The Nike rep came by my son's practice yesterday, as he does each year about this time, and dropped off a new glove for him to try. (Nike sponsors the school.)

The glove looks and feels great. I thas a little air padding in the palm, hence the name.

Out of curiousity, I looked up the glove on Nike's web site. It retails for $75.

Now, when I had the glove in my hands, it's quality seemed as good as any of the other gloves my son has used over the years.

Any idea why this glove costs $75?

Rob, I have no first-hand knowledge of this glove, but I went to Nike's website and read the one review on there. It said that the mitt was of low quality. I don't know if it is or not...

The best mitt I have ever had cost me all of $5 brand new. Price does not mean everything...

PS-- Must be nice to be sponsored by Nike!

It may be a very nice mitt, but the reason its price tag is under $100 probably has something to do with the quality of the leather. Probably will break in quickly, however, will probably break down sooner as well.
The price of the glove and the name on it don't always determine the quality of the glove- but with the top (most popular) companies, the higher the price, the better quality the leather 9 times out of 10.

Rob,

Where does your son play? How hard is the pitching he catches?

Very hard glove to break in. My Sons team uses them. Same deal they have to. Players don't like them. My opinion is they are of poor quality.

Turns out my son didn't like the glove much - the pocket was too deep, he said. So he passed it off to the JV catcher.

Catch43 - My son is a senior at Lake Oswego High School in Oregon. The pitching varies, of course. Our top guy this year was hitting 88 last summer at his peak. Mostly it's low to mid 80's stuff.

He's been catching pens for a friend who just left for spring training with the Phillies who brings it pretty good - 95 on his fastball.

My son got a Nike glove at his school. I don't know the model number or if its even available at a store, however he thought the glove was pretty good quality, although a little large and deep for his style of catching THe leather qualtiy seemed to be pretty good, he still has the glove (he generally gives away gloves he doesn't like).

I stand corrected, he is actually using the Nike glove in games, he says the pocket is shallow. I'll find out the model and post it.