Glove of the Series: Long Beach Coast
Rawlings Heart of the Hide PROTT2-20
By Kyle Robinson
The Ballers welcome the Long Beach Coast back to Oakland this week for the second meeting between the two clubs this season.
The first time these teams met, I brought along a glove with decades of history worn into the leather. This time feels a little different. Partly because it’s the second matchup; the teams know each other a little. Partly because the series opens on a Tuesday. But mostly because this glove has always been known around my house as the Tulo.
Let's get the obvious joke out of the way. Yes, it’s Tulo Tuesday. No, I couldn't resist. When I bought this glove, I wasn't just buying another baseball glove. By then, I already knew the reputation. The TT2 wasn't the glove people bragged about the loudest, but it was the glove that kept showing up in conversations about the best patterns Rawlings ever made. I knew the Troy Tulowitzki connection. I knew enough glove lore to understand why people spoke about the TT2 the way they did. People who used them seemed to love them; it’s the kind of glove that earns its reputation one recommendation at a time. The dark brown and tan colorway certainly didn't hurt. The shape looked different from everything else I owned or had ever used.
At the time, I already owned my Trap-Eze. That glove solved a problem. I needed an outfield glove. The TT2 was different.
By then, my glove collection was beginning to expand beyond simple functionality. It wasn't just about having the right glove for the right position anymore. It was becoming about the gloves themselves. The TT2 was the first glove I bought that I knew I didn't really need. I bought it because I wanted it. Because by then I knew what it was. I knew the reputation. I knew the pattern. I knew enough to appreciate it.
Some gloves in my collection may never see the field. This was not one of them. But it was the first glove I purchased because I appreciated it as much in itself as what it could do. Looking back, that's probably the moment everything changed. The TT2 is when I started a collection on purpose.
Years later, I learned even more about the pattern's history.
In Finest in the Field, Rawlings notes that Tulowitzki's 11½-inch PROTT2 drew inspiration from the glove of his boyhood idol, Cal Ripken Jr. I love that detail. Because baseball is full of things being passed from one generation to the next. Ripken influenced Tulowitzki. Tulo influenced a generation of shortstops that followed.
What struck me most while reading the chapter wasn't the glove, though. It was the reminder of just how good Tulo was. The book places him in the lineage of modern shortstops who helped redefine the position—players like Ripken, Jeter, and Rodriguez. Bigger athletes who could defend, hit for power, and meet a new standard in the six hole.
Long before the Gold Gloves, All-Star appearances, and highlight reels, Tulo was just another shortstop at Long Beach State trying to get to the next level. He got to that next level, and he gave back. In 2017, he funded a namesake batting facility addition to Blair Field that Dirtbag and Coast players can now use.
The Ballers and the Coast meet again this week, and it felt like the right time to bring along a different kind of second. The second meeting between these clubs. The second collector glove. The one that changed the way I looked at all the others.
The more time I spend around baseball, the more I realize appreciation usually starts with curiosity. You notice something, you start paying attention, and before long, it turns into something more. That feels like my moment with the Ballers now: really getting to know the players, the vibe of the team, what they are capable of.
The Coast don’t need any more wins right now—they have plenty. The B’s do: they’re hungry, they’re finding themselves. Game on.
Kyle Robinson is a transplanted Texan with a lifelong passion for the game of baseball. Residing in Oakland with his wife Randi, their daughter India, and a menagerie of pets. When he’s not slyly convincing his wife to name their pets after legendary baseball broadcasters (e.g. our corgi Milo Hamilton Robinson) he is probably balancing parenthood with trying to cram in as much baseball as possible. Whether it’s keeping the dream alive as a weekend warrior behind the dish, or on the sideline as a coach, volunteering, rest assured he has baseball on the brain. Find him on Instagram: @krob452
