 |
| Mr. DiPierro's Gloveman-restored mitt and Maris signed ball! |
by Daniel DiPierro
Throughout the decades my glove has remained, much
like an old friend. We still go to A’s or Giants games
together whenever I head out to the yard (especially whenever the Yankees are in
town). I’ve always tried to pack it when I travel back east
during baseball season, with hopes of getting to Yankee Stadium on the
trip. But of course, after more then 25 years of hard use,
my glove showed its age with numerous scuffs and scars and it developed a few
rips, along with several broken laces, and the
leather had become dried and cracked in a quite a few places.
About 20 years ago I came across an article, “A Man Who Rebuilds Worn Mitts” by Michael Robertson, while reading the
San Francisco Chronicle, which initiated a wonderful new chapter of my story.
The newspaper article introduced me to a man in the Bay Area who had dedicated
himself to preserving old baseball gloves just like mine: The Gloveman.
I called the number and then took a drive to his little shop in an industrial
park in Fremont, where I met a gentleman (and I do mean a gentle man) by
the name of Lee Chilton AKA The Gloveman. I shared my story with Lee, showed
him my glove, and then left it with him. He proceeded to meticulously overhaul
the entire glove, taking it completely apart, replacing the padding and
repairing the rips, adding new leather where it was needed and stitching it all
back together again with new laces. As a finale, he reconditioned the entire
glove with a magical concoction that made the leather smell and feel virtually
brand new again. When I returned to his shop a few weeks later I was overjoyed
to see my old glove again, with the makeover, sitting on his work table. I
immediately picked it up and slipped it onto my right hand, rhythmically
pounded my fist into the pocket as I’d done seemingly a million times
before, and let me tell you, it felt just as good as ever (or maybe even
better)! My glove was truly reborn!
I've had many new and exciting life
experiences since that visit to The Gloveman in the early 90's. I've gotten married and my two sons
were born, certainly three of the most wonderful milestones of my life. Also, during this same period both
of my parents and a few close friends have passed on, so I’ve come to truly know and
understand some of the deeper aspects of life’s full circle. I find it absolutely fitting that
during this most recent decade my glove and I have taken on new and different
roles as well: I take it out into the back yard or
to the park to play catch with my son Vincent, who was born in 2002. I get to teach him how to use two
hands to skillfully catch a fly ball, or show him how to turn it to the backhand
or gracefully scoop up a short-hop when fielding an errant throw, and while
we’re having our catches I share with him many stories about baseball and
history, about Roger Maris breaking Babe Ruth’s record in 1961, or about my visits to old Yankee Stadium, and about
life, people, places and things.
It is so genuinely warming to realize that I was 10
years old when I first got this glove, and now Vinny is 10 years
old, and my glove continues to be a living part of our
shared experiences today. There’s such a perfect symmetry in all of
this! And I know at
least for me, each and every time I put the glove on my hand I’m back in Mr.
Levine’s classroom, or in my old room in 1961 breaking it in, or watching Roger Maris #9 hitting home runs at
old Yankee Stadium, or in the outfield myself, tracking down a fly ball in
some sandlot game. I
could be heading off to college or to California with the glove packed in my
bag, or at the post-season game in Oakland where I witnessed Jeter making “the
flip” to Posada to get that important out at the plate, or perhaps best yet,
hearing Vinny shout to me, “Hey Dad, where’s your mitt, can we go out and have a
catch?”
I
thank you very much, Gloveman.
No comments:
Post a Comment