HYBRID EXPOSED STITCHED BALLGLOVE

Abstract

A hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove engineered with exposed edge stitching, with nine key points of alignment intended for hand stitching, and a remainder of the perimeter set for machine stitching. The front and back panels are set upon one another and aligned via ordered hand stitching the nine key points, preferably through precut stitch holes. Edges and joints may be stylized with one or more known stitch patterns, including the X-pattern cross-stitch.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the art of baseball gloves, and more specifically to a design and manufacture of unturned baseball gloves with exposed edges.

2. Description of Related Prior Art

Baseball gloves are a labor-intensive product calling for a large amount of individual attention. Differences among gloves vary from the thickness of the heel to the design of the web to the deepness of the palm. Improvements in the design of the glove and the efficiency and protection it offers a ball player are ongoing.

The first step in baseball glove manufacture involves die-cutting the leather into four sections: shell, lining, pad, and webbing. Various parts of the glove are cut (typically in dies) and sewn together with a long string (or lace) of rawhide leather. A front and back shell piece are often used. As is known in the art, the shell of the glove is sewn together while inside-out. It is then turned right-side-out. Lining is then inserted. Before being reversed (or turned as is known in the art), the shell is mulled or steamed. The lacing around the edges of a glove is usually one piece or string of leather. The lacing begins at the thumb or little finger and holds the entire shell of the glove together. The turned shell is put on a device known as a hot hand, which includes four (or five) fingers in a hand-shaped metallic form. Heat from the hot hand helps the shell form to its correct size. At this point, the hot hand also assures that all the openings for the fingers (finger stalls) are open correctly. In order to accommodate and reinforce the edge stitching, welting (a thin strip of material) is often placed along the edges between the shells (front and back). Welting reinforces the joint and allows the glove to be turned without losing strength at the edge seam. Additionally, after the glove is turned, piping may be used to cover the inverted turned recess.

A pad may be inserted into the heel of a glove. Better gloves have two-part pads that make it easier for the glove to flex in the correct direction when squeezed. The padding in a glove is made of two layers of leather, often hand-stitched together. Catchers' mitts, which need a thicker palm than other gloves, are made with five layers of leather padding. Plastic reinforcements may also be inserted at the thumb and toe (little finger) sections of the glove. These devices provide added support for the glove and protect the player's fingers from being bent backwards accidentally.

Before completing the lacing, the web is fabricated out of several pieces of leather. The web can consist of anywhere from two to six pieces of leather, depending on the type of web desired. The lacing around the edges of a glove is usually one piece of rawhide string that might be as much as one hundred inches long. The lacing begins at the thumb or little finger and holds the entire glove together. The final lacing operation is at the web section. Some non-leather stitching is needed for the individual parts—the web, for instance, is usually stitched together with nylon thread. The strap across the back of the hand of a glove used to be lined with shearling (sheepskin); a synthetic fabric or felt material is more commonly used today. The palm and back are sewn together first, and then joined together with the other pieces with rawhide lacing. As is currently predominant, the final step is called a lay off operation; the glove is again placed on a hot hand to adjust any shaping problems and to make sure that the openings for the fingers (finger stalls) do not close.

Baseball glove design has seen vast improvements with the invention of the exposed edge ballgloves by NOKONA as seen in its EDGEX line of exposed edge gloves. The need for excessive handcrafting of the exposed edge gloves has caused each glove to serve as a one-of-a-kind high-end glove. However, experiments have been underway to limit the cost and effort to produce exposed edge gloves.

As such, the development of the ball glove has progressed to improve and speed up manufacture, reduce costs, and allow experimentation with new materials and new functionality. The requirements of turning have made the manufacture of ball gloves tedious, effort and skill intensive, and limit the materials available for use.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a ball glove that is more easily manufactured without turning.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a ball glove without turning.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove made from an outer shell with a front surface and a back surface shaped to form a plurality of fingers, a thumb, and a palm portion, and an opening below the palm portion to allow entry of a player's hand. The outer shell front surface and back surface may be joined by hand stitching along at least one of one or more fingertips and finger crotches, with the remainder of the perimeter further joined by machine stitching. The hand stitching to align the front and back may be considered key points. Preferably the key points include the four fingertips (pinky, ring, middle, and pointer fingers) and in some instances, the thumb. Preferably the key points include the crotches between the fingers (pinky-ring, ring-middle, middle-pointer) and may also be the crotch between the thumb and pointer finger, either at the base of pointer, base of thumb, in the center between the two, or extending along the hinge. A further key point may be at the outer base of the thumb, and/or outer base of the pinky (where meeting the lacing). The outer shell front surfaces may be joined by hand stitching along at least four fingertips, preferably along pinky, ring, middle, and pointer fingers. The thumb may also be joined by hand stitching. The hand stitching is preferably set through precut holes, preferably four precut stitch holes at each of the fingertips. The outer shell surfaces may be joined by hand stitching along at least three crotches between four fingers (pinky-ring, ring-middle, middle-pointer), and may also be between pointer finger and thumb. Preferably, hand stitching between the first three crotches is conducted through ten precut stitch holes at each of the three crotches.

The shell is preferably joined by hand stitching along nine key points, each of five in fingertips and each of four crotches between fingers. In alternative embodiments, the outer shell surfaces may be joined by hand stitching along eight key points, each of five fingertips and each of three crotches between a pointer finger, a middle finger, a ring finger, and a pinky finger; said outer shell further joined by machine stitching. Exposed joints on the back surface may be hand-stitched, as by at least one of cross-stitch, ladder stitch, baseball stitch, hopscotch stitch, box stitch, and ladder stitch. One or many stitch patterns may be used on alternating joints.

Additionally, an improved method of manufacturing a hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove includes steps of pairing a front panel (or surface) with one or more joined back panels to make an outer shell. The front and back may be aligned and mated with hand stitching at one or more key points, while a remainder of the perimeter of the paired front and back may be further stitched via machine stitching. Stitch holes may be precut at one or more key points to allow easier hand stitching. Hand stitching may be made at nine key points, including tips of the fingers, including a pinky tip, ring fingertip, middle fingertip, pointer fingertip, and a thumb tip. The nine key points may include crotches, including a crotch between a pinky and ring finger, a crotch between the ring and middle fingers, a crotch between the middle and pointer finger, and a hinge crotch between the pointer and a thumb. The key points may be stitched in order from pinky tip, crotch between a pinky and ring finger, ring fingertip, crotch between the ring and middle fingers, middle finger tip, crotch between the middle and pointer finger, pointer fingertip, hinge crotch between the pointer and a thumb, and thumb tip to ensure alignment and prevent ripples or folding in the materials. The order may be reversed such that the and stitching at the key points may be made in order from thumb tip, hinge crotch between the pointer and a thumb, pointer fingertip, crotch between the middle and pointer finger, middle finger tip, crotch between the ring and middle fingers, ring fingertip, crotch between a pinky and ring finger, and pinky tip. The remainder, including portions of the fingers and perimeter may be machine stitched with or with precut tholes. The glove may then be laced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described with greater specificity and clarity with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of a palm panel of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a back view of a back panel of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of a glove embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a back view of a glove embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a close-up view of the interior side of a glove of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a top view of a glove embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates various stitch patterns useful with glove embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This application includes subject matter disclosed in and claims priority to U.S. Pat. Nos. 12,185,776; 11,583,015; and of U.S. Design Pat. No. D925,835, all incorporated herein by reference, and all which describe inventions made by the present inventor.

Baseball gloves made with the exposed edge design by NOKONA, under the EDGE and EDGEX brands, have met with much success due to the improvements in usability, appearance, and feel. High-quality leathers can be used when making these exposed edge gloves and allows for more durable, more attractive, and/or more easily adopted play styles. Additionally, the mechanics of the gloves may be an improvement over traditional turned gloves.

Baseball gloves can be made without welting/piping and without turning so that edges and stitching are exposed and unique leathers can be employed. As the glove does not have to be turned, the material does not need to withstand the turning process. Baseball gloves produced with outside stitching and without the need for turning, eliminate the need for welting and the difficulty associated with training operators to acquire the necessary skill to stitch baseball gloves. While this method of construction may reduce the amount of disruption/creasing to the leather and the amount of forming and shaping required, it does require additional hand-craft care in the manufacture process.

Exposed edges manufacturing does not require glove turning which eliminates a step in the process and process, reduces the need for shaping and forming that normally takes place to offset the effects of turning. Eliminating the step of turning, eliminates the need for stitching leather welt or piping into the seams, which is normally needed to maintain the strength of the seams during turning. Not only does this eliminate the need of a raw material (welt or piping), stitching without welting requires less skill.

The most difficult part of stitching a baseball glove is closing, and the most difficult part of closing is stitching the crotch of the fingers. Stitching the crotches without welting allows for increasing the distance or space from one side of the crotch (one side of the finger) to the other (opposite side of the finger). This is not possible with welted gloves because the space between the fingers after turning becomes too great, risking a ball going through the glove (fingers) or requiring additional lacing to prevent that from happening. Stitching with exposed edges results in a greater surface area of leather being exposed to the ball and therefore allows for narrowing of the fingers or increasing the gap in the crotch to make it easier to stitch in the crotch area.

Stitching with welting or piping requires the gloves to be stitched inside-out and then turned, which makes it difficult for the stitching operator to detect stitching mistakes until after the glove is turned. When stitching mistakes are found at this point, the glove needs to be turned back and the correction made before re-turning again. With edge-exposed stitching, the stitching operator gets immediate feedback, can correct in the final form.

Stitching with exposed edges also allows the detection of “flanky” or poor-quality leather earlier on in the process, whereas with welt-stitching flanky leather in the palm is often only identified after the glove is turned, again resulting in the glove having to be turned back and all the stitching taken out in order to replace the leather palm and stitch and turn again. This is both a cost and quality issue.

Exposed edge construction results in lighter weight gloves (which is considered a performance benefit) because welting is eliminated as well as less leather being used as a result of the ability to trim the components compared to a glove with welt construction for any given size glove.

Exposed edges on the ends of the fingers are less rigid and allow for easier “scooping” or fielding of ground balls compared to fingertips made with welt construction that are more rigid, rounded and can cause a ball to hit and bounce off the end of a finger more easily.

As for manufacture, there are a number of steps in the manufacture of gloves. Often these steps are sequential, meaning they have to be performed in a specific order. Exposed edge gloves have been primarily hand stitched to combine the palm and back panels, and to form joints. The hand stitching requires significant manual skill, oftentimes including lining up predrilled holes in the gloves. If not predrilled, the hand stitch skilled artisan has to force their own holes for hand stitching. It has been discovered that predrilling a few holes at certain important alignment points in the panels allows for lowering the skilled hand stitching steps, allows for alignment, and also increases the amount of machine stitching that may be used, as by an automated and powered industrial sewing machine. The preferred areas for hand stitching for alignment include one or more fingertips and one or more finger crotches (the area between two fingers where the adjacent fingers meet), (fingers including reference to the five fingers on the hand including thumb at hinge).

As shown in FIGS. 1-6, an example of a new hybrid stitching design and process is shown. Both hand stitching and machine stitching are employed to join the panels to form the glove, potentially before the application of lacing. The improved hybrid glove 10 may include a front panel or palm 12, set on the inside external wall of the glove, covering the pocket. The palm 12 and back 14 form the outer shell 16. Fingers 20 include the pointer, middle, ring, and pinky fingers, while the thumb 22 is set apart the fingers at hinge 32, often with webbing 28 set between the pointer finger and the thumb. Below the fingers is the pocket which opens at a lower end at hand opening 25, which may be covered by a guard strap 27. A pointer finger panel 30 may be set on the back 14 as an optional location to rest the player's pointer finger outside of the glove, as is known in the art. In addition to sewing (machine and/or hand stitching) around the perimeter or edges 40, the panels are held together by lacing 26, often made from thin leather strips, as is known in the art.

The preferred nine points of contact include the tips of the fingers, such as the pinky tip 101, ring fingertip 103, middle finger tip 105, pointer fingertip 107 and thumb tip 109. The tips are preferably cross-stitched 54. Each of the crotches between the fingers are also potential key hand stitching points, including the crotch between the pinky and ring finger 102, crotch between the ring and middle fingers 104, the crotch between the middle and pointer finger 106, and the hinge crotch 108 between the pointer and thumb, below the webbing. The crotches are also preferably cross stitched 53. One or more of these key locations is preferably hand stitched with hand stitching 57. Once the identified key locations are hand stitched, the remainder of the edges of the panels can be machine stitched.

The hand stitching at the fingertips is preferably cross-stitched 54, with four predrilled stitch holes 50 which can be aligned by the skilled artisan to align the gloves. The crotches are preferably cross-stitched 53 with approximately ten predrilled stitch holes 50 to allow alignment. The predrilled stitch holes 50 are preferably present on both the palm and back panels. The artisan can align them for stitching. While cross-stitching is preferred (and shown) alternative stitching types, as are known in the art, with exemplary stitch patterns shown in FIG. 7.

When mechanically stitching, the mechanical stitches 56 may run on the inside of edges 40, with the machine perforating the necessary stitch holes. Each of the machine runs are distinct and independent from one another. The machine stitching may over reinforce the hand stitching, or as shown simply complement. At the end of each machine stitch run, the stitching will include a double back 55 as is known in the art whereby the stitching run is moved in reverse to reinforce the ends of the machine thread and stitches. Lacing 26 through predrilled lacing holes 52 may be applied to finalize the glove manufacture. Lacing 26 may run across fingertips and down pinky (as shown) as well as along the inner palm perimeter of the webbing, etc. Lacing also fills out glove panels and can be used over heel 24.

Exposed edges 40 may remain in this hybrid glove design, wherein by the edges 40 are over stitching with hand stitching. More preferably, only the back will include stylized fanciful stitching as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The exposed stylized edges at joints 42 may include the stylized stitch designs as are known in the art, including those shown in FIG. 7. Preferably, the hybrid glove shown will at least include stylized joint lines 142 behind the finger, including the pinky, ring and middle, and partial of the pointer finger from the tip. Additionally points for the stylized lines may include the edges, as well as around the hand opening, inside the hinge by webbing, and connecting the back of the thumb to the pointer finger between hand opening and the webbing/hinge. Additionally, joint lines between the finger (as shown in prior disclosures as 143) may be stylized. The preferred stitch for the hand stitching of crotches and tips, or key points, is the cross-stitch, however, other stitch types may be useful for these areas.

The stylized stitching on the exposed edges and/or joint lines may be any known in the art, but preferably include one or more of those twelve patterns found in FIG. 7. One or more stitch pattern may be used on a single glove. FIG. 7 includes stitch patterns shown in diagram above, and such (hand) stitch patterns used to bind two adjacent leather panels with exposed mating edges below. The EDGEX line of gloves tends to use the EDGEX CROSSTITCH 76. Other patterns include the parallelogram stitch 70 as shown on sample leather 170. An alternative pattern with alternating X stitch between box stitching 71 is shown in sample 171. A Baseball Stitch pattern 72is shown on sample 172. Hopscotch pattern 73 is shown on sample 173. Triangular pattern 74 can be made with alternating diagonals as shown on sample 174. Double-X stitch 75 may be made as shown on sample 175. The preferred EDGEX or X or cross stitch 76 may be used or a box stitch 77, or a combination box/X stitch 78 as shown in sample 176. Rhomboid stitching 79 is shown in sample 179, and varied Ladder 80 and alternating ladder 81 shown on sample 180. Some patterns include an outline, bearing two parallel lines binding the stitch, as shown in stitches 71, 72, 73, 75, 77, and 80, while others are unbound, without the two vertically shown lines, such as stitch patterns 70, 74, 76, 78, 79, and 81. Whge viewed from above, the side binding parallel line stitching of the stitch pattern may not be noticeable.

An advantage of the present invention allows the majority of stitching work to be done by a machine, with minimal advanced skill sections required. Advanced skill is required for the hand-stitching, while machine-stitching is a lower skilled task. Therefore, by conducting the minimum required hand-stitching, and maximizing the amount of stitches that can be done by hand while maintaining high quality of the glove, we can achieve both a high-end glove, at a lower manufacturing cost. The present invention is useful for unturned edge and EDGEX gloves, and is considered a hybrid between a hand-stitched and a machine-stitched glove. The present invention is also useful on turned gloves, wherein the hand-stitching may be applied prior to turning. Hand-stitching is conducted first, aligning the templates of the back end forward glove panels, followed by machine-stitching once the points of hand-stitching have secured the relative location of the back and hand panels. Nine points have been identified for closing the gloves via hand-stitch. It is known to be best to use hand-stitching to assure perfect alignment insofar as possible with minimal stitching. The nine points include the tip of the thumb, the base of the web or crotch of the web (on one or both sides or the center or through the center of the hinge), the tip of the index finger, the base of the index finger, the tip of the ring finger, the base of the ring finger, and the tip of the pinky finger. In this manner, the tips of the fingers and the crotch of the fingers are all hand-stitched to assure alignment of the back and hand panels. It is preferable to begin with the thumb moving towards the pinky, in order to achieve the nine stitching points in serial consecutive order from thumb to pinky. However, the reverse or opposite is also useful, starting with the pinky tip moving to pinky crotch, ring finger tip ring finger crotch, through the thumb tip. While stitching adjacent locations, it is not necessary to go in a serialized order, in other words, one may stitch all the tips first and then the crotches, or vice versa, or take any approach as may be convenient for the skilled artisan. It is preferred that the back shell be completely stitched (joining panels) prior to stitching the nine points. By stitching the back shell together, it allows for alignment of the back and front panels. The hand-stitching replaces prior notches as are known in the art to help perfectly align the back shell with the palm. In this manner, the back shell and palm may be attached via hand-stitching to align the two templates, and machine-stitching can complete the required stitching as is shown below.

In early exposed edge gloves, first the notches were aligned, and hand-stitching followed. (This being after the back shell is completed.) In this embodiment, the first step is to stitch the back of the hand with or without edging and with or without hand or machine stitching. The second step is to hand-stitch the exposed edge or, when using traditional turn, to hand-stitch the nine locations. The fingertips and crotches are hand-stitched first as part of step two. Step three provides for machine-stitching the remainder of the joining portions of the palm and back templates. When producing turn gloves, steps two and three machine-stitching over the hand-stitching is acceptable. When using the above described three steps to produce an exposed edge glove, steps two and three will allow machine-stitching to start and stop so as not to overstitch the hand-stitches previously made at the nine points. A prior notch may be used by both the hand-stitching and machine-stitching to complete the distance of hand-stitching along the line as is shown in FIG. 1. The hand-stitching also allows for the use of a unique liner that is set through to the fingertips and crotches.

In the prior art, NOKONA edge gloves have been machined, and EDGEX gloves have been hand-stitched. Before closing is done by a machine, first a hand-stitch may be conducted on the back of the glove, finger spines. As is shown in FIG. 4, to conduct the specific hybrid stitching, when suing KIP leather, particularly for an EDGEX glove, first the crotch fingertips and spines will be hand-stitched. The spines along the back of the hand are primarily aesthetic, but do allow for the back panel to set a form. Hand-stitching continues on the crotch and fingertips as described above. When necessary, instead of hand-stitching the crotch and fingertips, a machine-stitching may be selectively applied to these locations to ensure alignment of the palm and back panels. This is useful in turned or unturned gloves. The primary advantage of the stitching at nine points of the crotches and tips of the fingers allows the glove to be aligned and held in place for the remainder of the stitching, whether machine-stitching or hand-stitching. While in the prior art, notches in the leather were required to line up components. By allowing alignment through nine point stitching, notches in the material can be eliminated, but for the hand-stitching at crotch and tips, and the remainder of the stitching may be done by machine without notches predetermining the leather material at the back panel and hand panel. This allows alignment of the front and back shells with minimal pre-notching, and minimal pre-designation and hand aligning of the two panels. In the prior art, the most skill was required for hand-stitching, and connecting the back shell to the palm. By touching the back to the palm with the pre-designated nine points, alignment challenges have been overcome. With the back shells stitched together in advance of the nine points, hand-stitching can replace the notches to allow for perfect alignment of the back shell and palm panel. When the craftsman attempts this, manufacture begins with going over the fingertips and crotches in the hand. When machine-stitching, back-stitching, as shown in FIG. 1, may be used to reinforce the machine-stitching in place. Back-stitching is preferred where the machine and hand-stitching meet, such as on either side of the crotch, and either side of the fingertips (as well as the outer bottom of the pinky and outer bottom of the thumb).

The prior art required significant skill when using the notches as the actual technique for mechanical stitching required aligning components continuing through the stitching. In the prior art, as stitching commenced, the leather may not act uniformly, causing ripples or misalignment as stitching continues. As in the prior art, the artisan was required to eyeball, or align the front and back with their eyes, and align notches at the tips. In the present embodiment, by attaching the nine points by hand first, we eliminate issues with working with various leathers and natural materials that can vary significantly. Aligning the nine points, or simple alignment of the fingertips, or simple alignment of the crotches, can enhance the uniformity of glove manufacture. The type of hand-stitching may be any as is known in the art, preferably one of the stitch techniques shown, any stitch pattern, as known in the art, and preferably selected from one of those patterns shown on FIG. 7 include a number of known stitch techniques, some with names, as illustrated in FIG. 7. The common baseball stitch is known, as well as the hopscotch stitch. The cross-stitch is that known and used in the EDGEX product as shown. Additionally, a box stitch has been adopted in the EDGEX patterns. Any crossing angular or even perpendicular ladder stitching may be useful in the present invention, especially to emphasize the edges or joints.

Claims

1. A hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove comprising: a) an outer shell, said outer shell comprising a front surface and a back surface shaped to form a plurality of fingers, a thumb, and a palm portion, said outer shell having an opening below said palm portion created by an unjoined region of said front surface and said back surface; andb) wherein the outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along at least one of one or more fingertips and finger crotches; and further joined by machine stitching.

2. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along at least four fingertips.

3. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 2 wherein said outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along four precut stitch holes at each of the at least four fingertips.

4. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 2 wherein said outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along at least three crotches.

5. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 4 wherein said outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along ten precut stitch holes at each of the at least three crotches.

6. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along at least three crotches.

7. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 6 wherein said outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along ten precut stitch holes at each of the crotches.

8. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 7 wherein said outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along at least four fingertips.

9. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along nine key points, each of five fingertips and each of four crotches between fingers.

10. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 1 wherein said outer shell front surface and back surface are joined by hand stitching along eight key points, each of five fingertips and each of three crotches between a pointer finger, a middle finger, a ring finger, and a pinky finger; said outer shell further joined by machine stitching.

11. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 1 wherein exposed joints on the back surface are hand-stitched.

12. The hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 11 wherein exposed joints on the back surface are stitched with at least one of a cross-stitch, ladder stitch, baseball stitch, hopscotch stitch, box stitch, and ladder stitch.

13. A method of manufacturing a hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove, said method comprising the steps of: a. pairing a front panel with one or more joined back panels to make an outer shell;b. aligning the front panel and one or more joined back panels;c. mating the front panel and one or more joined back panels with hand stitching at one or more key points;d. further stitching a remainder of a perimeter of the paired front panel and one or more joined back panels via machine stitching.

14. The method of manufacturing a hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 13 further comprising the step precutting stitch holes at the one or more key points.

15. The method of manufacturing a hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 13 whereby said step of mating comprises hand stitching at nine key points.

16. The method of manufacturing a hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 15 whereby the nine key points include tips of the fingers, including a pinky tip, ring fingertip, middle fingertip, pointer fingertip, and a thumb tip.

17. The method of manufacturing a hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 16 whereby the nine key points include crotches, including a crotch between a pinky and ring finger, a crotch between the ring and middle fingers, a crotch between the middle and pointer finger, and a hinge crotch between the pointer and a thumb.

18. The method of manufacturing a hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 17 whereby said step of mating comprises hand stitching at the key points in order from pinky tip, crotch between a pinky and ring finger, ring fingertip, crotch between the ring and middle fingers, middle finger tip, crotch between the middle and pointer finger, pointer fingertip, hinge crotch between the pointer and a thumb, and thumb tip.

19. The method of manufacturing a hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 17 whereby said step of mating comprises hand stitching at the key points in order from thumb tip, hinge crotch between the pointer and a thumb, pointer fingertip, crotch between the middle and pointer finger, middle finger tip, crotch between the ring and middle fingers, ring fingertip, crotch between a pinky and ring finger, and pinky tip.

20. The method of manufacturing a hybrid exposed edge stitched ball glove as set forth in claim 15 whereby the nine key points include crotches, including a crotch between a pinky and ring finger, a crotch between the ring and middle fingers, a crotch between the middle and pointer finger, and a hinge crotch between the pointer and a thumb.