Baseball Glove Art Featuring... a team Doctor

Artwork Created to Honor Career of Phillies Physician

Painted Gloves don’t just feature players!

Earlier this week the Phillies honored their longtime Director of Medical Services and Head Team Physician, Dr Michael Ciccotti, presenting him with this custom-painted portrait mitt.

During 25 years as top Doc looking after the team, Dr. Ciccotti has been an integral part of many amazing seasons and careers. Highlights during this time are hand-lettered around the mitt.

In recognition of his being an orthopedic doctor, included behind the “25” is a nod to the traditional symbol of orthopedics for centuries, the bent tree braced to a stake to make it grow upward and straight.

A few splashes of silver to complement the 25-year theme were added around the design, too.

Painted on a beauty of a Rawlings Heart of the Hide Pro catchers mitt — my “canvas” choice as doctors and catchers are known for having good hands!

Such a thrill to be asked to create a special baseball gift like this for the Phillies organization. Hopefully it’ll bring smiles and spark memories and stories for many years to come!

Interested in a custom baseball glove painting?  Just Let Me Know.

Sean Kane's painted baseball glove art is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and has been exhibited at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, and is in private collections across the U.S.

His glove paintings have been featured on ESPN.com, NBC Sports.com, and MLB Network Radio. Glove art has helped fundraising efforts of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and the Milwaukee Brewers Fantasy Camp.

Sean has been a professional artist for 30 years and a baseball fan since he was old enough to wear his dad's old mitt.  More info >

Phillies Honor Scott Rolen with Baseball Glove Artwork

Rolen Presented with Painted Glove at Citizens Bank Park Ceremony

Scott Rolen Baseball Glove Art

The Philadelphia Phillies honored Rolen during a pre-game ceremony on September 22 at Citizens Bank Park, presenting him with this one-of-a-kind painting as recognition of his Phillies career and induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023.

Above: Click to play video of Scott Rolen receiving Glove Art. Photo credit: Phillies.com/used with Permission.

Scott Rolen receiving Painted Glove from Phillies owner John Middleton. Photo credit: Phillies.com/used with Permission.

Rolen won NL Rookie of the Year honors in 1997 and was a 4-time Gold Glove winner during his seven years with the Phillies. Photo credit: Phillies.com/used with Permission.

Scott’s other highlights with Philadelphia are referenced on the glove art, too, including his 2002 All-Star appearance and Silver Slugger award.

For this painting commission, I used a Mizuno Pro (ミズノプロ) model baseball glove similar to the one Scott used during his first few years on the Phillies. Rolen used a tan model instead of black.

Creating the Rolen Glove Artwork

The painting was created with acrylic paints and on an Mizuno Pro infielders glove. The design included hand-lettering of text, Phillies logo and portrait painting.

Before painting, I decided to change the black laces to tan as a way to reference the original tan of Scott’s gloves when he played for the Phillies. Plus I liked how the tan contrasted with the black leather. Brandon at 905 Gloves did an amazing job converting the laces for me.

To help give the glove structure, to help keep its shape – and to discourage people from putting their hand in it! – I build in some hardware.

And then I hide all all the structural hardware with fabric chosen to compliment the object.

After reviewing photos provided by the Phillies, I select an image to base the portrait on. It was a natural choice to depict Rolen in the field, where he shined with a total of 8 career Gold Glove awards.

Here is the portrait painting in-progress, done after first completing all the hand-lettering of logos, awards, etc.

One final look at the finished glove in my studio before sending it off to Philadelphia!

Baseball Artwork for the Philadelphia Phillies

Scott Rolen and his Painted Glove. Photo credit: Phillies.com/used with Permission.

This is my 7th painting for the Phillies. Previously I painted catcher "Chooch" Ruiz, a glove for Ryan Howard, which was also presented in an on-field ceremony at Citizens Bank Park, Shane Victorino, and painted base for Jim Thome, as well as baseball art for Jimmy Rollins (also on a Mizuno glove) and Chase Utley.

Scott Rolen painted glove, Phillies owner John Middleton and Wall of Fame members at Citizens Bank Park. Photo credit: Phillies.com/used with Permission.

Big thanks to the Phillies for entrusting me to create this special gift and here's to Scott enjoying this keepsake artwork for years to come.

Interested in a custom baseball glove painting?  Just Let Me Know.

Sean Kane's painted baseball glove art is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, has been exhibited at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, Tulsa, and has been the subject of a solo gallery show in New York City, and is in private collections across the U.S.

His glove paintings have been featured on ESPN.com, NBC Sports.com, and MLB Network Radio. Glove art has helped fundraising efforts of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and the Milwaukee Brewers Fantasy Camp.

Sean has been a professional artist for 25 years and a baseball fan since he was old enough to wear his dad's old mitt.  More info >

Ken Griffey Jr. Featured on a Painted Baseball Glove

“The Kid” Painted Glove Celebrates Griffey’s Hall of Fame Career

Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr featured on a hand-painted Rawlings outfielders glove similar to the style he wore throughout his career.

"The Kid" in his classic swing pose, knocking one of his 630 career home runs.

This painting of Junior was a custom commissioned piece, given as a corporate gift to a big Griffey fan.

Finding a new Rawlings glove for a left-handed thrower with the trapeze-style web similar to what Griffey used was half the fun – and it turned out to be a stunner with gold trim.

So it made perfect sense to incorporate gold paint into the decidedly Mariners-inspired palette for this painting.

I made sure to include the three teams Griffey played for with a nod to his signature backwards hat, too!

Also hand-lettered on the artwork are Griffey’s numerous Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, All-Star appearances and his 1997 MVP award.

This painting has been sold. Inquires about paintings and commissioning glove artworks are welcome. Contact Me.

Artist Sean Kane

Sean Kane's baseball glove art is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and was part of the "Chasing Dreams" exhibit at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art. Sean was recognized as “Artist of the Month” by the National Art Museum of Sport. His work has been commissioned by the Philadelphia Phillies, Cal Ripken Sr Foundation and The Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. More about Sean

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Jose Mendez Baseball Glove Art Celebrates Cuban Star

“The Black Diamond” (“El Diamante Negro”) Painted on Vintage Baseball Glove

Cuban Hall of Famer José Méndez, featured on a vintage hand-painted baseball glove. (Baseball art by Sean Kane.)

"El Diamante Negro" (The Black Diamond) was a pitcher for many clubs during the early 1900s, all of which are listed on the artwork, including Almendares and Kansas City Monarchs.

Mendez managed the KC Monarchs to becoming the Negro Leagues Champions in 1924.

It was exciting to find this early 1900s Spalding glove with vintage modifications to the web: a couple of hand cut diamond shapes, very fitting given Mendez’s nickname!

I love matching the glove to the player as much as I enjoy the research and design of hand-lettering that is consistent or reminiscent of the era.

There is also a wing nut used in place of the standard metal button on the wrist strap which reminds me of the resourceful repairs to objects I've seen during a visit to Cuba.

This painting has been sold. Inquires about paintings and commissioning glove artworks are welcome. Contact Me.

Artist Sean Kane

Sean Kane's baseball glove art is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and was part of the "Chasing Dreams" exhibit at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art. Sean was recognized as “Artist of the Month” by the National Art Museum of Sport. His work has been commissioned by the Philadelphia Phillies, Cal Ripken Sr Foundation and The Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. More about Sean

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Both Sides of the Mitt – Lou Gehrig Baseball Glove Art

Legendary slugger Gehrig Portrayed on re-issued Mitt

Lou Gehrig Painted Glove featuring words from the day held in his honor at Yankee Stadium in 1939.

Hand-lettered text includes Gehrig’s famous quote, “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth”, rendered it in a typeface popular in the 1930s.

Baseball art created by Sean Kane using a re-issue of a Ken-Wel first base mitt design from 1928, made by Akadema.

This custom commissioned artwork incorporates graphic and text elements from the trophy given to Gehrig at this event by his teammates (which is now at the Hall of Fame).

The two stars around Gehrig’s name on the front of the glove, the decorative band around the horseshoe-shape on the back along with the plaque quote are all based on the trophy from his teammates.

It was a real treat to get to paint on this new version of an old classic baseball mitt and to create a meaningful item for the biggest Gehrig fan I've come across.

The Painted Glove is displayed on a museum ‘spider’ stand along with the original hang-tag for the mitt.

Back of Gehrig painted baseball art on display stand and Ken-Wel / Akadema Certificate of Authenticity hang-tag.

This painting has been sold. Inquires about paintings and commissioning glove artworks are welcome. Contact Me.

Artist Sean Kane

Sean Kane's baseball glove art is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and was part of the "Chasing Dreams" exhibit at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art. Sean was recognized as “Artist of the Month” by the National Art Museum of Sport. His work has been commissioned by the Philadelphia Phillies, Cal Ripken Sr Foundation and The Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. More about Sean

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Baseball Art featuring Rube Foster

Negro Leagues legend Rube Foster baseball card art.

The "father of black baseball", Rube Foster was responsible for launching the Negro National League in 1920.

This negro leagues artwork featuring Foster was created on baseball glove leather repurposed from a vintage baseball glove.

Order your own custom one-of-a-kind baseball card art.

Foster began his baseball career as a pitcher, during which he played for the Chicago American Giants and the Philadelphia Cuban X Giants.

Andrew "Rube" Foster became owner-manager of the Chicago American Giants after forming the team in 1911.

His American Giants won the first three pennants in the Negro National League.

This baseball art of Foster is based on a 1920 American Giants team photo that included himself surrounded by his team, although he is wearing a slightly different uniform than everyone else.

The hand-painted acrylic portrait is mounted on 4-ply museum rag board cut to baseball card art size.

The 1-of-1 card art is protected in an Ultra-Pro One-Touch magnetic closure case, is signed by artist Sean Kane, and is displayed on a mini wooden easel.

Foster retired from baseball in 1926. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Created as a custom Portrait Card, this baseball art continues a personal interest in negro leagues history.

This card art has been sold.

Other negro league artwork I've painted includes Hall of Famers Josh Gibson and Minnie Minoso.

Baseball Card Artist

Sean Kane's baseball glove art is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Baseball Glove Art Featuring King Kelly

Hall of Famer Michael “King” Kelly Portrayed on Vintage Glove

Michael "King" Kelly, one of the best & most popular players in late-1800s baseball, painted on a pair of custom-made 19th century-inspired gloves.

Kelly was also known as "$10,000 Kelly" for the big-time (at the time) price tag on his sale from Chicago to the Boston Beaneaters.

Back then, when gloves were becoming standard equipment, some players wore both the finger tip & fingerless glove (on their throwing hand). Having played every position(!), Kelly was mostly an outfielder and catcher, where two gloves certainly would have come in handy.

Wanting to capture a sense of the era and utilize equipment similar to that which was used in the 1880s, I reached out to my friend at Huntington Base Ball Co., who specializes in handcrafting historically-based equipment. The design for these handsome gloves come from studying 19c examples at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown: Veg tan leather with the tobacco-stained tips for a decidedly era-appropriate look.

Before applying paint: vintage-inspired baseball (or base ball, as it was back then) gloves by Huntington Base Ball Co.

I wanted to display both sides of the gloves in this painting in order to give a more complete view of these early, gardening-like work gloves for players.

My first “back of the napkin” ideas sketched in the planning stages while figuring out how best to tackle this painting.

King Kelly won two batting titles, 8 pennants with various teams and was a prolific base stealer. And he popularized the hit-and-run and the hook slide – base running which was subject of a hit song in the late 1880s, "Slide, Kelly, Slide".

Kelly was the author of the first baseball autobiography, “Play Ball: Stories of the Ball Field”, and he even performed on Vaudeville stages.

King Kelly work in progress.

The wonderfully decorative typefaces and lettering of late 19c influenced the design approach for the lettering on this artwork. And the flourishes and swirls became a key element in connecting the two sides of the painting.

A thumb in the eye…or pretty near to it to give a sense of scale of the portrait.

For Kelly’s portrait, I wanted to recall the early portrait studio style of baseball player photos, sepia tones and greys. As usual, especially with very old photo reference, this portrait likeness was a combination of several images to get the detail I wanted for his face, uniform, bat and hands. Like most projects, this one was heavy on the research before even picking up a brush – Incredibly interesting to learn a bit more about the 19th century game and one of its stars.

Kelly was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.

Acrylic painting and hand-lettering design on a pair of Huntington Base Ball Co. 1880s-style baseball gloves (but made in 2020!).

This painting was commissioned by a collector and is sold. If you have an idea for a project you’d like to see me take a swing at, just get in touch.

Artist Sean Kane

Sean Kane's baseball glove art is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and was part of the "Chasing Dreams" exhibit at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art. Sean was recognized as “Artist of the Month” by the National Art Museum of Sport. His work has been commissioned by the Philadelphia Phillies, Cal Ripken Sr Foundation and The Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. More about Sean

Perfect Teammates

Baseball Glove Art Featuring Josh Gibson

Legendary Josh Gibson Portrayed on Vintage Mitt

Hall of Fame slugger Josh Gibson painted on a 1940s vintage catcher's mitt by Sean Kane.

Gibson, catcher for the Homestead Grays, Pittsburgh Crawfords and Latin League teams was one of the best power hitters of all time.

Gibson died in 1947 just before Major League Baseball was integrated. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972.

He is credited with being Negro League Batting Champion in 1936, 1938, 1942 and 1945 and hitting between 800-1000 home runs in his professional career.

Gibson was on the 1943 and 1944 Negro League Champion Homestead Grays teams.

Photographs of Gibson show him wearing a Goldsmith brand Ernest Lombardi endorsed Major League Model mitt.

Research images of Josh Gibson with Catcher’s mitt.

After much research, I found the same model of glove for this painting, although the Ernie Lombardi signature stamping is very faint.

Lombardi is a fellow Hall of Fame catcher and has nearly identical professional playing years (1931-47) as Gibson (1930-46).

Whether it was a sign of the times – perhaps no equipment sponsorship was available to Gibson or he just preferred this glove model – I felt it was part of his story to maintain the reference to the mitt's origins and markings and I've painted around the signature stamping.

The hand-lettering is inspired by type examples found on Negro Leagues promotional and barnstorming posters.

Acrylic painting and hand-lettering design on Goldsmith circa-1940s baseball glove.

Final protective coating being applied to the finished artwork.

This painting has been sold. Inquires about paintings and commissioning glove artworks are welcome. Contact Me.

Artist Sean Kane

Sean Kane's baseball glove art is in the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and was part of the "Chasing Dreams" exhibit at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art. Sean was recognized as “Artist of the Month” by the National Art Museum of Sport. His work has been commissioned by the Philadelphia Phillies, Cal Ripken Sr Foundation and The Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. More about Sean

Perfect Teammates