This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola¡¯s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
JUPITER, Fla. -- Bats and gloves are a baseball player¡¯s most important pieces of equipment.
When it came time to customize his latest A2000 1785 Wilson glove in December, shortstop Xavier Edwards asked for input from his fianc¨¦e Emily, whom he had proposed to in the Cayman Islands on Nov. 23.
Xavier and Emily spent around 30 minutes on Wilson¡¯s website choosing everything from the fonts (¡°milkshake¡± and ¡°Benton¡±) to the colors. Like Xavier¡¯s previous gloves, they stuck with gray lacing and trim.
¡°She had a big say in how the glove turned out,¡± said Xavier, who has used the same model for the past four years. ¡°It was time for me to create one, because I had to put a Wilson order in so I could get it in time for Spring Training. We were sitting on the couch and I was like, ¡®You want to help me design gloves?¡¯ She kind of helped me, with some guidance from me and a little pushing. I was like, ¡®I don't want that color.¡¯ She was a big part of the process, and now I've got a blue and gray glove.¡±
Unlike Xavier¡¯s other gloves, the leather on the fingers, wrist, thumb and web is blonde. The palm is coal, while the thread color for his initials (¡°XJE¡± for Xavier James Edwards) on the thumb strip is Columbia blue.
¡°Blue is my favorite color, so I think that had something to do with it,¡± Xavier said. ¡°And I didn't want any crazy, funky colors. I didn't want a pink glove, which I'm sure she would have loved to do.¡±
Added Emily in a message to MLB.com: ¡°Super fun helping him design his glove, as I usually like to experiment with colors and designs. X is definitely on the more conservative side when it relates to what he¡¯s wearing, so I try to push his boundaries a bit. ¡ As for the color, I initially told him to do a teal color, but we decided on gray so that it wouldn¡¯t clash with any of the uniforms.¡±
Xavier also had the idea to put a special inscription on the ring finger.
It¡¯s not uncommon for guys to pay tribute to important people in their lives on their gloves. Ace Sandy Alcantara, for example, has ¡°RIP Mom & Lexi" in honor of his late mother, Francisca Montero, and his brother, Alexander (nicknamed "Lexi").
So Xavier and Emily settled on her future initials (¡°EE¡±) -- with ¡°:3¡±, a typographical representation of a heart, in her favorite color pink.
¡°Naturally we entered ¡®ER¡¯ [my maiden initials] and then did a little backspace and entered ¡®EE¡¯ since we had just gotten engaged and I plan to change my last name,¡± said Emily, who has been with Xavier for five years. ¡°The ¡®:3¡¯ was honestly just a random touch since we frequently use it through text.¡±