Working Gloves

A unique site occurs every time catcher Rashawn Galloway comes up to the plate. All a spectator must do is look at his hands.

Anyone who has seen a baseball game is familiar with batters wear batting gloves. Galloway though is an exception. When he is at the plate, the freshman has on a pair of work gloves.

Wearing work gloves while batting is nothing new for Galloway. He has been wearing them since his freshman year at Boerne High School.

“My freshman year I didn’t start off too hot while wearing regular batting gloves. I asked my friend Koby [Hunter] if his brother still had the working gloves,” said Galloway. “He did still have them and Koby gave them to me. That is when I started playing really well and ever since then I’ve worn them.”

Koby's brother, Kade, was a player on the Greyhound team that Galloway looked up to on the field and is currently a senior on McNeese’s baseball team. At the time Kade wore yellow working gloves due to wearing out regular batting gloves in just a week or two of use. 

“I remember watching Rashawn play football and baseball, and everything he did he got after it,” said Kade Hunter. “I wondered where the gloves went. It is awesome that it has lived on.”

Ever since Galloway got the working gloves, he has been wearing a pair when hitting and has had great success. He was selected to the all-district team four times, was twice named to a Texas Sports Writers Association All-State team and as a senior was chosen as a Collegiate Baseball High School First Team All-American and District 28-4A MVP.

“When I put on those gloves, I get into a different kind of mode. I got to get to work and this is a serious business along with making sure I am mentally ready,” Galloway said. “That mental click in my mind is a reminder to me that I got to fight tooth and nail for my team and quality at bats while people also seeing me as a hard worker.”

His performance on the field got him noticed by Texas State along with the likes of Baylor, Louisiana, TCU and Texas A&M.

From the first day that Texas State baseball head coach Steven Trout started recruiting Galloway, he noticed the working gloves.

“When guys wear them a lot, not only are they are tired of getting blisters on their hands and of batting gloves getting worn out, but it is probably the first sign of a good work ethic,” said Trout. “The more I talked to him about it, I found out it was more about the way it felt in his hands. There was a plan and idea behind it and I was all in for it.”

Galloway’s Bobcat teammates thought it was cool see him rock the working gloves. They weren’t alone as the entire coaching staff also were big fans.

“The first day I brought out the yellow ones, Coach [Chad] Massengale was a huge fan,” said the freshman catcher. “All the coaches took a liking to them and have talked positively about them. They said if you are going to swing with those on, put in the hard work and go to it.”

In the Fall, Galloway initially wore a white pair but has since transitioned back to the yellow gloves in the Spring for the 2023 season. His gloves have gotten a lot of action lately with a hot bat that has seen him carve out a spot in the lineup whether it be behind the plate or as the designated hitter.

“Randomly throughout the years you’d see guys wear them but Rashawn has definitely stuck with them the longest that I’ve seen,” said Trout. “I don’t know if there will be any stopping him of wearing them.”