Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 7, 1993                   TAG: 9307070075
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DETROIT                                LENGTH: Short

MINISTER'S GLOVE STICKS

Hayes, who in 1988 developed a prototype of a baseball glove by gluing together his wife's old purses, said he's sold about 100,000 of the gloves in 12 countries.

The glove has an adjustable Velcro wrist strap to keep it from slipping off the hand, which Hayes said makes it ideal for children.

"The first thing people said was, `It's such a simple idea,' and they wondered why nobody had thought of it before," said Hayes, the associate minister at the Word of Truth Missionary Baptist Church.

Hayes developed his glove out of his own experience. The 48-year-old, a former All-City standout with Detroit Chadsey High School, turned down a contract with the Cleveland Indians in 1962 to take a scholarship at Texas Southern in Houston.

"I remember when the glove went one way and I went the other way," he said. "No matter who you are and how good you play, the glove will come off your hand."

When baseball glove manufacturers turned down his prototype, Hayes decided to start his own company so he could pass on his love of the game to children.

The WOTE glove, which Hayes named for Word of Truth Enterprises, sells in countries from Canada to Costa Rica. The gloves are sold at Kmart stores nationwide and range from about $20 for youth nylon mesh model to about $40 for a professional first baseman's mitt.