For Jessie Jefferson, the crack of a bat and the look on a young player’s face when they receive a new glove are worth more than any profit he could make. That’s why the Flippin resident has spent the past year rescuing old baseball gloves, fixing them up, and giving them away to kids for free.KTLO, Classic Hits and the Boot News spoke with Jefferson who explains why he decided to start fixing gloves up for kids.
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His project caught the attention of Nokona, the Texas-based manufacturer of premium baseball gloves. After he bought a heavily used Nokona glove on eBay, planning to restore and resell it to fund more giveaways, Nokona surprised him by sending six brand-new gloves to support his effort.
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Five of those gloves quickly found new homes. The last one sat in his living room, waiting for the right recipient.
That moment came when Uriah Standridge contacted Jefferson about Charlie Shipman, a hardworking local teen preparing to start high school baseball. Shipman had he had the drive, but needed a glove.
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Now, Shipman is set to take the field this fall with high-quality gear and a story behind it.
“If you see Charlie around Yellville this week,” Jefferson said, “he’s probably grinning from ear to ear.”
As for Standridge, Jefferson surprised him with the glove that started it all – the original Nokona he bought on eBay intending to restore and sell.
Jefferson calls himself a “fan for life” of Nokona, but he also credits Standridge and Shipman for reminding him why baseball matters in the first place.
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