We went to Nocona last week to check out the Nokona Ball Gloves, the last baseball glove factory in America.
Check out our full story about Nokona here. But as with most stories, there were plenty of leftover tidbits about Nokona that we found interesting. So, we've compiled them here.
– In the 1980s, Nocona replica gloves were featured in two movies: Field of Dreams and A League of Their Own.
– Up until 2010, Nokona also sold football helmets and other football equipment. And up until the 1960s, Nokona made footballs. There's an interesting backstory to that, too, executive vice president Rob Storey told us. In 1935, as college teams began passing the ball more, the coaches at TCU and SMU approached Nokona about constructing a more passing-friendly football. Nokona devised a ball that was slightly longer than the rugby-style ball at the time. The NCAA later standardized the shape of the football, which was a longer version, similar to Nokona's design. As a result, Bob Storey, Nokona's founder, was later. inducted into the Sporting Goods Hall of Fame.
– Nolan Ryan's first glove as a kid was a Nokona, and he's been a longtime supporter of the company. Two years ago, he sent each Nokona employee a signed baseball on Valentine's Day.
– While the pro players who endorse Nokona might not be as well known now, it wasn't long ago that stars David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero and Miguel Cabrera endorsed Nokona's line of woodbats in the mid-2000s.
– Nokona this year partner with Ezra Arthur leather goods in Phoenix to make personalized game belts for big-league players, including Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Jose Altuve.
– Being a leather goods company has another advantages, too: During the Gulf War in 1990, Nokona produced head harness straps for military night vision goggles.