JANUARY 2025 32 Chris Petroff with his dad, Dave. THAT THAT NEW NEW GLOVE SMELL SMELL By Cliff Summerhill E verything has a story – even old baseball gloves. Chris Petroff, a Phoenix native and owner of The Glove Lab, has made it his mission to restore and repair baseball gloves, helping people cherish their history while creating new memories with loved ones. “The gloves that get passed down from generation to generation are the stories that stand out the most,” Petroff said. “The gloves that shared special games of catch from father to son to grandchild are the ones that leave the biggest impression.” Whether the gloves are brand new or decades old, their history is just as important as the threads that keep them together. He does hundreds of repair jobs each year – not just baseball gloves but softball ones, too – and does minor fixes or full-on restorations. Arcadia resident Zach Lind and his son Zane, an eighth grader at Saint Theresa’s, once needed The Glove Lab’s services. After finding Petroff through a mutual friend, the family hired him to repair three gloves and even bought an original one Petroff made. “I had two gloves I used in high school in the 90s that really needed some repair,” Lind said. “Both had been neglected and left outside. They needed cleaning, conditioning and relacing. Chris did an incredible job bringing them back to life.” Lind said it meant a lot to him to continue using those gloves to play catch with Zane. “One day, I can give them to him to use and hand down to his kids,” he said. The gig started off as a family affair. Petroff’s father taught him how to repair gloves in high school after his own glove broke. But that lesson didn’t stop with Petroff – it’s become generational. “The lesson that things can be repaired and not replaced stuck with me,” he said. “Fast forward to when the lace on my son’s glove broke, I passed along the lesson to him.” Petroff was readily available when friends or family needed glove repairs. The Glove Lab, however, started as a full-fledged business after some urging from other friends. It started simply: That friend – and the owner of SMELL SMELL      

33 JANUARY 2025 The final step of repair is to relace the glove. C&S Sporting Goods in Phoenix – started handing out Petroff’s business cards. He started posting his work on Instagram, eventually attracting the interest of professional players. By 2019, Petroff had a website, thousands of followers on social media, and orders from all over the country. He received his first orders from professional players in 2020 and has worked with around 100 from the major and minor leagues. After more than 15 years in the construction and economic development industries and a rise in popularity on TikTok and Instagram, Petroff made The Glove Lab a full-time job, and it’s been a home run for the last six years. Petroff’s two high school-aged children have continued the family’s sports legacy by participating in their schools’ baseball and volleyball teams. While The Glove Lab continues to help out little leaguers and professionals, Petroff is passing down his skills and still honing his craft. “It’s one of those things you never really master,” Petroff said. “I’m always continuing to learn and improve. I have a small network of fellow glove craftsmen across the country with whom I’m always communicating and sharing different tips, techniques, and tools.” Even though he has clients from all over the country, he’s still a proud Arizonan and native Phoenician. He continues to work out of his home, which is in the same neighborhood he grew up in, and plans to continue sharing the memories of baseball and softball gloves for years to come. theglovelab.com GLOVE REPAIR 101 • To restore a leather glove, Petroff begins by cutting out all existing laces and removing any old palm adhesive. Next, he brushes the leather to eliminate loose dirt and debris from the surface. He cleans the leather using a quality conditioner and a natural bristle brush to remove any excess cleaning particles from the crevices. • For more complex repairs, Petroff works with leather craftsman KC Mack of Mack Provisions, who handles the complete rebuilds. • After cleaning, he applies a leather conditioner, allowing it to set. Once it has absorbed, he brushes the leather once more to disperse any remaining conditioner. The finishing step is to relace the glove, and then it’s ready for use! First, customers send Petroff their gloves in the mail. Depending on the service needed, the gloves will be back in hand from 10 days to three weeks. Pricing starts around $75. HOW IT WORKS Some of the tools Chris uses are a cylinder arm sewing machine, lacing needles, lace snips, needle nose pliers, horse hair brushes and boar and goat hair brushes. PHOTOS: POLYMATH PHOTOGRAPHY