teach me: Base Ball gloves for a kid

For reasons that I can quite grasp my 5 year old son loves base ball. I've never been into base ball, I was forced to play tee ball when I was a kid and never liked it.

To this day the only time I will go near base ball is when I get free tickets to the ball park, I will absolutely not watch it on TV. Last summer I got some free tix for the local minor league team and took my son, now he's hooked, and wants to learn how to play.

He can throw a ball pretty good for a 5 y.o. but can't catch anything. I figure a glove would help, but I know nothing about them. Do they sell kid size cheapies that don't need to be broken in? There are some second hand sporting goods stores in the area too, should I take him there and see what they have?

I wish that he would take an interest in a sport that I know like bikes or soccer, but at least he's not asking for video games.

A good, soft glove makes a big difference, even for a kid.

A kid's glove will be subject to a lot of abuse. It will be slammed in the dirt, left in the rain and chewed by dogs.

I'm not saying that he needs a Heart of the Hide, but I like Rawlings. Look for a used one and get a bottle of glove oil and use all of it to soften it up.

Tip: Outfielders use big gloves, infielders (except first basemen) use smaller gloves, but, again, that probably won't matter for a kid his age.

We bought our 6yo his little league glove at Dicks sporting goods. They had a promo for the local league going on. $15?

The new cheaper kid's gloves these days are vinyl and made you-know where. They suck. I like the idea of a used glove. My older boy (he's 8) is currently using a pretty nice used Mizuno glove that we got at a yard sale for cheap.

Most kids at age 5 aren't going to quite have the eye-hand skills to catch consistently, but the more they practice it, the better they'll get (duh!).
My 8-year old is just getting decent at catching. My 6-year old is at least as competent. Everybody's different.

We play games a lot, other than baseball, that can build catching skills. One is to play catch in the house with a tennis ball. No equipment required, and you can do it at night or when it's raining!

For a kid, go and get an "easy close" glove. My 5 and 7 year old boys both have ones that we bought at Dicks Sporting Goods. Much easier to teach a kid how to catch when they actually have the strength necessary to close the glove.

I had two gloves in my 15 year baseball career. Mizuno and Rawlings. I have been extremely happy with both. My older brother and dad both have Rawlings as well, and extremely happy.

FWIW, the best of the best that I'm aware of are certain model Rawlings, Wilson A2000, and Akadema. If your kid progresses on after a few years, go ahead and spring for one of the top of the line ones. Mine lasted me 7 years of playing and 4 years of just playing catch and still looks just about good as new.

A quick look at Dicks would point me in the direction of this mitt: http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10788771&ppp=47&cp=4406646.4413887.4414014.4414038

it might also do to see if there are any homegrown stores in your area. They're usually more knowledgeable and it is always better to help the little guy IMHO.

First, shame on you. Living in our area and not being a Phillies fan. Though this year is shaping up to potentially be ugly. We live fairly close to the stadium where the AAA team plays (Lehigh Valley Ironpigs) and go all the time with the kids.

I agree with the thought of making sure your son can close the glove. Beyond that, if it's his first glove, not sure I'd spend much money on it. I'd want to make sure it's not just a passing fad before I shelled out big money. All three of our kids have gloves. They were around $15 at Dicks and they're working fine for our needs. Pick up a cheap one for yourself, so you can play catch with him.

When my kids started playing T-ball at age 6, I think we got their gloves at Meijer or Target or something. They'll outgrow them within a couple of years anyhow, why spend big bucks? And besides, you can get decent, all-leather name-brand gloves at places like that, too. Of course, yard sales and such are great, too. My son is now 11 and is still using an aluminum bat we got at a yard sale for $3.

As for catching, the big problem my kids had was being somewhat afraid of the ball. One good exercise you can do is start with a tennis ball since it's not so hard. Try that without a glove for a while, then add the glove and just do lots of reps. It's like anything else, practice, practice, practice.

HappyAndy wrote: Last summer I got some free tix for the local minor league team and took my son, now he's hooked, and wants to learn how to play. I wish that he would take an interest in a sport that I know like bikes or soccer, but at least he's not asking for video games.

Not to over analyze but what I read here is, "my son and I did something together and now he want to do it more."
Is there a bike or soccer event that you could/have done together?

I think I'd also really recommend a glove the kid can actually operate (close), as opposed to simply having a spatula on the end of their wrist.

But far more important it time spent with you catching and tossing a ball back and forth. Teach him how to bounce it off the ground and wall and come back to him.

foxtrapper wrote: But far more important it time spent with you catching and tossing a ball back and forth. Teach him how to bounce it off the ground and wall and come back to him.

I went from an average infielder to a spectacular one after a winter of doing this in the basement every day. Used a bouncy ball; smaller and faster.