NB or Mizuno??

[cwbaseball11]

I am looking at upgrading my plate shoes. I currently have the Smitty plate shoes which have served me well for the past two HS seasons. 

Which plate shoes do you recommend? New Balance or Mizuno?

Thanks in advance.

[834k3r]

I have both and use both. I like the Mizunos because of a slightly larger toe box, but I like the NB because of the patent leather look to them (spoiler alert:  I like to look sharp behind the plate, but I'm inherently lazy).

If I had to choose between them, I'd pick the Mizunos due to their slightly better comfort (for my feet).

[Marcus6]

50 minutes ago, cwbaseball11 said:

I am looking at upgrading my plate shoes. I currently have the Smitty plate shoes which have served me well for the past two HS seasons. 

Which plate shoes do you recommend? New Balance or Mizuno?

Thanks in advance.

Mizuno, not even close IMO, as long as you don't have sizing issues.  I have worn both.

[grayhawk]

I have also used both. Several seasons in the NB and 2 seasons in the Mizunos. The Mizunos are far lighter, so that makes them a no brainer for me. I did get hit right at the end of the toe on a foul ball and it was bruised. But no shoes are steel-toed anymore, so you can take a shot in the NB that was have the same result. The only plus for the NB is the little laces pocket, but I don't really miss it.

[834k3r]

2 minutes ago, grayhawk said:

I did get hit right at the end of the toe on a foul ball and it was bruised. But no shoes are steel-toed anymore, so you can take a shot in the NB that was have the same result.

I took a shot like that off right off the toe in my NB shoes and can confirm this is true.

[DerekGDS]

I'm sure @JimKirk has told Mizuno the same thing that we have, please make them in a wide cut. I like them better than the New Balance but they're just a little too narrow for me.

[SeeingEyeDog]

I have both. I use the Mizunos for turf games because the sole is insufficient for a natural field. The Mizunos need more of a lugged situation going on down there to qualify for dirt use. The Mizunos are indeed very lightweight but, I don't care for the outer materials as they show cuts and scrapes much more easily than the NBs do. I also agree that as someone with a wide foot, the Mizunos are much more narrow behind the toebox.

The NBs have a suspect hinge between the metatarsal plate and the toebox so, when you are cleaning and/or handling them, you need to secure the metatarsal plate or the stress of flapping around will tear the hinge.

BOTH brands come with lousy laces which I replaced with 550 paracord laces with steel aglets. In order to get the best shoe for you, @cwbaseball11, I would recommend trying them both on to be sure.

~Dawg

[MadMax]

1 hour ago, DerekGDS said:

I'm sure @JimKirk has told Mizuno the same thing that we have, please make them in a wide cut.

There’s two things going on here. 

The first is that New Balance, across the (athletic shoe) industry, has the most diverse range of lasts – the templates by which shoes are formed around – in the business. Hands… err, feet down. New Balance invested heavily into having several length-width combinations per shoe model, instead of having several different shoe models in the same category (like Nike, UA, and adidas tend to). NB just has everyone beat on (proper) width assortment. Back when Reebok offered a plate shoe, NB had them beat, too. 

The second is that Mizuno is a Japanese company, and as such, their lasts and shoe market are in Japanese / Asian / International standards. When it comes to specialty shoes, especially, that standard tends to “win out”; for example, if I want to use a Shimano cycling shoe, even though a US 11 is supposed to translate to a European 45, if I get a Shimano 45, it’ll be slightly shorter, tighter, and narrower than a SIGI (Italian) 45. 

Now, I have the Mizuno-of-Japan 🇯🇵 plate shoes, and I’ve tried on the Mizuno-of-N. America 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 plate shoes, and the North American ones are more generously cut… so they must have used a different set of lasts. It might be… tedious… to have Mizuno introduce a wide sizing, and make take several seasons, if at all. 

[Marcus6]

12 hours ago, DerekGDS said:

I'm sure @JimKirk has told Mizuno the same thing that we have, please make them in a wide cut. I like them better than the New Balance but they're just a little too narrow for me.

If there’s one complaint about the Mizuno, it’s this. I sized up half a size from my normal “sneaker size” (12 to 12.5 in the Mizunos) and have no issues.