John Moore's Australian baseball team shoes – 1996 Olympic Games
A pair of black leather baseball shoes with green leather flashing stitched on both left and right sides. The shoes have black laces and ten eyelets. Each shoe has the maker's Mizuno logo patch stitched on to the tongue. The dark green patch is a quadrilateral with the red Mizuno 'M', outlined in yellow, embroidered in the centre of the patch. Embroidered in white thread on the heel of each shoe is the word 'Australia' in cursive writing. On the sole of each shoe are six metal cleats, each with the Mizuno 'M' stamped into the steel. The cleats are attached to the soles by fawn-coloured fibrous plates. The centre of each sole has a cut-out section. One shoe has a resin-look filling (which is cracked) in the cut-out section, the other shoe is missing the filling.
The 1996 Atlanta Olympics was only the second appearance of baseball as an official medal sport. Representing one's country at an Olympic Games is a significant milestone in any athlete's career, and in 1996 John Moore was selected as catcher in Australia's first team to compete for an Olympic medal. These shoes were part of John's playing uniform from those Olympic Games.
Details
Details
'M' [on the tongues and on each cleat]
'Australia'
John Moore is a significant player in the history and development of baseball in Western Australia. He played for Perth in the State league and won the State League Grade Batting Award in 1992/93 with a batting average of .500. He was a four-times premiership player with Perth; played for Australia from 1993–1996; represented Western Australia at Claxton Shield championships (with WA Brewers, Perth Heat, and Western Heelers) 1988‒2000, and was a Claxton Shield Champion in 1991, 1996 and 2000.
Moore retired from baseball in 2004 after playing 387 games in Australia. In 2021 he was an inaugural inductee into the Baseball WA Hall of Fame. These shoes represent part of his donation to the Baseball WA Museum & Archives Hall of Fame memorabilia.
The baseball shoes belonged to an outstanding Western Australian and Australian representative of the sport and therefore have historic and social significance. They also have excellent provenance.
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