Regardless of their position, baseball players can choose their batting gloves, spikes, and bats, but nothing is more unique and personalized to their own hands than the glove they wear on the field.
Some people’s break-in period just lasts a few days. It can take many people up to a year before they can onto the field with a glove that truly fits like a glove.
The unusual techniques are used by MLB players to “break in” a new glove to their preferences. For example, they may shove it under a mattress, soak it in water and throw it in the dryer, heat it in the microwave, scrub it with shaving cream, run over it with a car, or bash it against a wall with a bat.
It’s comparable to asking someone how they prefer to wear a belt, as Mason Williams, an outfielder with the Yankees, once stated.
As per second baseman Rob Refsnyder, if you polled everyone in the MLB, they’d all tell you that they broke in their gloves differently.
Without further ado, let’s get to the point and explain how MLB players break in their new gloves.
How Do MLB Players Break in Their Gloves?
When Alex Rodriguez was playing in Texas, he realized that the long, hot summers would wear down the shortstop glove he was using. It would lose its preferred solid shape and turn heavy and flexible.
Rodriguez then came up with a fix.
After each game, he would store his glove in the clubhouse kitchen’s freezer.
It would be nearly frozen, according to Rodriguez. “It would be nice and hard, and I would just grab it the next day at 6:30 before the game. I would always format it exactly how I wanted. Simply put, I thought it was better kept throughout the entire season.
Although it might seem odd, baseball players employ all kinds of strange techniques to break in and preserve their gloves.
Rodriguez is one of them that soaps them up with shaving cream.
Some players break them in by submerging them in water or using a microwave, while some pound them with a mallet as they tenderize a steak.
Others stuff one or two baseballs into their gloves, wrap them in twine, and place them under their mattress for a couple of weeks.
Typically, when a glove leaves the manufacturer, the leather is stiff and challenging to work with. Glove conditioners can therefore be used to soften your glove and provide an excellent pocket for the ball.
Keeping a ball tied inside the glove pocket until the glove can retain the ball’s shape, as well as applying oil and leather softeners, significantly aid in glove loosening.
This is how Manny Machado breaks in his gloves:
1. Starting in the glove’s palm, he rubs the oil using small circular motions. Working his way to the glove’s outside edges, he ads more of the substance as necessary.
2. Once coated, he removes any extra coating with a clean rag, tucks a ball into the glove’s pocket, and secures the glove with a rubber band.
3. The glove is then kept in the freezer and dried for 12 to 24 hours so that the conditioner may penetrate the leather.
Other Techniques Used by Pros to Break in Their Gloves
Oils, lotions, and softeners are the three categories into which conditioners are divided despite the great range of products available.
These compounds permeate the leather’s surface, softening it and facilitating break-in.
The list of things we suggest using now to condition gloves is shown below.
Glove conditioners
Glove conditioners are specialized commodities that numerous significant glove and sporting goods producers produce.
Glove conditioners differ from conventional oils in that they include extra components that clean and prevent the leather from absorbing moisture and dirt in addition to softening the leather.
The most expensive material you may use to break in your glove is leather conditioner, which frequently works the best.
Some leather conditioners are made to work with particular leathers, including steer and cowhide of all grades and quality.
Lanolin oil
Many glove conditioners and oil products use lanolin oil, which comes from sheep.
Because it softens, defends, and preserves the leather, lanolin oil is wonderful for leather and will keep your glove supple over time.
Most glove conditioners have lanolin as their major component, but if you wish to forgo using additional cleaning agents when breaking in your glove, you can use pure lanolin oil instead. Most hardware stores and certain sporting goods retailers sell lanolin oil.
Shaving cream
Alternatives to more conventional oils and conditioners include shaving cream. Our skin becomes softer and supple after shaving cream, making shaving more effective and comfortable.
Similar to how shaving cream softens and moisturizes skin, it also works on leather gloves.
MLB players usually avoid using shaving creams and gels with additional fragrances or alcohols that could dry out or harm the glove. They use a typical foam shaving cream without smell.
Vaseline
Another item pros use to break in your glove is vaseline. Mineral oils and moisturizers found in Vaseline work well as leather softeners.
Vaseline is also helpful for sealing and shielding your glove from exposure to dirt and dust as well as drying out in hot settings.
MLB players use a small amount of Vaseline and fully massage it into the glove’s surface before adding more. In excess, their glove may become sticky.
This concludes the comprehensive list of the top glove conditioning products.
Pro-tip is always starting with a small amount on a clean rag and testing on a small part of the glove before using any product to break the glove.
Why Do MLB players Break in Their Gloves?
It takes at least a week and a wash to break in a new pair of jeans before you can sit comfortably. When a baseball glove is allowed to function as intended, it can make plays go much more smoothly.
However, a new glove needs to break in before you can use all of its features.
It’s difficult to put on brand-new gloves, let alone open them quickly enough to catch a line drive. The catcher’s glove, which has less webbing and more padding, shouldn’t even be brought up.
A glove must also take on a shape that complements your hand, and players can break in a glove in various ways.
Players occasionally fold their gloves over on the pitch to draw attention to the structure. They may have felt the glove tighten a little after not having to use it for a few innings.
Gloves are changed by players based on their position. In fact, merely shifting from third base to first requires a completely different glove that can handle throws from all field positions, high and low.
This is not to argue that a third baseman can’t handle grounders that are high in the air or in the dirt. However, there is a distinction in how they approach it.
The first baseman requires a glove to cover the extra distance because he must remain on the bag to catch any potential erroneous throws. An outfielder’s glove is more equipped to catch and hold onto a fly ball than an infielder’s glove.
Do MLB Players Get New Gloves Every Year?
A player usually purchases a new glove after their old one breaks. They probably have an extra glove or two handy in case the one they’re using gets wet, burns, or misplaced, but they don’t use them frequently enough to need a new one after every game.
Most big league players receive at least two free new gloves each spring.
The gloves that players will wear throughout the regular season and those that will serve as backups in the event that their “gamer” breaks are decided during spring training games.
The majority of the time, unsuitable gloves are given away or signed and donated to charity auctions.
According to Tommy Hunter, “You just know” in a relationship. “You start dating a girl; you spend some time with her, and you know she’s the one. After a year, you become accustomed to her and assess whether she’s the real deal.
They don’t like to give it up once they have one they feel secure with and can rely on.
