Sports Then and Now

When it comes to choosing baseball gloves, you have a slew of options at your disposal. From different types of leather to varying degrees of comfort, your choice depends on multiple features.

But apart from these aspects, you also have to consider other factors such as your position on the field. This means that buying the right baseball glove isn’t just a matter of ordering the right fit. The process needs ample time and thought from your end.

From learning about outfield gloves to researching the material, here’s a lowdown on how to choose suitable baseball gloves for yourself.

Learn the Difference Between Pitcher’s Gloves, Outfield Gloves, and Catcher’s Mitts

One of the most critical factors in selecting the right glove is your playing position on the field.

For instance, if you play as a pitcher, then your glove’s primary purpose will be to hide your throwing position from the batter. But if you play as an outfielder or a catcher, your glove has to be shaped in a certain way that gives you maximum advantage through your position.

That is why you must keep your playing position in mind while selecting a glove. Fortunately, almost every vendor allows you to sort through baseball gloves by positions quickly. This ensures that you can make your selection without any compromise.

Assess the Overall Comfort and Protection Level of the Gloves

This particular factor usually refers to the way your glove is made, built, and designed.

No matter what position a glove is styled for, it has to excel at delivering optimal comfort and protection to the wearer. This is especially true for those positions where the ball comes towards the player at significant speeds. Outfield gloves are a shining example in this category, which easily allows players to absorb the ball’s force.

It was summer, in the late 1950s. I was a young kid about to enter the “Sandblasters”, an intermediate baseball league, just a step below Little League.

My old hand-me-down ball glove was feeling it’s age, so I was saving my money for a new one. The fact that all my friends were sporting new gloves may have fueled my motives as well…

Finally the day arrived when I had enough cash to plunk down $8.95 at the Montgomery Wards store and buy my very own mitt. I didn’t care that it was a Hawthorne, Wards’ economy “house brand”.

It had a great new-leather smell and it was a Stan Musial signature model.

After the initial thrill began to wear off, I noticed it was rather stiff and felt awkward in my hand. It had no “pocket”, like my old glove.

A pocket is important in a baseball mitt. It is the very heart of the glove—a vague, but tangible “sweet spot” inside the webbing, where every hit or thrown ball would ideally be captured.

In the mind of a yet unspoiled and innocent lad, the pocket held a certain mystique—a magnetic attraction to any spherical horsehide object in motion.

My older brother told me how I could quickly form a pocket in my new glove: oil the mitt generously with goose grease, place a ball in the web of the glove, then close the glove around the ball and tie it tightly with a rawhide shoelace.

For some yet unknown reason, it was also important to place the bundle under my pillow and sleep on it. Read the rest of this entry →