Wilson A2K Pudge
Introduction
The Wilson A2K Pudge glove is the latest glove to come from the relationship between former baseball pro Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez and Wilson. The Pudge baseball catcher glove has been very popular with many catchers as it has been seen as one of the top catcher’s mitt year after year.
One thing people may not understand is the numbers on the glove model, such as the A2K. Wilson has different quality of gloves and they distinguish between them with the series name. Hope this clears up confusion as we also have a review for a Wilson A2000 Pudge catcher glove on our site.
Size
The size of the Wilson A2K Pudge glove comes in at its usual size of 32.5”. This is the same size as previous models and it seems to be continuing the trend. Remember that the sizing for a catcher glove is different from a fielder’s mitt. The catcher glove is measures around its circumference. To find the circumference, place your glove face down on the ground, and push it down so its flat, the measurement all around the outside is the circumference.
Leather
Wilson chose to go with Pro-Stock select leather for the glove. The keyword that separates this glove and the Wilson A2000 Pudge glove is that Wilson selects the best 5% of leather and labels that the select leather. This leather is the best of what they have. The leather is triple sorted to insure that only the best pieces of leather make it into the glove meaning that the softest (located inside the glove) and the most durable leather are used.
The leather when made into the glove is also broken in at the factory by pounding it with a wooden mallet to help for the pocket and cut down on the breaking in process.
The laces located in the pocket of the glove are covered with a reinforcing piece of leather to help minimize wear and deterioration.
Features
Some of the key features of the Wilson A2K Pudge glove are:
- Half moon web
- Extended palm
- Reinforced dual web post pattern
- 2X palm construction provides maximum pocket stability
- Rolled dual-welting for quicker break in
- 3X more craftsmen shaping at the factory means your glove is pounded and shaped by a master technician at the factory, reducing break in time for you.
Rating
For the Wilson A2K Pudge glove, I will give this glove a score of 4.8 out of 5. If you have read my review on the Wilson A2000 Pudge, you’d see that I gave that glove a score of 4.9 out of 5. Yes, I have rated this glove a little bit lower than a glove that has leather that’s a bit inferior to this. The reason why is that with premium leather, comes the premium price. And I believe that even though this glove is the best, the only differences between the two gloves are miniscule.
If you have the money to afford this then I would say go for it. But if you are a little nervous in spending $350 on a catcher’s glove, then save yourself $120 and get the Wilson A2000 Pudge catcher’s mitt. Trust me that you can’t go wrong either way. They are both fantastic gloves.