2025 Rawlings Heart of the Hide Lineup

Since being introduced to the glove market in 1958, many Rawlings Heart of the Hide gloves have come and gone. 

We are especially aware of that here at JustGloves as we help promote Rawlings glove launches each and every fall. But something that we have to keep in our minds is that for many players picking up a glove with each release; that one may be the glove that remains with them during childhood, through high school, across their college career and even beyond. We know this because when engaging with customers, we hear their stories about the gloves that have made lifelong journeys with their owners. 

We’ve said it before that gloves are often referred to as “extensions of a player’s arm”, but in many cases they are an extension of the entire player and person that uses it.

We take seriously the honor of being able to participate in this year's launch of new Rawlings Heart of the Hide gloves! Keep reading to get the low-down on what can typically be expected from a Heart of the Hide and what is new for this year’s launch!

The Heart of the Hide Mainstays

With every new release of Heart of the Hide gloves, there is going to be lots of anticipation for the new cosmetic looks that Rawlings will incorporate. However, let’s not forget the foundation pieces of each Heart of the Hide glove.

Top Grade US Steerhide Leather

Every Heart of the Hide can be counted on to feature excellent leather quality on its shell (palm and backing). The key to the quality of this material is that Rawlings has it cut from the “prime cut or center portion” of a smaller hide. Due to the manner in which it is harvested, the hide typically comes thicker than what is seen on other manufacturers’ gloves. And this hide will have less stretch to it. This makes the glove leather stiff right when it is pulled from the box. But if you see the break-in through, the glove will remain in the shape to which you broke it in for many seasons!

Deer Tanned Cowhide Lining

First, be sure to know exactly where the “lining” of a glove is located.

When a glove manufacturer is discussing lining, they will most likely be referring to the material that the palm of the player’s glove hand will rest on while he or she has her hand in the glove. Oftentimes, you may see our site refer to the lining as the “inner hand lining”.

Rawlings tans the cowhide used for the lining by following a process typically used to tan a deerskin. According to the Lusso Leather website, when deerskin is tanned to become leather it becomes “softer, more flexible, and more breathable than other forms of leather”. Rawlings doesn’t use deerskin leather to create the lining of their gloves, but they do tan the cowhide that is used for the lining in the same manner that one would tan a deerskin.

When a hand goes into a glove it is inevitably going to sweat and if the lining material just soaks in that sweat, the lining will quickly become rotted and smelly. By tanning the lining material in the same manner as deerskin, the lining should be more breathable and hold in less perspiration from a player’s hand.

Tennessee Tanning Laces

The Tennessee Tanning Company is based out of Tullahoma, TN and has been in operation for nearly 80 years. In 1983, the company was actually acquired by Rawlings and Tennessee Tanning has been responsible for the lacing featured on Rawlings gloves ever since.

The laces on Heart of the Hide gloves will most likely be alum tanned at the Tennessee Tanning factory. According to Leather Dictionary, this means that the leather used for the lace will be tanned using aluminum salts. And after the alum tanning process is complete, the material will be “stiff and firm”. Laces that take on these properties can handle balls thrown at high velocities and give a glove a long-lasting shape.

Recent Heart of the Hide Innovations

The Heart of the Hides are rooted in tradition. But Rawlings knows that they have to spice up the looks and sometimes even add a tweak in the design of the gloves to keep players coming back season after season!

Croc Skin Embossing

In the last five years, Rawlings has started adding some pizzazz to the backing of select Heart of the Hide models.  Instead of replacing the leather on the backing of the glove and putting in a completely new material like their Speed Shell or Hyper Shell, they discovered that they can just emboss the back of the leather and give it some real character when someone gets a look at it upclose.

Enter the Croc Skin embossing. 

You may be wondering it in your head, so we'll just get it out of the way…this is NOT real Crocodile skin on the glove’s backing. Rawlings uses a process to stamp or mold the design into the glove’s backing. Be sure to check out the detailed view of the Croc Skin embossing below:

SHOP CROC SKIN GLOVES

Oval Logos

Over their last couple of releases, Rawlings has started to add a small wrinkle into the look of their Heart of the Hide catcher’s mitts. 

For many years now, Rawlings has been famous for their rectangle brand patch that goes on the wrist backing of nearly all their gloves. But recently when crafting their mitts, they’ve gone away from that patch logo and replaced it with an oval that contains the distinct Rawlings “R” within it. It’s just a small update to the cosmetics of the glove, but JustGloves really thinks their last few releases of catcher’s mitts have looked sharp due to that new logo!

R2Gs

The R2Gs have been around for a number of seasons at this point, but we get the feeling that many glove customers aren’t aware of the benefits of this line of select Heart of the Hide gloves.

At JustGloves, we love the tradition that oozes from an old-fashioned glove discussion. Most of these chats go something like this:

Person 1: Stiff gloves are the best! There’s nothing better than putting in a little elbow grease and breaking in a stiff glove to the exact shape that you want. It really gives you some sweat equity in your glove once the break-in is done!

Person 2: I couldn’t agree more!

Yes, if you’re up for it, you should get a stiff glove as it will give you a blank canvas for breaking in the glove to your exact specifications. 

BUT…we’ve found that a lot of our customers don’t want a stiff glove.

Rawlings has built their Heart of the Hide R2G models for these customers. They will feature the same US Steerhide Leather as a traditional Heart of the Hide glove. But the leather of these R2G models will receive extra softening at the factory plus have a thinned heel pad. Because of these modifications, the player should only need to complete the last 35% of the break-in process (traditional Heart of the Hide gloves require 60% of the break-in to be done by the player).

Recently, Rawlings has removed some of the marketing from their R2G gloves that used to help signify them as R2G models. For example, the stamp shown in the image above is often not included on R2G gloves any longer. As a note, the main signifier for an R2G glove currently is it's product code. If the code includes an extra "R" like the following example, you can rest assured that the glove is an R2G model: [PROR204-2CBS]

Two 2025 Expert Picks:

1) Rawlings Heart of the Hide 11.75" Baseball Glove (PROR205-4CTG)

Shop The 11.75" Heart of the Hide

This Rawlings Heart of the Hide is a testament to the lineage of this series of glove. Over the years, Rawlings has made many gloves that are similar to this one in regard to looks, but it still sparkles even in a 2025 release. This glove can shine both in the infield with its 11.75 inch length, but the Modified Trapeze web will allow it to be used by pitchers too!

As well, be sure to note that even though it isn't mentioned in the title of the glove, it is going to feature an R2G design (thinned out heel pad + only 35% break-in left to the player) and the wrist opening will be cinched to the tightest setting. The tighter wrist makes this glove extremely attractive for teenage-or-younger players as they will get a soft glove that fits them right out of the box. However, a simple adjustment of the wrist lacing to a looser setting will make this glove an excellent option for an adult!

More Reasons To Buy This Heart of the Hide:

• Great for use at 2B, SS and 3B
• US Steerhide should be able to allow the glove to be used for many seasons
• Deertanned Cowhide Palm Lining should allow for excellent breathability within the hand stall

2) Rawings Heart of the Hide 12" Fastpitch Softball Glove (PRO716SB-2GCB)

Shop The HOH Fastpitch

If your player is looking for a dynamic glove for the infield, then this Heart of the Hide 12 inch fastpitch glove could be just the tool for her to use to stand out at 2B, 3B or shortstop.

Due to the large size of a fastpitch softball, there is no threat of the ball getting lost in the 12 inch length of this glove. That means that if she uses it on the infield, she'll be able to quickly pull the softball out of the glove after fielding it.

Plus, the light blue, pink and teal colors make it an absolute showstopper in regard to looks!

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There you go! All that you need to know about the latest Rawlings launch is right here in this blog. That being said, we know that questions might still exist. And if they do, please reach out to our team of dedicated Glove Experts! The Expert squad can be reach on the phone at 866-321-4568, through email via experts@justgloves.com or by LIVE CHATTING HERE!