Published April 2025
A former German-US Major League Baseball player who now coaches in Brisbane is taking a swing at a legacy that empowers young baseball players with his own batting glove range.
Donald Lutz III developed the range from his many years of experience wearing different batting gloves, and his personal touch is written on the wrist – the word ‘breathe’.
“I put that breathe message on there because it’s something you can’t really teach, you just have to figure out how to slow down the game,” Lutz said.
“They say baseball is 80 per cent mental… the swing, the motions, you can repeat that in training a million times, but it comes down to your mind.”
He said he wanted to create something that was affordable, durable, and looked cool for younger players.
The brand is named DTLIII (for Donald Thomas Lutz The Third) as an acknowledgement of his American father who had the same name, who passed away in 2019.
He was looking to start an online business and one day, “it just clicked” that he had a pretty special name and that he should use it.
“I knew the playing days would come to an end at some point, but I want to stay involved in the game,” Lutz said.
“So it only made sense to start a baseball brand, which will allow me to stay in the game while I’m in the process of starting a family.”
With an illustrious international baseball career, Lutz grew up in Germany but was signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an international free agent at just 17 years old and represented the German national team for over 17 years.
He signed with the Brisbane Bandits in 2015 and was part of a historic four-year championship blitz with the team and has since joined the team as high-performance manager and hitting coach.
In Australia on a Distinguished Talent Visa from the government, Lutz is here to improve the sport of baseball and has helped develop the Bandits academy, which offers training for kids.
He said being involved in the academy has been really rewarding.
“We wanted to offer something to make sure the kids learn the fundamentals from a young age.”
“I know if they want to go pro someday, it’s really hard as an international kid – like me learning baseball in Germany – to catch up guys in the States or some of the Hispanic countries who play against high competition from six years old,” Lutz said.
A few seasons ago, he broke his finger, tearing two ligaments, and though it was a minor injury, had decided it was time to stop playing.
However, he has ‘retired’ about five times now, and just this March he made a comeback when he was selected for the German team for the World Baseball Classic qualifier.
“I just can’t stay away because I love the game,” Lutz said.
To check out the batting glove range, head to dtl3.com.
