On an April morning in Mark Jones’ home workshop, a child’s baseball glove sits under a light at the center of a desk.
A collection of other gloves rests neatly on the corner of the desk as he works to repair the entry-level glove’s webbing between the thumb and forefinger. Other desks line the room, dedicated to equipment for amateur radio, computers and his wife’s sewing machine repair.
This is the scene at Jasper’s Glove Repair, which Jones launched last June. Since then, Jones has re-laced, restored and broken in baseball and softball gloves.
Jones said he doesn’t aim to make big profits. His goal is to help young athletes as well as parents and grandparents who want to use an old glove to play catch.
“Those are the kinds of things that I’m in this for, and I have found so much satisfaction in helping people,” Jones said.
Born and raised in Keizer, Jones grew up playing local baseball in the 1960s and played two years of college baseball. He played 22 years of softball as an adult, and coached his children’s baseball teams as well. Now retired from the game, he sees the business as a way to help others who still play.
“As I’ve gotten away from sports, it’s not as important for me personally, but now I can give back to those who still feel that it’s important for their family members,” Jones said.
That morning’s repair job entailed fixing torn lace holes in the glove’s web. He removed the web from between the glove’s forefinger and thumb, and used specialized adhesive to add in strips of leather he had cut. He dyed the leather black to match the glove.
After allowing the adhesive to cure and coloring to dry, he would punch holes in the new leather strips to re-connect it with the glove using laces.
Jones restores old gloves by cleaning them, conditioning the leather and replacing its leather laces. He also breaks in stiff new gloves, using his hands and upper body to soften the leather and laces. The improved flexibility allows players to more easily establish a pocket for the ball to fall into when catching it.
He uses a baseball glove mallet to hit the center of the glove to help create the pocket — but he notes that breaking in a glove also requires “playing a lot of catch” to make the pocket fit the player’s own hand.
Jones said he had “dabbled” in glove repair before starting the business.
He started learning the skill more seriously after receiving a call from his cousin in fall of 2024. Jones agreed to help his cousin, Tigard resident Tom McGuire, with his glove repair business and learned the art from him.
Jasper’s Glove Repair has grown primarily through word-of-mouth and social media posts, Jones said, and he repairs an average of two gloves a week. Customers have ranged from parents of young athletes to an assistant baseball coach at McNary High School.
He plans to attend local baseball tournaments to offer emergency glove repairs during the games and provide players with one of his gloves to use during the repair work.
The business name honors his father, Jesse Jones Jr., whose nickname was Jasper and who died in 1989. Jones’ father was deeply involved in local baseball and coached at Whiteaker and Walker middle schools. He played a key role in building a baseball field at Whiteaker in the 1960s, which is no longer used.
“He was an amazing human being, on top of being a great baseball player, a great baseball coach and a great father and grandfather,” Jones said.
Jones, now retired from his career working in IT for the state, said he plans to continue with the business as long as he is able.
“This is kind of what I’m into right now, and I’m really liking it,” Jones said. “I just enjoy helping people, and I love the game of baseball.”
For more information or to contact Jones, visit the business’s website or Facebook page.
NEWS TIP? Contact reporter Krista Kroiss at [email protected].
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