Saturday 5 June 2010

First Base Gloves - How Should You Decide Whether to Invest in One and What to Look For

First base gloves look different and somewhat funnier than other baseball mitts; Learn what to look for if you have a 1st sacker in the family Doug Alison was the first player to wear baseball gloves. While catching the ball, his hands cracked open and got damaged after which he decided to wear gloves to protect his hands. When he started to wear gloves, many of his team mates made fun of him. When gloves were introduced, many of them did not use them. During the time, many players felt the importance of gloves and start using them. Today, market offers web designed gloves; hence they are very popular among baseball players.

Earlier, baseball players used to wear simple gloves made of leather. In these types of gloves, fingertips were cut off in order to have the balance control of the other hand. Albert Spalding, the first baseman who was not initially much in favor of using the glove recommended many infielders to use gloves. He founded the company named after him. Many of the sports equipment and baseball gloves are manufactured here.

A glove is used by the player for throwing the ball. Surprisingly, many first basemen are often left-handed; hence first basemen's mitts are readily available to fit on a right hand. The one that fits on the left hand is called a right-handed glove. The size and shape of the baseball mitt is decided by the officials. Section 1.00, the objectives of the game and catcher's limit is decided by them. The first baseman's and fielder's glove is divided in parts 1.12, 1.13 and 1.14.

First Base gloves are made of different materials. The main material from which these gloves are made is leather. Most of the gloves are machine made there are a few companies which specialize in hand made gloves. The advantage of these hand made gloves is that the customer has the choice of choosing the leather and generally these custom-made gloves fit better. It has been seen that most players however tend to buy them straight off the shelf as the range and varieties that are available is huge.

Those gloves have less padding than the catcher's mitt. They are also longer to help the first baseman reach, scoop and catch throws from infielders. Furthermore, they have shallow pocket that allows the first baseman to retrieve quickly the ball from the mitt.

These mitts are usually 12.5- to 12.75-inch sized gloves, measured from wrist to the tip. Hank Greenberg is often credited as the first person who wore this style of glove in the field.
Above all, there are no special tips while buying a first base mitt. However, you should keep in mind that there are some steps that you should follow when buying your first base glove.

First, you should get familiar with types of leather, with sizes and how they are padded and how to break them in for a good game. Then, perhaps you should want to look for a heavy leather mitt that is very snug and sniff. For youth mitts, you may not be able to find so stiff gloves. Youth gloves have more padding and Velcro adjustable straps for the wrist. Look for the correct fit. For young players, avoid buying too large glove; don't think "he will grow into it". It simply, doesn't work that way. The glove needs to stay on the hand, otherwise a child may get discouraged and might quit baseball. It is important that the glove is snug and not too small, so the palm will not stick out over the edge.

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