From his perch behind the plate, Diamondbacks catcher Chris Herrmann gets regular face time with opposing hitters – including their footwear.
Herrmann began noticing a number of players like the Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson not wearing traditional baseball cleats but instead donning basketball shoes when they stepped into the batters’ box, a switch Herrmann is testing out.
“Word gets around, and people really like the way they feel,” Herrmann said. “So I’ll give them a try.”
Herrmann purchased a pair of Nike Kobe Bryant shoes (size 11) in Diamondbacks’ colors – black fading into silver with a red swoosh – from Footlocker at Scottsdale Fashion Square and sent them to Custom Cleats, a company in New York that affixes the cleat to the bottom of the sneaker.