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WPW’s Top 15 Cleats in Baseball

Source: Eastbay

Source: Eastbay

There’s nothing in the athletic repertoire that people go more nuts over than footwear.  The debate about basketball shoes (which most definitely have an influence here) is infinite, but there isn’t a ton of chatter out there about baseball cleats.  For that reason, we had to put together a list of the best footwear on the diamond.

After taking into account your voting and our own inherent bias, we came up with the top 15 cleats in the game, as we see it.  There were some really good suggestions that helped make this list more complete, but there are definitely cleats we missed and cleats we still haven’t seen yet.  As always, hit us up on Twitter or Instagram and let us know your thoughts.  To the list:

BJ Upton and Coco Crisp’s adidas adiZero 5 Tool 2.0 Cleats (worn on Mother’s Day)

These cleats manage to have a vibrant design but still look under control.  Some cleats (see Adam Jones) have bold designs but end up looking sloppy—not the 5 Tool 2.0s.  And I hear they’re ridiculously light.

Elvis Andrus and Ian Kinser’s Nike Zoom Vapor Elite Cleats

These are probably my personal favorite, which I mentioned in the Andrus feature.  I love that gradient fade from blue to red and the bottom line is that the Zoom Vapor Elite is plain sexy as hell.

Matt Kemp‘s Nike Huarache 2KFresh Low Cleats

A popular vote, the 2KFresh seem to be a favorite cleat among the superstars of the game.

Brandon Crawford’s NIKEiD Air Max MVP Elite 3/4 MCS Cleats

These I had not noticed before and thanks to a WPW reader’s vote, I checked them out and absolutely love them.  Crawford is just one of those guys that makes everything look good.  The best part: these cleats can be made on NIKEiD.

Miguel Cabrera‘s New Balance 3000 Cleats

New Balance’s attention to detail is unmatched.  They make one hell of a shoe and probably won some of the top players over with their accommodating attitude towards unique exclusives.

Jimmy Rollin‘s Jordan 12 Cleats

You didn’t think I’d miss these did you?  Can also be seen on David Price and CC Sabathia.

Carlos GonzalezNike Air Huarache 2KFresh Cleats

CarGo’s kicks won the popular vote.  My personal favorite of the group is the Venezuela colorway.  They’re just not something you see everyday but so clean.

Hanley RamirezNew Balance 4040 “Hanleywood” Cleats

Like I said about Miggy’s, NB is not shy about catering to the big dogs, and the “Hanleywood” 4040s are no exception.  These are just a lot of fun.

Jeremy Guthrie’s Nike Air Huarache 2KFresh Elephant Print and Nike Air Jordan 1 Cleats

Guthrie is a known sneakerhead and these Elephant print 2KFresh’s might be the sneaky pick of the litter in this entire group.  So fresh and so fitting for the Royals colors.  Flawless.

CC Sabathia’s Jordan 11 Concord (Opening Day 2013) and Jordan Melo M8 Cleats (Opening Day 2012)

I included CC more for the M8s than the 11s.  The Melo M8 is my favorite of the Jordan choices.  Jordan’s tend to be a little too flamboyant for my tastes, but the Melo M8 is a classic shoe.  Nothing too fancy (the 11 is the same way), just gets the job done, a lot like CC.

Jason Heyward‘s Nike Air Swingman MVP Cleats

The Swingman MVP was a cleat a lot of you voted for, but most voted for the Adam Jones version.  I’m sorry guys, that cleat is ugly.  I feel like people get all hyped up at exclusives and ignore the fact that they aren’t a well-executed shoe.  The Heyward is, and he goes socks up so everybody knows it.  Heyward is my kind of ballplayer.

Carl Crawford’s Jordan 6 Rings Cleats

Such a nice looking cleat.  They seem a little bulky though, no?  I wonder how Crawford likes them in terms of playability, though we don’t need to hear it from him; they’re one of the prettiest shoes in the game today.

Asdrubal Cabrera’s New Balance 4040 Cleats

Another exclusive New Balance that I couldn’t ignore.  The Indian’s colors just look really good, and Cabrera’s slick fielding only enhances their beauty.

Bryce Harper‘s UA Spine Highlight Cleats

These are on here because you all insisted.  They just don’t really do it for me, and what baseball player without a history of ankle injuries needs that much ankle support?  Regardless, I can’t ignore the fact that tons of you out there love them.  But, wouldn’t you love anything Bryce laced up with?  I sense a little bias.

Mariano Rivera’s Nike Cooperstown Cleats

The ultimate classic.  Enough said.

How’d we do?  Any we missed?  Let us know and we’ll keep the dialogue going.

If you liked this, you’ll probably like our 20 PRETTIEST GLOVES, too!

5 comments

  1. Adam Jones

  2. So your telling me if those cleats were still on the market, you would pick the cooperstown. Talk about Bias when you throw up Mo’s just because you like the Yankee and Rivera.

  3. Adam jones Customized Nike cleats that were banned should be on this list regardless

  4. Coco’s adizero’s being the lightest at 9.2oz compared to the nike model at 11.2 at best top them all. Also, I think pedrioa’s 2014 New Balance model has to to be mentioned. However, I suppose professionals sacrifice performance for comfortabity with an 162 game + season.

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