“In the Pocket” Glove Blog

Of course baseball season is in full swing, but this time of year is also big for vintage baseball games. Around the country, teams form to recreate classic old-time baseball, the way it was played in early in the twentieth century and, better still, in the mid- and late-nineteenth century.

This recent vintage baseball game in Ohio took place in an old prison yard, making a unique, but impressive, setting for a classic game. Though the doubleheader featured two landslides, the lessons in the way the game used to be played were the real reason to pay attention. From uniforms to language, the players and umpires (and even the fans, in a way) remained true to every detail. Including playing without gloves, and fielding balls on the bounce. For an out.

Makes me wonder what it’d be like if they really started playing that way today.

I thought my friends and I were the only ones having this debate. But a Marlin fan asks a question I’ve been wondering about: how old is too old to bring your glove to the game?

As a kid, I brought my glove to every game. It may not have been the smartest way to care for my glove. I risked the perils of soft serve ice cream. I definitely spilled soda on it once or twice. And there may still be some cotton candy lodged inside. But who could fault me? But I was a kid. And kids bring their gloves to the game.

Flickr photo by Rho

When I got older, I always kept my glove in the car. So when I drove to a game, I was often tempted to bring it in to the game. But slowly, I stopped bringing it in. I didn’t really think about it. I just sort of stopped. So I never figured out the right cutoff age, if there is one. What do you think? Do you still bring your glove in to the stands when you watch your favorite team? How old is too old?

Some great photos came up on Keyman Collectibles, great reading and looking for fans of vintage gloves and old game-used equipment. One of my favorite images (and background stories) is the old fingerless glove from the late nineteenth century.

These vintage gloves, perhaps better designed for knocking balls down than for snagging line drives, can go to collectors for high four–figure and low five–figure prices. There’s nothing like holding and owning classic equipment, but a good (free!) look through the online images is a good look back on the old game.

It looks like the baseball glove giving trend is catching on.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has sponsored Yuneiris, a boy in the Dominican Republic. Kristof participates in Plan USA, and had a chance to visit Yuneiris in person for the first time.

Of course Kristof came with gifts, but not surprisingly one gift brought the biggest smile to Yuneiris’s face: a new baseball glove. As you’ll see in the column, Yuneiris kept his eyes trained on the brand new glove the whole time.

The sponsorship program provides plenty of opportunities for Yuneiris’s family. But there’s something special about a new glove. There’s something comforting about all of this giving. On tough days, so many of us turn to baseball for a little relief. There’s something comforting and reassuring about the way a baseball glove can bring a smile and make things better.

“Celebrities - Their just like us….except they wear masks to field ground balls because a black eye probably wouldn’t help their careers….”

With opening day around the corner, I have my eye on the future. A clean slate for every team—technically a shot at the playoffs for everyone. But today I’m taking a step back to think about history a little bit too, with a hat tip to Stan Schulz. Stan found the original Rawlings glove patent on Google’s patent search. Perhaps the best part of the Google patent page is original drawing of what this first glove would look like.

Today Rawlings gloves are of course a major player in the industry. But the roots of the gloves worn by Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, and Jose Reyes go all the way back to this seemingly simple document. If the patent images spark the history buff in you, check out more about baseball glove history.

Ever wonder how your favorite pros break in their new baseball gloves? Rawling’s baseball gloves posted a solid new video, available here on the Twins page on Fandome. From catcher’s mitts to outfielders gloves, MLB professionals have a lot of different takes on the best way to break in a glove. With active players like Curtis Granderson, Chase Utley, Torii Hunter, and Grady Sizemore, can you guess which player uses a microwave to get his glove game-ready?

curtis granderson jeremy hermedia torii hunter ryan zimmerman adam loewen joe mauer chase utley grady sizemore ryan howard troy glaus justin verlander alex rios

Pitchers and catchers have (finally!) reported to Spring Training. It’s a happy weekend for all of us who are eager for the 2009 MLB season to start. After the controversy of this off-season, we can finally focus on developing talent on our favorite teams. That’s right, it’s time for fundamentals. For the rookies and the veterans, the wannabes and the has-beens. Even as a never-was, this time of year I always think of my first glove.

Sure, there are more baseball glove manufacturers now than when I got my Ron Darling–inscribed MacGregor glove. But some things never change. I just saw a glove under a car on my street, sitting there just like my glove sat under my dad’s car overnight. What advice would you share for breaking in a new baseball glove?

We just got this email in tonight, and it is a perfect example of why glove companies will pay certain players a lot of money to wear their gloves…