Intro
Sadly, we live in a disposable culture, throwing away on a whim objects that are broken, worn or simply no longer needed. But as any baseball player, and most baseball fans, will tell you, a baseball glove rarely needs to be thrown away. A good, quality glove can often be brought back to life, reconnecting us with younger days, missed family members or a more carefree time in our lives, if only placed into the right hands. Like the hands of Jimmy Lonetti of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A few of the 1000’s of Gloves Jimmy has repaired over the years.
Check out more beautiful Before & After shots of Jimmy’s amazing work here.
Briefly give us your background.
I operate D&J Glove Repair in Minneapolis. I've been doing baseball glove repair for over 15 years. Three years ago when retirement from my full-time job was in sight, I moved into a storefront. Now I'm claiming to be the only dedicated retail baseball glove repair shop in the country. I'm currently repairing over 1000 gloves a year.
Did you play sports growing up?
Like pretty much every boy who grew up in my era I played Little League baseball. I was an okay shortstop. Later on I got on the 80's soccer bandwagon and played in high school and college.
How did you first get interested in repairing gloves?
I stated doing glove repair when my son Dom (the "D" in D&J Glove Repair) was in Little League. I stated fixing his glove, then some of his teammates and it just took off from there. A friend in the advertising industry designed our first logo just so me and my son could have business cards and make a few t-shirts. An 8th grader created our first website for a school project. As my son progressed up through the baseball ranks; high school, college, men's amateur, our markets have grown. Today besides our local customers I receive gloves shipped to us from all over the country and even overseas.
Did you study leathercraft formally or are you self-taught?
I'm all self-taught. I've always been very detailed orientated which is a must regarding glove repair. Whenever I have a glove to relace it is always my goal to relace it exactly the way it was when it originally came out of the factory. I'm pretty good at finding examples of old gloves online and then being able to replicate the original lacing patterns. Also my grandfather was a life long shoe repairman so maybe I picked up some of my leather skills via osmosis.
What inspires you most in repairing gloves?
What inspires me most about the glove repair is working on vintage/sentimental gloves for customers. It's always so satisfying to bring an old glove back to life and reunite a customer with a long forgotten glove. There have been many emotional responses from my customers both when picking a glove up at the shop or after they receive a glove on the mail.
How do you know you’re “in the zone” when you’re working on a glove?
If it's during the baseball season there is nothing better than to have a game on in the shop and be working on gloves. The time just flies.
How can Beauty of a Game readers follow you?
They can follow me via my Website, Google, Bluesky, and Instagram. I've pretty much retired from X/Twitter.
Jimmy’s work has even been featured on NBC News.
Favorite Sports Book?
The Teammates by David Halberstam
Favorite Sports Movie?
Everybody Wants Some. Some people say this isn't a "baseball movie". It totally is and it's great.
Favorite Sports Card?
1947 Exhibit Bob Dillinger
This is a newer discovery. I recently relaced an old glove for a customer that was endorsed by Bob Dillinger. I wasn't familiar with him so I did some digging and came across his 1947 Exhibit card. What a card! I bought one on eBay for 8 bucks and it's now displayed proudly at the shop.
Delightful profile, as a baseball fan, collector of ephemera and compulsive tinkerer this resonated with all three facets! Kudos to the Lunettis, and “fixit-types” everywhere