PORT ANGELES, Wash. — This Port Angeles man turns used baseball mitts into a whole new ballgame.
"My name is KC Mack and I own Mack Provisions and I take apart old mitts and turn them into wallets."
KC played baseball ever since he was a kid — catcher. It’s a game he loves.
And he always had a fascination with one particular piece of equipment.
"I've been collecting mitts since I was 12, 13, I got into re-lacing mitts, and that's where it kinda started for me, and I thought it would be cool to turn some of these old unusable ones into something, and it just evolved from there."
He works out of his garage, where there are dozens of old mitts waiting to be transformed into new wallets.
"When I find one that's in good shape and has good leather on both sides, I totally nerd out.”
Every mitt holds a bit of baseball history, and Mack himself holds a wealth of baseball trivia.
As he tears apart a catcher’s mitt bearing a Joe Torre signature he explains, "This is going to a customer who lives in New York City, Joe Torre was the Yankees manager for many many years, but before that he was a player. Each mitt comes with its own set of stories, then I get to add to it."
It takes KC about 2 hours to turn a mitt into a wallet. He cuts and stitches by hand, using two needles, one thread, and a saddle stitch to bind pieces of leather together. Edges are sealed with beeswax, and each piece also gets a custom Mack Provisions stamp when it’s done.
Mack Provisions also makes key fobs, even custom shoes, with this well worn leather. Prices range from $15 for a key fob to $200 for a large 'Long Ball' wallet. And each wallet comes with a photo of the glove that it's made from.
"Yep, made by one pair of hands. From start to finish from gutting the gloves to cutting the leather it's all done by me."
Baseball fans love the stamps, signatures, and graphics from the mitts.
But to this ballplayer, the best mark on a baseball glove is the one that proves it's been well used.
“One of my favorite parts about a glove is where a kid’s hand went inside the glove, and it creates this little patina there,” he said, pointing out the shiny gray stain on the leather in the shape of a catcher’s outstretched fingers.
Thanks to KC Mack, these gloves — and their stories — will get a few more innings.
“That's my whole purpose, I don't want to see these mitts go to waste and end up in a landfill," he said. "I’d rather they get used somehow.”
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