of Cayman, Crocodile and Alligator hides in the manufacture of baseball gloves.

Although attractive, these hides are not suited as materials for ball gloves as the "give" factor and thickness of the hide are not satisfactory.

Also, field tests indicate that middle infielders could develop "alligator arms" and that fielding percentages could be lower if amphibian hides are used.

One final note: I agree, the glove in question appears to be cowhide leather with a stamped alligator pattern. It may be more of a fashion statement.

Louis Vuitton, are you listening? There may be an emerging market for your "LV" monogram trademark.

is it possible that some of the thinner, stretchier skins were actually laminated onto leather in cowboy boots to make them more uniform? i can't imagine eel skin being durable enough on it's own as a cowboy boot or shoe.

it almost looks like the "alligator" leather on the back of iwamura's glove could be an embossed version of wilson's "superskin" TM or that vinyl "pleather" that rawlings used on it's PROPL gloves :p

i'm just speculating

Did somebody mention Louis? I actually do this to all my gamers (or potential ones) - they're my initials. I've done it so many times (on different items, not just gloves) that I can probably do one in less than 30 seconds with a sharpie and a small straightedge, like a credit card...

musashi, what model is that glove?

It's an A2000-INF. 11-11.25", stubby fingers, nice and wide, and lightweight - my perfect infield glove. From what I can tell, I think it's basically a reissued 1373 from from a few years back.

no doubt very cool, i have a few "PROA2000" INF's NOS with tags

nice japan made gloves