I am a total baseball mom.

I spend more hours at the baseball field than I do at my own house. I’m so not kidding. With two kids on two different teams, we are either at practice or a game or a tournament. When we aren’t with our own teams, we are out watching other teams play.

I have continuous orange clay all over my car and my house. I know things about baseball that I never knew that I would. Like the special ways to get clay out of white pants or that there is literally a special glove for different positions on the field.

And speaking of gloves, did you know that you don’t just go to the store and buy one and go home all happy? There are tons of ways to get the perfect “wear” for your glove even before you ever play with it on a field.

 

Breaking in a Baseball Glove

There’s something about a worn in and soft leather baseball glove. My husband’s is so old, it’s softer than a leather coat! There are all kinds of tricks to breaking in a baseball glove.

Recently, we headed to our local DICK’S Sporting Goods Store to find new gloves. (By the way, when I’m not a baseball, chances are I’m at DICK’S…)

The boys picked out new Mizuno first base and infielder gloves. Now, I’ve been taught over the last 6 years of my boys being in baseball, that gloves need to be softened so that they are easier to handle on the field. Of course I started to dread the whole process of oiling the gloves, putting a ball in them and wrapping them with rubber bands. We’ve also tried oiling them and putting them in the microwave and then sitting on them in different positions. (Things I never thought I would do in my lifetime!)

 

Did you know that Mizuno has a special Glove Steamer at DICK’S Sporting Goods? AWESOME!

 

Developed in Japan, the Mizuno Glove Steamer applies both steam heat and pressure without the at-home risk of melting the rawhide or burning yourself (like in the microwave!).

Major League players agree, the best way to break in a glove is a combination of heat and pressure.  With the Mizuno Glove Steamer, the glove is game ready in a matter of minutes…which is important with my kids’ lack of patience! Not to mention they take all the “work” out of breaking in a baseball glove. SCORE!

 

 

Of course continued use after the glove is steamed is recommended so that the glove doesn’t stiffen up again.

Did you know that if you purchase a Mizuno glove at DICK’S Sporting Goods, your steam is free? Yup, FREE!

 

 

Disclaimer: Although the Mizuno baseball gloves were provided for us in exchange for this blog post, all experiences and opinions are our own.