Wilson Glove Day 2024

Wilson Glove Day…it is one of the most incredible days of the year for the glove enthusiast. But why is it so great? After all, we're just watching grown men receive their high-quality Wilson gloves that they’ll be using for the season.

The reason the day is fantastic is because it allows baseball fans to get a glimpse of the joy that can be seen on a professional athlete’s face when they receive a special item made just for them. 

On the surface, a baseball glove is a tool. Its job is to grasp and hold onto balls that are hit in their direction. But as a glove gets used more frequently, it becomes much more than an instrument for defending baseballs. 

If Gold Glove winner (and Wilson glove man) Ke'Bryan Hayes were to play every defensive inning this season, he would be toting his A2000 out to third base at least 1,458 times. That's going to add up to a lot of minutes, hours and probably even days that he spends with his glove on his hand each season. That glove needs to be so perfect in how it fits and functions that he prefers not to take it off. The common adage is that a glove needs to be an "extension of a player's arm", but more frequently, a well-cared-for glove becomes an "extension of the entire player".

On Wilson Glove Day, it is apparent that these players understand just how special it is to play baseball for a living. They understand the relationship they're about to embark upon with these gloves. And best of all, they seem grateful...

This spring, the Wilson glove team led by their Glove Guru, Aso, visited five different spring camps in Florida with their video crew to capture those inspiring moments when big leaguers are presented with their new gloves for the 2024 season.

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh comes into the 2024 season with excitement. They improved by 14 games the previous season and are poised to enter baseball’s postseason for the first time in nearly a decade in 2024. The creativity behind their gloves definitely reflects that excitement.

Even though we already mentioned him in the introduction, we couldn’t offer a write up on their Wilson Glove Day that didn’t mention their star at third base, Ke’Bryan Hayes. Last season, Hayes brought in his first Gold Glove and his second Fielding Bible Award. He followed up on that impressive trophy haul by bringing home four new A2000s at this year's spring training. All four appear to have been adorned with Wilson’s Super SnakeSkin on the backing. And it looks like he may even be using Wilson’s Spin Control tech on his gamer this year!

David Bednar, their closer, also turned heads on Glove Day. On the thumb backing of his glove, where the Wilson “W” is usually emblazoned, he went with a rendering of Pittsburgh’s famed Roberto Clemente bridge. A classy sign of respect to the team’s famous late star. But also a cool nod to the piece of city infrastructure that can be seen from their home park near downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

Boston

If you remember anything about Wilson Glove Day for the Beantowners, remember this: Monster Green.

Yes, that’s a color that Wilson can offer to pro ball players from Boston.

That was the color of just one of Masataka Yoshida’s gloves that were crafted for him in preparation for Wilson Glove Day. Aso revealed that he has already made 8-10 gloves for Yoshida since he arrived at Boston’s spring training site for the first time in 2023. Aso goes even further to say that Masataka is very “specific” about his gloves and getting them prepped for him does require some extra attention from the Guru himself. With both Aso and Yoshida hailing from Japan originally, there must be a sense of familiarity and comfort when they meet to discuss Wilson gloves.

Baltimore

Camo, classic Wilson patterns and paint splatter…Charm City’s Wilson Glove Day had all of that.

Gunnar Henderson turned in a huge rookie campaign last season and followed it up with a sensational custom built A2000 that featured a camo-painted Super Snakeskin backing. 

Further, Gunnar uses the EL3 pattern from Wilson (the “EL” stands for Evan Longoria). This glove measures to an 11.75” length, features a single-post web and forms a deep pocket if worn with your pinky and ring finger in the pinky slot. The EL3 pattern is fading from production, but if you can find one…get it for sure. 

We would be remiss if we didn’t also mention rising star Colton Cowser’s outfield model. Instead of going with a design that could be considered “safe”, he decided to burn the ships and go with a paint splatter color scheme on the back of his A2000. It straight up looks like an artist took his paint brushes loaded with colors and flicked them right at the back of his A2000. You’ll love it!

Tampa Bay

Every team camp visited on the 2024 journey of Wilson Glove Day seemed to have a glove or mitt that achieved “show-stopper” status.

At Tampa Bay’s spring headquarters in Port Charlotte; the glove that caught headlines was Taj Bradley’s Flamingo glove. Bradley, a pitcher, broke into baseball’s highest level last season and won a handful of games for the club. And as you might have guessed due to its popularity, Taj chose a Super SnakeSkin canvas for the flamingo print.

Our team of Experts at JustGloves, was also really intrigued by Yandy Diaz’s first base mitt. It appears he went with the general design of a JAB79 pattern (inspired by Jose Abreu). However, Aso comments in the video that they removed the finger stalls on the inside of the mitt. This design must allow Diaz to place his fingers exactly as he wishes within the mitt.

Atlanta

For the most part on the 2024 Wilson Glove Day journey, the headliners really seemed to side with the A2000 over the A2K. However, for one star in the Atlanta spring camp, that wasn’t the case. Michael Harris, Jr loves his A2K. And his is decked out with a camo design that is painted right into the Super SnakeSkin that adorns the back of his glove.

In fact, Harris loves his A2K so much that he convinced his buddy Vaughn Grissom, former Atlanta infielders and current Bostonian, to make the switch to an A2K for the 2024 season.

The nuances of how players handle the grind of the big leagues and also how they take care of their gloves always interests the team at JustGloves. Atlanta reliever AJ Minter gave a little snapshot into what he does when he strolls into the bullpen with his A2K. He commented “the first thing is Sudoku [then] I always put my glove in the same spot in the bullpen”.

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The 2024 season is now underway! We hope that this post will get you to focus in on the leather being used by pros when you attend your next big league game. And if you want to meet a group of folks who all have a keen eye for gloves, you better meet our Glove Experts. If you have a question about buying a glove, you can call them at 866-321-4568, email them through experts@justgloves.com or you can simply start a live chat here!