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New Balance‘s latest posterboy Shohei Ohtani unveils a new signature baseball glove just ahead of the Los Angeles Angels home opener. New Balance honors the MLB American League MVP and 2023 World Baseball Classic Champion and MVP by designing a custom baseball glove fit to his exact specifications and made with premium materials.
Shohei Ohtani signed with New Balance earlier this year and has since starred in the brand’s “We Got Now” campaign. The Japanese baseball star is working on a New Balance 574 cleat, which is set to be unveiled later this year.
Shohei Ohtani’s new one-of-kind fielding glove features an embroidered New Balance 574 ? Releasing in limited quantities this summer ??? pic.twitter.com/3YyK463rqT
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) April 7, 2023
The glove is made in part with Wilson, in which Wilson Master Glove Craftsman Shigeaki Aso. Throughout his 40-year career, Aso has transformed the glove industry and was honored to designed a 1-of-1 glove for Ohtani.
Ohtani requested a stiffer glove that would not shift positions while playing, so Aso included high-grade wool inserts in the thumb and pinky for increased stiffness and a modified palm liner with improved grip to limit movement on the hand.
Overall, the glove is modeled after the A2K line of gloves made in Japan, Ohtani’s custom glove features Tan Pro Stock Select Leather and Double Palm Construction. The legacies of Wilson and New Balance come together on the glove as a small New Balance 574 is embroidered on the wrist.
New Balance’s dedication to product innovation, brand authenticity and letting me be myself is an important part of our relationship, and this glove shows that. I used a prototype of the glove during the World Baseball Classic tournament and it helped me achieve my dream of bringing the world title home to Japan. The details on the glove are a way for me to live freely in baseball and have fun with product.
Shohei Ohtani
Ohtani’s custom glove is shaped like an outfielder’s glove as it has longer fingers, and also features a wider pocket and closed web design to meet a pitcher’s needs. Wilson’s lightweight and water-resistant material, SuperSkin, is used along the thumb and wrist to reduce glove weight while improving durability. The glove is finished with a tailored wrist strap to ensure a secure fit while fielding and pitching at maximum effort.
Check out the custom Shohei Ohtani x New Balance Baseball Glove below. For more New Balance releases and updates, follow @NiceDrops on Twitter.
