Sneaker King… of the Diamond?

Fashion and sports have always gone hand-in-hand with each other throughout time, especially the footwear. However, when it comes to baseball, the selection of cleats are much more limited than other sports such as basketball. While becoming more modernized and stylish over the years, some players have not been satisfied with their choices. One recent trend has been turning normal sneakers into cleats by adding spikes to the soles. Players have been turning their favorite basketball sneakers such as Kobes and LeBrons into functional cleats to bring more relevance to style in baseball. New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier has been turning heads this season by taking some of the most coveted sneakers and putting them to use on the field.

He first debuted the Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 1 collaboration on April 16^th against the Red Sox. When asked about it after the game, Frazier said “I’m trying to bring a little swagger to baseball”.  And that is exactly what he’s doing, as his cleats have been picked up by countless sneaker blogs. Frazier has since made cleats out of shoes that are grails to most sneakerheads, bringing even more attention to arguably his best season yet. Most people could not imagine drilling spikes into shoes that hit the resale market for over $1,000 dollars, but Frazier intends to keep this habit going throughout the season.

The man behind this project is Anthony Ambrosini, founder and owner of Custom Cleats Inc. The match between the two was made through twitter, as Frazier was looking for someone to bring his ideas to life before training camp. Ambrosini has also worked with MLB players Troy Tulowitzki and his brother, Dominick Ambrosini. Frazier’s unconventional method of bringing style to function on the baseball field has also made its way to some of the world’s most famous designer brands. He would go on to rock a pair of Nike’s Air Fear of God Shoot Around sneakers, as well as a Kaws x Jordan 4 collaboration.

Frazier said he drew inspiration from Houston Rockets forward PJ Tucker, who has been deemed as the NBA’s “sneaker king”. Tucker takes the court wearing some of the most rare and expensive sneakers that can be found, including some that were never made available to the public. I think it’s safe to say we can crown Clint Frazier the “sneaker king” of the diamond, as he plans to continue rocking streetwear shoes on the field.  Keep an eye out for what he has on feet this season through the SneakerReporter MLB Instagram account.