PRO PREFERRED

The Rawlings Pro is the upscale Rawlings. You may be asking why the Pro over Heart of the Hide. The HotH has a firm hand insert. The Pro is smooth, softer, and far more comfortable. Think of a Toyotas leather vs a Lexus. Chevy vs Cadillac. The internal leather is as nice as it gets. The glove looks great, but really this is a tool. The sheep skin glues to your hand. The kip leather of the pro is a little softer than HotH steer, but here again they are on par. The pro is a glove to hold on to and it should hold up. Both break in easy and last. The glove fits to my fingers with ease and is the nicest glove I have ever had. There are few gloves this naturally acting as an extention to my hand. Comparing this high-end leather to the HotH or Wilson 2000 has more to do with how you want your hand to feel. Snug and comfortable is what you get with Pro. Hugging your hand and gripping your fingers. No hard edges, and a premium product. If you like a soft glove this is it. It is difficult to warrant the $420(even though this is actually competing with more expensive gloves), however in the $300, or $200's on sale I would take a Pro over the A2K, HotH or even the more expensive Wilson 2k, or any glove. It just feels that much better and they have remarkable quality.

Received this for Father's Day, probably the most "DAD" gift ever. Do I need a $300 dollar glove to play catch with kids and coach little league - No. But, the glove is absolutely the highest quality glove I have ever used (Including my son's A2K catcher's mitt and A2000 pitching glove) Worth every penny and will last YEARS with good care!

I’m using this glove for slow pitch softball, but that shouldn’t deter any baseball outfielders away from this review. The glove is phenomenal. The break-in is coming along very nicely. There isn’t a whole lot of padding in the heel which allows for a very nice two hinge break-in. My hand naturally closes thumb to ring finger and I’m always trying to break-in my gloves thumb to pinky because I’m OCD about the symmetry of the glove. Anyway, this glove is breaking in halfway between the pinky and my ring finger, so I’m rather happy with that compromise. I’m using two in the pinky for the break-in. The picker isn’t quite as deep as say the KB17 modem which is a 12.25, but it is a nice and deep pocket. If I could custom make a KB17 at 12.75, that would be the only way I would like a glove more, but that only applies to softball which this glove wasn’t intended for. Outfielders love the 303 pattern on this glove because it’s awesome. The glove is beautiful, everything that you expect from Pro Preferred gloves is present. The hand stitched welting is really cool, I like that look. The camel and black really pops and will turn heads. Looks like a custom built glove but it’s stock. Can’t go wrong here.

Did I need a $380 dollar new glove to play catch with my son. Answer is heck no but my god am I glad I got it. When I was a kid I remember going to MLB games and hearing the snap of the ball hitting the glove. You think it’s because of the speed of the ball but it’s not. It’s the quality of the leather and mitt that gives that loud audible snap. It takes me back to my childhood. The quality of Rawlings is just insane. That’s why 67% of pro players use Rawlings. I can’t wait for my sons hand to get bigger to get him a Pro preferred Rawlings glove. For now he has 4 different Rawlings pro lite gloves. I’ve watched hours of videos on baseball gloves and I’m so happy I chose Rawlings just like my childhood glove. There are videos on YouTube how to break them in. They come really stiff because of the superior kip leather. I suggest using the video where the guy uses the hot shower water b4 he starts working in the glove. Within a few hours it was perfect to start playing catch and I would hit it with a wood mallet while I was watching tv over and over. Can’t say enough about the quality and craftsmanship of this glove and Rawlings. Just remember a glove that takes a little while to break in is a glove that will last a long long time because of the quality of the thicker leather. The ones that come out of the box so called game ready will not last that long. This is a glove you will have for the rest of your life so it’s a great investment.

This is a Great glove. My son loves it, he is a High School Varsity player. The only challenge is that is takes some time to break in. But do not let that stop you from buying. While they tell you to not steam or bake the glove...not sure why. Makes no sense since they have been steaming and baking leather since the dawn of time. We got the results we needed with 3 professional steaming and a lot of beating during the steaming process. Beat Glove, Steam, Beat Glove, Steam, Beat Glove...Play a couple of games (it will be somewhat stiff). Repeat 3 times...like butter. Oh also, wrap softball in glove palm tie tight and wrap with a towel and drive over it a few times, only after the first steaming (No need to do this after the first game use.)

A big Rawlings fan here and was looking to replace my older Rawlings gold glove series that was starting to break down after 30 years. I was looking at this glove online and saw it on Amazon for $100 cheaper so it was a easy decision. The quality of the leather is great along with the Pittards leather palm and fleece on the back cuff. The leather is stiff so expect to spend some time breaking it in but after a month of work all is good. This glove will most likely outlive me so I'm thinking this is good investment.

Very high quality. Not for sure how long it will take to break it in. But I'm sure this mutt will last my son that's playing in college a long time.

Beautiful

Great quality. Highly recommended.

Exlente calidad

El guante tiene un excelente taco, piel de calidad. El color es especial.

High quality leather and fits great

Beautiful glove, very soft leather, broke in really nice.