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[shimozukawa]

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[perezfan]

Welcome to the forum... it's great to have you aboard!

I would leave those cleats exactly as-is. I have a pair of Tony Perez Cleats from his days with the Big Red Machine (with similar caked on/dried dirt). There are even some old blades of grass imbedded between the sole and the leather uppers.

I have been tempted to clean them on occasion, but have always refrained, as the game-used element is priceless. I am so glad I never touched them, as they are far more interesting with the infield dirt, scuffs, scrapes, etc.

Think of them as you would a game-used bat... the more signs of usage, the better! You would never attempt to clean off ball marks, bat rack streaks, etc. These things all lend themselves to the authenticity of the item, and actually add to the value. With game-used equipment and apparrel, a good rule of thumb is.... the uglier it looks, the better!

BTW... can you mention who's cleats you have?

[drc]

Most game used collectors leave the dirt on the bottom of the cleats, as its nice and interesting evidence of the game use. I had a pair of 1950s cleats that still had the dirt.

You wouldn't damage the cleats by removing dried dirt from the bottom. The bottom of baseball shoes are usually steal and hard plastic, which is 200X more solid than dirt no matter how old the dirt. I suspect it would come off quite easily.

Shelly died last year, and it did appear that in his last years he was giving an honest effort into being a productive and positive member of the autograph collecting hobby.

[shimozukawa]

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[perezfan]

I don't think you can hurt them by displaying them. By their nature, a pair of cleats is pretty rugged. If they smell bad, I would definitely remove them from the plastic bag and let them "breathe". Sealing them in plastic may make the problem worse, long-term.

[shimozukawa]

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