Droke’s masterful baseball creation leads to lifelong memories

PINEY FLATS, Tenn. (WJHL) – Don Droke is a self-described East Tennessee farm boy with a passion for collecting artifacts from America’s pastime.

“When you grow up in a baseball family you want to know anything and everything about baseball,” he said.

He and his wife, Sharon, are also Civil War re-enactors. It wasn’t long before Droke set his eyes on a 19th-century baseball for his collection.

“When I informed my pretty Sharon the price of a Civil War baseball – she informed me, no,” he explained. “Then I got to thinking and I said, I’m pretty crafty – why can’t I make one?”

The early days were a struggle.

“I found out about 15 ways not to make a baseball,” he bemoaned.

But, he persevered and crafted his own tools for the job, as his vision began to take shape.

“In my glove junkyard of old, worn-out gloves – why couldn’t I make a ball out of a glove?”

So, he went to work – by hand.

“There’s no machine to sow a baseball,” Droke explained.

With each stitch, he improved.

“You know as you practice – you get better,” he said.

In 2021, he went out on a limb and extended a gift to his favorite childhood player – Cincinnati Reds great, Johnny Bench.

“Got two Johnny Bench catchers mits, made a ball – sent Johnny Bench a note,” he recalled. “Two weeks later – via his son Bobby – he said dad would love to have it.”

Later that season, Bench announced Jonathan India as the National League Rookie of the Year from his home. Sitting behind him in view of the television cameras – a brown, leather baseball.

“His son replied, ‘Yep, dad loves that ball. It’s in his trophy case,'” he said. “I’m going … ‘I might have something here.'”

The requests for his one-of-a-kind glove baseballs started trickling in.

“Washington state, Maine, a Roberto Clemente collector in Puerto Rico,” he rattled off.

It takes six to eight hours to fulfill each personalized order. When it’s finished, Droke ships it and usually charges a fair fee – only when it arrives at its destination. But for him, the fee is of secondary concern.

“This isn’t about the money,” he explained, “because I’ve already been rewarded with so many friendships.”

Connections with customers have taken him across the country – from New York’s Bleacher Creatures to Great American Ball Park.

“This is truly fairytale stuff for me,” he admitted.

His work sits in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, but has also featured prominently in a number of charity auctions – even on mantles of those who have lost loved ones.

“Why not,” he questioned. “Why not? I’ve been blessed with the idea, why not pass it on?”

Droke remains humbled by the whole experience, but there is one thing that could give this fairytale story a happy ending.

“Baseball Hall of Fame,” he said with quiet reverence. “People might laugh and say well sure, maybe. But, they don’t have a handmade baseball from a worn out baseball glove.”

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