Dick's in Upland (where I got DD's catcher's mitt on clearance) is just like yours, Eric. The baseball glove section is awesome! Sport Chalet and Sports Authority used to stock some good gloves but have gone mainly entry-level, too. You'd think higher end softball kit would be plentiful in SoCal!
Best utility glove - size, brand & model?
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Dick's in Upland (where I got DD's catcher's mitt on clearance) is just like yours, Eric. The baseball glove section is awesome! Sport Chalet and Sports Authority used to stock some good gloves but have gone mainly entry-level, too. You'd think higher end softball kit would be plentiful in SoCal!
DD got a Nakona 12" last fall for OF work, she got a century worth for IF work. She is now the starting CF on her 18U team and uses the Worth with no hesitation. OF has to be very fast at 18U and the lighter weight of the Worth glove seems to provide some additional confidence which seems to help.
We've been considering Worth, both Century and Liberty models. Seeing that Worth and Rawlings are the same company, would you know if the Century is equivalent to a Rawlings HOH or Gold Glove series? Any additional info you can share in regards to leather stiffness/quality, break-in, etc. is appreciated!
For what it's Worth, the Liberty catcher's mitt is very popular. Haven't noticed a lot of the rest of that line at other positions.
It's all about what sells. There are a lot more baseball players than softball players, and most of the softball players are little kids. With the exception of obsessive freaks like the kind found on online softball forums (those people are nuts!...oh, wait...), most parents will pick the cheapest gear that will get the job done until their kid moves on to their next activity.
I didn't look at the Rawlings line. DDs team had Worth sponsorship so we got a pretty good deal on the Worth. It was easy to break in. She picked the open pocket thinking she'd use it as a middle infielder. Seems to work well in the OF and it's about 1/3 the weight of the Nakona.
Broke in enough to use after a couple of days of practice. She played approx 12 tourneys with it. Probably 36 games in OF and it looks brand new.
People see some cheap Rawlings at chain stores, but I think players forget rawlings makes a ton of gloves. Cheap ones all the way up to 600.00 dollar gloves. They have a glove for everybody and every level or quality. You just dont see all these at chain stores so its tough.
Not pimping Rawlings, just saying they have a bigger line than any company out there. They are really a glove company first and foremost. Thats what they built their name on.
Both of my DDs use Rawlings HOH gloves in the field and they are really high-quality gloves. The 18U has been using hers for three years now and it still looks new. They are not light gloves by any means, but they are extremely high-quality leather and you can feel the difference in quality when you compare them to any sub-$100 glove.
Not cheap by any means at $150-200 each, but well worth the investment.
Not cheap by any means at $150-200 each, but well worth the investment.
Any difference in the quality between the custom Liberty gloves and the off-the-shelf models? I've been looking at these Worth gloves pretty hard!
