That's because it's an excellent pattern, and size!
Appreciate all your input. My 16 yr old 5’2” DD SS with small hands liked the feel of the 1786 vs the 1787 (bulkier), but I’m worried of your comments about getting glove open and being harder than the 1787. Both gloves are hard to open/close when new/stiff, so difficult to project what the feel will be like after extensive break-in. Will “extra” break-in on the 1786 help, or is this a feature you can’t really control unless you have exceptionally strong hands?very good point. I should be completely clear about my history.
I hate softball and baseball. I hate watching it, etc... I never played it. In all the sports i've ever been around i've never spent so much money. Bats 350-500??? Yearly/Every other year!Gloves, cleats, bags, expensive tournaments, etc.. what a scam.
If i could do it again.... Soccer / Basketball / Track.. This way they have sports to play for life with high cardio levels.
but thats not important now. This is my long winded way of saying i had no bias. I thought i wanted the kids to rock Rawlings, because its what i saw MLBers use. So the first several gloves were heart of the hides. Then they started practicing in the rain? got the "cheaper" 44 gloves with the synthetic so they wouldn't ruin their leather. .. and tried Wilson probably because of Annas dad or someone else on this forum.
I said this earlier.. but if we were to be a fly on the wall when Rawlings and Wilson designed gloves, i bet it went like this.
Rawlings: Lets make a glove that feels like the extension of your hand and takes the pain away of catching this ball. Put your hand straight down flat on this leather and lets cut a pattern.
Wilson: Rawlings has been doing this for years.. They are the glove that the MLB uses.. How do get into this business with an innovation they aren't doing? Well Rawlings gloves are designed like a straight extension of your fingers.. but when you are balling, the field-transfer-fire has to be quick to get more outs at first, why don't you hold your glove hand up like you are doing a transfer, we'll bring the leather to your hand and cut it at the point your going to make a transfer.
Below are image examples of what i'm talking about.. Your Rawlings softball gloves extend straight and create a U pocket. The baseball glove is slightly better even if you flair it with the 11.75".. but your Wilson gloves create a J funnel. So if i flip the gloves over and am doing a transfer, the rawling softball glove has less precise drop since its a wider U. Thats why some players have to dig in their gloves. The wilson pattern creates a J channel where the ball drops in a smaller tolerance. Small difference, but much quicker.. its catch-find-fire, vs catch-drop-fire. Watch this next time your out. You'll see girls with the bigger pocket gloves looking at their glove when doing the transfer, vs the girls with the wilson baseball gloves are looking at the first base. You know were the ball will be.. It could be because of the smaller size + pattern.. i don't know. Its a great combo whatever it is.
At SS the one tick delay is the difference between out at first, and safe.
You'll also see this if you had tan gloves. Our Rawlings gloves have palm stains right in the middle of the palm. The Wilson gloves, you see the palm stains are higher into the pocket. (Shallower pocket)
View attachment 27210View attachment 27211View attachment 27212
TLDR:
Glove rankings for softball SS.
1) Wilson Baseball Glove
2) See above
3) See above
4) See above
5) Rawlings Baseball Glove
pass on the softball gloves if you play MIF.
Sincerely,
Strongly Opinionated Fool who wasted a lot of money.
Come on RH, Wilson can’t even figure out what letter to call the web??
1000%. At least for us, and the people that I have watched grow up playing. Could not tell you the model #'s that I grew up using, but can tell you the brand of glove and bats. My DD uses neither now, but started with both.The cool thing about gloves…and glove guys, more times than not it’s a generational thing.
I’d bet you a cheeseburger that her Dad was a Wilson guy so naturally that’s what he put on her hand from the start.
Of course I’m 100% guessing, I don’t know Sis or her Dad!
