PITTSBURGH -- Among the brightly colored shoes lined up in Francisco Lindor’s locker on Saturday sat an object of a decidedly different tone. It was green, red and tan, with one of the most recognizable logos in the world on the side.
It was a one-of-a-kind baseball glove manufactured by Rawlings and designed by Gucci, the Italian fashion house. And it was perfect for Lindor, one of the most fashion-conscious players in the game today.
“I think it’s really cool,” Lindor said. “It’s a fun glove. And I think it’s also good for the game that brands like that do collaborations with MLB. It brings fans from different parts of the world that don’t necessarily know much about the sport, but they know Gucci.”
Lindor, who has his own New Balance shoe line and typically designs elements of his Rawlings gloves, had no role in the look or style of this Gucci model. But when Rawlings and Gucci decided to collaborate on a glove, the companies chose Lindor as the perfect recipient.
“I never thought I was going to own a Gucci glove,” Lindor said, laughing. “It was out of my mind. I guess now, anything’s possible. Rawlings does a really good job of getting my ideas together and making them into gloves, but this wasn’t my idea. This was them.”
Unlike some players, who use the same glove -- their “gamer” -- for years or even entire careers, Lindor cycles through about 15 gloves per season. He’s not superstitious about his uniform choices, and so he plans to include the Gucci glove into his regular rotation soon.
He also plans to bring high fashion onto the field more regularly. In the coming weeks, Lindor said, he plans to unveil a shoe partnership between New Balance and another famous designer -- though he’s not revealing the details quite yet.
“I got something cool,” Lindor said with a grin. “It’s coming out soon.”