Why are Rawlings "Made in USA" gloves so special??

[golfswing]

Just curious but what makes Rawlings "Made in USA" gloves so special? Are they that much better or different than current Rawlings gloves? Is the leather much better? Will they last longer? Hold their shape longer? Are the models that the pros use "Made in USA"?

Sorry if this is a silly question but I am kind of new to the glove collecting hobby and have been wondering if the USA gloves are that different or just more valuable because Rawlings no longer makes gloves here at home. Thanks in advance for the education.

[MVALZ]

Yeah, its the leather. They made cows better back in the day...my $.02

[Hrking4675]

Some of the pros get USA gloves. There is an article I had read on someones ebay item listing some players that do. I know Arod had a usa made one (when he used thw 6HF. Now he's got some other black or navy glove) and Johnny Damon uses a PRO-HFB. That came from an interview with Bob Clevenhagen. He also said they make about 60-75 gloves in the USA each year if I can remember correctly.

[softball66]

When the glove collecting hobby got fully underway in the early 1990s most of the gloves being sold here were made overseas. Rawlings was making quite a bit here. Nocona was holding its own in the US with about 20,000 units. Wilson had quit USAs in 1983. So had Spalding, MacGregor. Mizuno was just getting started about 10 years earlier. So our collecting group sort of wanted to go back to the good old days when all our gloves were made in this country. A big thrust in the hobby was to collect gloves of the players like one would collect player cards or autographs. Since then there has been more of a real appreciation for good quality and much of the best was made here in U.S. where the craftsmen were experienced. Our guys wanted USA made player name gloves, not imports. There are many quality gloves made elsewhere but there seems to be a special endearment for our domestic guys like Nocona. At Rawlings, Clevenhagen is making and working on about 100 or so gloves for certain major leaguers and turning out gloves in Washington Mo for Eastbay in much larger quantities. Rawlings closed its longtime Ava Mo. plant. There's been big changes at Rawlings over the past five years. There's just something to be said for a U.S. made glove. American Made for American Played sort of thinking.

[spedrunr]

i really like the feel of a USA made HOH from the 60's through 90's. Nothing compares. I am an original owner of a ProT that i purchased and broke in and am still using from 1986 (i know, not that long ago for some of you old timers:). Back when i 1st bought it, it took me about 3 months of playing catch, bending and smacking my fist in it to break it in. I used a light coating of Rawlings Glovoleum on it and have never reconditioned it since. it has very firm fingers, the leather is still very hydrated and the pocket closes around a ball like a venus fly trap. it's perfectly shaped to my hand. i have since acquired many that are in better condition but i can't seem to let go of my 1st love .

you have to have 1 to really compare. many other glovers don't like the carboard stiffness of the USA Horween leather HOH's.

.02

[mudman]

Two main reasons; the leather, and the superior wormanship. Plus they last forever it seems. Those USA gloves were in my opinion the finest baseball gloves ever made.

[softball66]

The big complaint with the new leather vs. the old leather was that the new hides come from feed lot cattle that don't exercise, hence the hide doesn't have that pliability, strength, etc. from an exercising cow. Could be. And craftsmanship generally was better. Nocona's Jim Storey told me one time though that the Koreans made as good a glove as could be turned out in the states. The Koreans are true craftsmen. Ditto for the Mexican leather artisans. And they know how to cut and choose the right leather. Did you know that the hides have to be turned certain ways on the clickers or you mess up>