Finding a player's shoe size

[5kRunner]

Does anyone have any ideas about finding out what a specific player's shoe size is?

I picked up some Rick Sutcliffe game used cleats. They are size 11, which in my opinion is kind of small for a person who is 6'7". After looking at some pics of him, he doesn't appear to have very large feet, but I would rather have some solid evidence that they were his. They do match the style in the pics though.

The woman I bought them from said the Cubs donated them to a charity auction and her husband won them in the 80's. They did not come with a COA. I'm not sure many things did in the 80's. I got them pretty cheap because she didn't list them well, so I'm not out that much if they are not real.

Anyway, please let me know if anyone has any ideas. Thanks.

[BaseballGM]

That's a tough thing to research. I own only one pair of cleats and ended up asking the player what shoe size he wore during his (16 year) career. He smiled at me and replied, "I began my career wearing size 9 and ended my career wearing size 11."

[5kRunner]

Yeah, I thought it would be really tough outside of a connection to him. I was hoping someone else might have something though.

How could a guy's shoe size go up that much? That seems like a lot unless we are talking about a guy who was a "late bloomer".

[bigtruck260]

This is gonna sound strange...maybe the fact that there were shoe manufacturers avaiable in the 70's/80's that are now defunct and had slightly different shoe sizes is a factor. For instance, some Cardinals players wore Kangaroos in the 80's...and ended up wearing another brand at the end of their career (Ozzie is a good example of this).

I know that personally I wear a size 12 in Nike, and a 13.5 to 14 in Asics. I would think it's possible. Not to mention that heavier players can probably increase shoe size from things like water retention and weight distrubution. Maybe not plauisible in some cases - just a thought.

Dave

[5kRunner]

I found this.

http://www.lelands.com/bid.aspx?lot=1164&auctionid=112

So I feel a lot better about the size 11. But we all know auctions houses can be wrong.

[skyking26]

Shoes are a tough one. I asked Kingman himself to verify cleats size. Feet usually always stay same size. Mine have been an 11 since I was in HS 25 years ago. Ask the person who supposedly owned them. If you can't, I would refrain from buying them.

[5kRunner]

I've already bought them. They were cheap enough so I thought I would take a chance. If they aren't authentic, I'm not out a lot of money.

According to the Leland auction I posted, he wore size 11 which is the same size as the cleats I bought. They are a style match to the cleats in the auction as well and to various pictures I've looked at. And they are marked with his jersey number. I'm feeling pretty comfortable that they were his.

Unless of course someone has a conection to Sutcliffe, asks him, and he says he wore size 14. :(

[staindsox]

Your feet grow with HGH usage. Bonds' feet grew something like 3 sizes after the age of 35. George Will wrote an interesting article on it.

[skyking26]

Your feet grow with HGH usage. Bonds' feet grew something like 3 sizes after the age of 35. George Will wrote an interesting article on it.


Guess I never did steroids, been size 11 for 26 years...;)

[island_style]

This isn't really about a player confirming his shoe size, but I had an experience a few years ago when I showed Bill Russell (former Dodgers Shortstop and Manager) a couple of pairs of game used shoes to sign at an autograph show. One of his teammates sitting next to him, Bobby Castillo (pitcher), told Russell to smell them to be sure that they were his. Well, he held each shoe up to his nose, and confirmed that the shoes were worn by him. Unconventional, to say the least.

Kind Regards,

Ron.

Rsamiano@aol.com

[BaseballGM]

Take into consideration a who ballplayer began his career at age 17. At age 35, they probably are not the same body size as they were as a teenager. Weight gain, body maturation or yes, even roids or HGH could have an effect. My shoe size has gone from 10 -12.