When I turned fourteen my mother took me to the local Hill Sports sporting goods store. She told me that I could pick out whatever baseball mitt I wanted, and my eyes immediately shot to the top shelf where all of the most expensive baseball mitts were on display. I had been researching the best leathers, styles, and sizes of mitts for a few weeks and I knew the exact one I wanted the moment my gaze landed on it. The Nokona AMG 1150, a.k.a. "The American Glove". Not daring to take any of the tags off for a few weeks, I began to break in the mitt exactly how I wanted it to work. I drilled a hole into an old baseball and stuck the longest screwdriver my dad had right into it so that I could start pounding and softening the leather. I had the nicest glove leather conditioner I could find and spread the sweet smelling ointment over ever bit of the surface of the glove. Next, I would place two baseballs in a specific spot and let it sit all night. In the morning I would wake up, wipe off the excess leather treatment, and start the process over again. Now, almost eight years later, I still have the perfect mitt.
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