Nancy Bowden still remembers the garage sale where she spotted an old, cheap mitt.
It cost about a dollar, give or take 50 cents. The single mother of three seized the chance to buy the glove for her youngest child, Michael, who was 4 at the time.
“It was very worn,” she said with a laugh. “If it was a brand-new one, I don’t know if he would have taken to it as much. But it was already broken in, and that was it. We never even mentioned him doing anything else but play baseball.”
The glove led to games of catch, which led to T-ball, which led to travel teams and high school showcases with Bowden as a top prospect at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora.