Last week I opened my storage trunk and dug out my favorite baseball glove. I put it away after each season , tuck a ball into the pocket and wrap it tight . In it’s glory with a baseball, it’s kept warm and safe. No moisture and no chance of getting tossed or left in the back yard. Yeah, I keep my gloves a long time, but who can blame me?
I played college ball with a man who later became a Hall Of Fame outfielder and he once borrowed my glove. He’d lost his somewhere , maybe he said he left it on the bus. That same season I used that glove to make a winning overhead catch in left field one springtime afternoon. I also used it when I tried out and made the cut for one of the majors . Sad to say, I was only a member of the team for a week, but all during my stay with them I had my glove and it served me well.
Now, I still use it, but these old school favorites are seemly extinct, making the way of new customized baseball gloves. My grandson showed me one last week and all I could do is stare in awe as I marveled at the styling and terrific advances they have made.
The first thing I noticed is the soft leather . It always took me the better part of one full season to break in any of my baseball gloves. I rubbed them with any oil I could find , applied petroleum jelly and even tried resting them in an oven one time. None of them were cooperating with my work to break in and had I been a catcher, it would have been even harder to work those big and tough catchers gloves.
The reason the new custom baseball gloves are so soft is because of the new types of leather being used . Mizuno, Nokona and Rawlings are all experimenting with more than just cowhide . Kangaroo, Buffalo and even specific parts of the hide which have closer grains, are making baseball gloves of very high quality .
Of course, this makes for instant success in baseball gloves . No longer are players experiencing baseballs popping out of the pocket during the traditional break in period . Even the catchers gloves are well suited for use right away, with easy to close hinges created out of new, miracle leather leather.
Web design is another creative aspect of the new gloves. Open designs are made for mid fielders who need to scoop the ground ball up quickly. These designs have a shallow pocket making for a prompt, lightning fast ball retrieval. It does no good to make a great backhand stop if you can’t get rid of the ball in time and throw the runner out .
Of course there is color and finger hoods and embroidery for the final touches. In my book though, it’s the leather and web design that makes the new customized baseball gloves a real bargain for todays baseball player.
