There are few sports more American than baseball, which is why it’s only fitting that the very best baseball gloves should be made in the USA. Finding a reliable glove is like your right-hand man on the field, but it’s more difficult to find than you might think. That’s why we put together this in-depth guide to locate all of the baseball gloves made in the USA. Hopefully, with our research, you can find an American-made baseball glove that will serve you well. Also, be sure to check out our research on baseball bats made in America and our interview with one of the best American bat makers – Three Brothers Bats.
Complete List of Baseball Gloves Made in the USA
Nokona has been making leather goods since 1926 and baseball gloves from its site in Texas since 1932. Despite facing tough competition from Japan and Korea during the 60s as people fled to get cheap imported baseball gloves, Nokona stuck to making its gloves in the USA. Even today, their gloves are “individually cut, stamped, stitched, laced and embroidered’ at its Texas facility. These are seriously high-quality baseball gloves.
Nokona sells baseball gloves for any position. You can also search for gloves by their series (design), fastpitch, slowpitch, youth, or pro players’ gloves.
Nokona handcrafts its gloves out of various types of leather, each offering a different effect on the glove, so it could be handy to learn which one is best for you. The ‘Leather Guide’ on their website explains that they use seven different types of leather in over 30 colors.
In their Leather Guide, they drill into the pros and cons of these different leathers and note that they use leather from the USA and globally. However, they helpfully clarify which leathers are from the USA and which are sourced from other countries in their guide so you can be sure you’re getting a fully American-made and American-sourced one.
If you’re ever in Texas, you can visit their production facility, which has a retail store and museum.
Roy Hobbs is a well-known American company that produces solid heavy baseball gloves. All of their baseball gloves are made from the finest, full-grain grass-fed American Steerhide leathers. These quality gloves aren’t mass-produced, they’re precision-cut, hand-laced, and hand-rubbed and also pre-treated with glove oils to soften and fortify them.
Passionate about being Made in the USA, all of Roy Hobbs’ gloves are manufactured in the USA and made from 100% American-made components. They’re designed for baseball players at all levels and come in either a classic burnished walnut color (“The Natural”) or a deep navy blue with burgundy trim and cream-colored laces (“The Navy”).
Players looking for a very specific sort of glove can rely on Glovesmith for an American product that meets their needs exactly. The company is known for crafting gloves with precision in a small shop environment. They make top-quality custom gloves and are made to order. Each glove features a tough Steerhide shell, a full leather lining, and a seamless leather palm pad for durability. There are multiple leather options for the glove’s interior, letting you customize the glove’s comfort. There are several different web design options and a wide range of sizes available, from a small of 11” to a high of 13”. There’s a huge range of options to select from, allowing you to personalize your custom glove’s look, feel, and performance. You’ll pay higher prices for these gloves, though, and will need to wait several weeks to have them crafted. That’s standard with a custom product, though, and a serious player will be happy to wait for a glove made to exact specifications.
Mike’s YouTube Video on American Made Baseball Gloves & Other Gear
How To Find Baseball Gloves Made in the USA
Instead of just giving you a list of US made baseball gloves, we want to help you learn how to do your own research and make better choices when shopping. In the section below, we’ll dive into the baseball glove manufacturing world, talking about things like where materials come from, labeling, and tips for finding top-notch brands made in the USA. Let’s start by breaking down what “made in the USA” really means and how to understand it when shopping for baseball gloves.
What Does “Made in the USA” Mean?
First, let’s define what it means for a product to be made in the USA. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to earn this label, “all or virtually all” of the product must be made in the United States. This means the entire manufacturing process must take place in the USA – from sourcing the raw materials to the assembly of the product.
Check out our “made in the USA” guide to learn more about this topic.
Materials
You need to research the raw materials used when looking for US products. This will give you a great starting point and help determine where products are made. Most baseball gloves are made primarily from leather with plastic reinforcements on the fingers.
Leather
The quality of leather varies immensely. For a quality leather product, you should look specifically for full-grain leather made from cowhide – this will last you the longest and is the most durable. You want durable leather on your baseball glove. If that’s a little out of your budget, the next step down would be top-grain leather, which is still good quality leather with slight alterations. Avoid at all costs anything that is called “genuine leather.” Genuine leather is an umbrella term for anything that is “technically leather,” so it’s not going to be the best quality.
China is currently the world’s largest leather producer, but the United States also has a substantial leather industry. So, you won’t have to search too hard to find US-made leather.
Plastic
The USA produces around 20% of the world’s plastic, which is not insignificant, falling behind just China and Europe. But since production of most materials, including plastic, tends to be cheaper to source abroad, most companies looking to cut costs will source Chinese-made plastic. So, if you’re looking for a baseball glove made in the USA, make sure to double-check the country of origin to be sure.
Labeling
When looking for a baseball glove made in the USA, it is crucial to pay special attention to labeling. Title 19 Chapter 4 Section 1304 of the United States Code states that all imported products should be labeled as such. This, in theory, should help us weed out inferior products that have been made abroad. But unfortunately, the FTC does not do a very good job of policing the usage of this label.
With that said, however, misuse of the “made in the USA” label is prohibited and can result in costly penalties. Although the FTC does not have a pre-approval process for all products, it will investigate complaints of misleading labeling.
You must also watch out for misleading terminology such as “assembled in the USA” or “designed in the USA.” These labels do not actually mean the product is made in the United States. Instead, they signify that only a part of the manufacturing takes place domestically. Another well-used phrase is “made in America,” which can be used to label products made in Canada or Mexico.
A final thing to watch out for is the use of the American flag sticker. American flags on labels are not regulated by the government, so the presence of the American flag does not guarantee that the product is made entirely in the USA.
Other Tips
Alongside researching the materials and reading labels, here are some helpful tips that you can use to find baseball gloves made in the USA.
Visit the Company’s Website
You should check out the company’s website to learn more about them and their products. You’ll often find information about their manufacturing process under their “About Us” page, or you may find the country of origin on the product page. Specifically, if the product is made in the USA, you should be able to easily find this information as it is a huge selling point.
On the other hand, if you can’t find any information regarding the country of origin, assume that the product is made abroad. Companies are not required to put the country of origin on online or promotional materials, so silence often means the product is not made in the USA.
Online Shopping Websites
Websites like Amazon will often list product information, such as the country of origin, on the product pages. So, look and see if you can find that information there. Another good place to check is the FAQ section. Another curious customer may have already asked about the country of origin.
Call the Company
If your search on their website yielded no results, you can phone the company and ask them. A representative should be able to answer your questions regarding the country of origin of the baseball glove you’re interested in.
Baseball Gloves Not Made in the USA
When doing our research, we came across several baseball glove brands that are not making their products in the USA. We’ve included a full list of these brands below as well as where their baseball gloves are being made.
- Rawlings – Made in the USA, Thailand, Phillippines, Indonesia, China, Mexico, and South Korea.
- Wilson – Made in Japan and Vietnam depending on the model.
- Mizuno – Made in Japan.
- Marucci – Made in China.
- Franklin Sports – Made in the UK and Ethiopia.
