Valle Eagle Pro 11 First Base Training Mitt

The Valle Eagle Pro 11 is an 11 inch first base training mitt in Japanese kip leather, built for baseball and softball first basemen who want to train the pick and the stretch with a mitt that gives them nothing for free. It has an open wrist back and comes in right or left hand throw.

Eleven Inches at First Base

A game first base mitt runs twelve and a half to thirteen inches, with a deep pocket designed to swallow a throw that is not quite accurate. That is exactly what makes it a poor teacher. A first baseman can spend a season catching balls in the webbing and off the edge and never find out, because the mitt is big enough to hide it.

Eleven inches takes the hiding place away. The throw has to be received in the pocket, the glove hand has to get to the ball rather than waiting for it, and a short hop has to actually be picked rather than trapped. The mitt keeps the first base shape, so the movement is the same one a player uses in a game; only the margin is gone.

The Pick Is the Whole Point

Most of what separates baseball first basemen is the short hop. A big mitt lets a fielder stab down at the ball and get away with it perhaps three times in four. In an 11 inch trainer, stabbing does not work at all, so the player is forced into the move that actually works: get the glove down early, let the hop come into the mitt, and give with it.

The same applies to the stretch. Reaching with a light, oversized mitt encourages a first baseman to lunge and hope. Reaching with this one teaches them to stretch from a stable base and take the throw in the pocket, because there is no second chance built into the leather.

Japanese Kip and an Open Wrist Back

The Pro Series is built in Japanese kip, a lighter and finer-grained hide than steerhide with a tighter fibre structure, laced with USA-tanned leather. It breaks in faster than steerhide and then holds that shape instead of continuing to relax, which matters on a mitt that takes the same throw into the same spot several hundred times a week.

The wrist back is open across the Pro line. The S-Series Eagle 11S is the same 11 inch first base idea in Japanese steerhide with an adjustable Velcro strap, at a lower price. Leather and wrist back are the difference; the pattern is not.

Who This First Base Mitt Is For

Baseball and softball first basemen at high school level and above, and coaches who want infield throws graded honestly rather than absorbed. It is also worth having in a programme with several first basemen, since it is a shared training tool rather than a personal glove.

A player who is new to the position should get comfortable with a game mitt first. This is a tool for tightening up a first baseman who already plays the position, not for teaching it from scratch.

How to Train With It

Short hops with a baseball from fifteen to twenty feet, in blocks of twenty. Have the thrower deliberately mix the true hop, the in-between hop and the ball slightly off line, because the in-between hop is the one that separates first basemen and the one the trainer is best at exposing. Then take the same round with the game mitt.

For footwork, work the stretch off the bag with throws that are honest and throws that pull you off it. The mitt does not change the footwork, but it tells you immediately whether the catch at the end of it was real.

Valle Eagle Pro 11 First Base Training Mitt Specifications

• Size: 11 inch first base training pattern
• Series: Valle Eagle Pro Series
• Leather: Japanese kip shell with USA-tanned leather lacing
• Web: single post
• Wrist back: open
• Weighted: no
• Color: white
• Hand: right hand throw or left hand throw
• Sport: baseball and softball

What Is Included

The mitt, in the hand you select. No break-in service is included.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Pro 11 weighted?

No. The weighted version is the Pro 11WT, which adds roughly eight ounces.

How is it different from the Eagle 11S?

Leather and wrist back. This is Japanese kip with an open back; the 11S is Japanese steerhide with an adjustable strap. Both are 11 inch first base trainers.

Is it available for left-handed throwers?

Yes. Worth noting for first base in particular, since a large share of first basemen throw left handed.

Can I use it in a game?

No. At 11 inches it is well under a regulation first base mitt and it is built to make the catch harder.

Do the product photos show a right or left handed mitt?

Valle's photography for this model is of the left hand throw version. The right hand throw mitt is the mirror image of it, and both are stocked.

Care That Does Not Void the Warranty

Kip is a fine-grained leather and it rewards being left alone. Let the glove air dry after a wet session rather than putting it near heat, store it with a ball in the pocket instead of flat in a bag, and wipe the white leather down now and then so it stays white. If it needs conditioning, use a little of the Valle glove conditioner and use it sparingly. Avoid the shortcuts entirely: steaming, soaking, microwaving and baking all void Valle's warranty, and on a trainer they also soften the glove into the very pocket it was built to deny you.

Valle covers the glove with a one year limited warranty against defects in materials or workmanship, running from the date you receive it. Worth knowing: the warranty is void if the glove is steamed, soaked, microwaved or baked to speed up break-in. Playing catch with it is the method that keeps it intact.