This week we get nerdy about all of our favorite gear. If you love bats, gloves, shoes, and all manner of baseball accessories, this is the episode for you. George talks about how pros get their gear. We find out what each member of our team chose as his go-to tools of the trade. And then we play another round of "Who's The Hero" to see if George can defend his title as champion of trivia.

Here are some of brands mentioned in this week's episode:

• Glovehound
• MDNI Baseball Academy
• George Foster Baseball
• Louisville Slugger
• Adidas
• Nike
• Easton
• Spalding
• McGregor
• Rawlings
• Wilson
• Mizuno
• All Star
• Nakona
• Dick's Sporting Goods
• Bombat
• Bombat
• Play It Again Sports
• Oakley
• Baseball Bat Bros
• Ball Glove King

Podcast Partner Bios

Ethan Dungan - Owner of Glovehound Baseball Glove Repair Shop. Ethan played for several teams during his career including Midland and Fairfield High School. He now operates Glovehound from his shop in Fairfield, OH.

Rick Finley - Founder of MD&I Academy Baseball Training Facility in Fairfield, OH. Rick has successfully coached and trained hundreds of players at the Select, Travel, and College levels in both baseball and softball.

George Foster - Major League Player with the Giants, Reds, & Mets. NL MVP 1977, 5-Time All-Star, Silver Slugger and member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Founder of George Foster Baseball where he offers private baseball instruction.

Timestamps:

• 00:02 - Introduction to the Podcast
• 00:38 - Featured Faves: Gear Talk
• 11:40 - Transitioning from Youth to High School Baseball Equipment
• 20:44 - Choosing the Right Gear for Young Players
• 31:58 - Choosing the Right Equipment for Young Players
• 36:33 - Transitioning to Select Teams and Equipment Choices
• 49:05 - Choosing the Right Glove for Young Players
• 01:03:08 - The Importance of Breaking in Your Equipment
• 01:06:26 - Advanced Gear and Equipment Care
• 01:18:09 - Transitioning to Gear Discussions
• 01:25:10 - The Rise of the Louisville Slugger

Key Takeaways:

• In baseball gear, personal preference and comfort play a huge role in performance.
• Choosing the right bat and glove is crucial for youth players to develop their skills effectively.
• Breaking in a glove is a personal journey that helps players build a connection with their equipment.
• Using used gear can be a smart, economical choice for young athletes who are still growing.

Links:

• glovehound.com
• mdaiacademy.com
• georgefosterbaseball.com
• twocreativedigital.com

Teaser:

Next week we talk about injuries – what to do when you can't just walk it off. The fellas shares valuable insights into how to handle an injury and work through your comeback. Don't miss it.

Companies mentioned:

• Glovehound
• MDI Baseball Academy
• George Foster Baseball

Welcome to the Complete Game Podcast where we're all about baseball with Ethan Dungan, owner of Glovehound baseball glove repair shop.

Rick Finley, founder of MDNI Baseball Academy and the creator of George Foster Baseball, the MVP himself, Reds hall of Famer George Foster.

I'm your host, Greg Dungan.

Now let's talk baseball.

All right, welcome to episode.

I don't know what episode is this?

Episode eight.

Yes, welcome to episode eight.

We're going to talk about gear today.

Equipment.

So we're going to start with a new segment today called Featured Faves.

Features Faves.

Yep.

And what we're going to do is we're going to go around the table and have everybody talk about what their favorite gear was to use when they played.

And so we're talk about mainly four categories because basically in baseball you've got your bat, your glove, your, your footwear and then whatever accessories.

And accessories can be extra clothing that you like to wear or can be protective stuff, batting gear, you know, like batting gloves, sliding mitts, whatever, whatever it is.

Okay, so.

So we'll start with.

We'll start with George and we'll go bat, glove, footwear, accessories.

That'll work.

It'll work, work, work.

Well, I had a.

I loved.

Well at the time, Louisville Slugger was the only bats that were out there.

Later on, andiron had come into play, but I couldn't leave in Louisville.

But it started in minor league ball that I had run out of bats.

And when you major league get as many bats you want.

But in minor league ball, you have to make sure you ration or make sure you don't break bats or have somebody else use your bat.

So this guy, Hal King had a bat, P72 Hickory Stain and Thin handle.

And that's the thing that kids gotta realize, that if you have long fingers, you gotta have a thicker bat, have a short fingers, have a thinner bat.

Cause you don't wanna have to.

The way you grip the bat, you wanna grip it with your fingers in the base of your fingers.

So that P72 had the thin handle.

Cause they have short fingers.

And.

And it was just right for me.

So as I left the minor leagues, Indianapolis come back to the major leagues, I kept using it because I thought I had to have a P72 Hickory stain.

Then from then on, it become known that I had a black bat.

And people wonder why you had a black bat.

I said, then people off fielders were saying that we couldn't see the bat go through the hitting zone at night.

I said, it doesn't really matter.

The ball's gonna be out of the ballpark anyway.

So the P70 become, become the bat that I, I used.

There was one game though I was in where I was at the Mets at the time we played against the Astros.

Some way the bat order, either they were shifted to the wrong place or the order didn't go in.

And I had to use an ash color bat.

But it's a P72 and I went five for five with that bat.

So as now I'm thinking should I go with the ash color bat or go back to the picture Hickory State?

You know, I was in a dilemma.

I said, well, since I've been five for five and perfect with that bat, I think I just put it on the shelf and use it as like a souvenir.

So yeah, that was a dilemma at the time.

Everybody said you went five for five, you should keep using that bass.

I don't know.

My P72 made me a little jealous.

So what about the glove?

Oh, the glove McGregor it's, it was kangaroo made of kangaroo skin and it, I liked it because you could stretch it beyond regulation.

I don't know what size was length that we should have had, but we can stretch it and on the out in the inside of it you see would tear.

But Willie Mays, I got it for Willie Mays, Bobby Bond, those guys always use the, the McGregor glove with the kangaroo skin.

So I love that glove because I could stretch it and then than having a great pocket.

So when you get a glove that you have got, have a great pocket and, and, and it's going to help you have a longer reach and with that glove you have a longer reach and balls that you may have not caught before, you're able to catch it and, but having that pocket form right there because I always have two gloves, one for the game, one for practice and.

But don't mess with my game.

My gamer, just like with the bat, don't mess with my gamer.

Pitchers like go out there and take batting.

Oh, let me see.

I can hit home run with this bat, but when they see me coming, oh, you're in trouble.

So McGregor was the one.

There you go.

What about footwear?

Oh, footwear with the reds, you know, you cannot, your shoes are always black.

I mean no matter what, what company.

So we didn't really get many any endorsements because you couldn't tell it was Adidas.

Or Nike or what.

Cause it's all the stripes always painted black.

But I love the Adidas shoes.

They were nice and light.

Cause guys like Griffey and Morgan, they can run fast anyway.

So I don't want to have a shoe that's heavy going to weigh me down.

So I love the Adidas shoe.

It fit well to my foot.

You got to make sure it doesn't hurt your feet.

And that is very important with the footwear because if it doesn't fit your foot, you're gonna have.

Your feet's gonna be hurting.

You're not gonna be able to run or move about as well.

And once again, I have two pair.

One for the game, one for, one for practice.

When the gamer started to get older, I would break in another pair gradually.

You wanna make sure you break them in on time and not wear a new pair of shoes that game, because you're going to pay for it.

But with the Astroturf would have been so hot.

You want to have the rubberized bottom, not the spikes.

Because when you use the spikes, you got to see the print mark of that spike on the bottom of your foot on a hot day.

So that was what I'd love to wear.

Cool.

And then.

Well, we've already talked about the fact that you were not a regular batting glove guy, but were there any accessories that you like to use on a regular basis?

I only think that I.

It was more of a strategy, the accessory.

I would tape my wrist and it was more of a strategy because now the.

The pitcher think that my wrists are hurt.

And so what are they going to do?

They try to throw me inside and that's where I want.

I want it.

So, you know, just use being.

I guess use psychology, knowing that, okay, okay, he was going to throw me outside before I said, no, I don't want it outside.

So I take my risk and making sure that now I'm going to encourage him to throw inside.

So taping my wrist made a big difference.

And maybe that one at bat may have made a big difference.

But the guy on the mound thinking that, okay, they think you're going to be slick, but I'm already ahead of the game.

So the taping of my wrist made a big difference.

And I guess the other one main one, when it's sunny outside wearing sunglasses, a lot of guys think they could see the ball out of the sun.

But.

But sunglasses are very important.

And sometimes just wearing the sun glasses out there, you look cool.

Yeah.

All right.

Ethan, what about you?

All right, so we'll start with bat.

And this is kind of a funny one because my favorite bat of all time is not even my own bat.

I have one high school home run in my whole career and I hit it with my best friend's bat.

For whatever reason, I had been practicing with his.

I don't remember if I had forgotten mine or what had happened, but he let me use his bat and it was his brother's bat before him.

So it was a hand me down.

And it was nothing special.

I think.

I believe it was the Louisville Slugger Omaha.

I think it was about 31 inches, which was really shorter than I was used to.

But for whatever reason, on that cold weeknight game in the Mason Sports complex, I took a pitch that was way too high inside.

I put it over the fence and at the time I was.

I was a PO and they were just letting me hit.

So that was.

That was kind of an iconic bat in my.

In my career.

So it will always have a special place in my heart.

Even though it was not a super fancy or special bat is so nice.

And then as an honorable mention here, I do have my favorite wood bat.

Oh, I like of all time.

This was my first maple bat.

That is pretty.

I had been using ash up until I finally got this one.

And the sound is just different.

I love the way maple sounds.

And this is a Louisville Slugger Prime C271.

So I.

It was just the maple one at Dick's and unfortunately it's gone on to a better place.

But.

But yeah, that was my first maple bat.

That was.

That was really cool.

For glove, I brought my 44 that I gamed in high school.

And the reason I chose this glove was because this was the first glove that.

That really, really got me into gloves.

This was one I had saved up for and used my own money to buy.

I got it customized exactly how I wanted it.

And I took really, really, really good care of this.

It did not ride in the bag.

It rode up in the front seat with me on the way to games.

It had its own little bag.

Had its own little bag.

I took.

Took amazing.

You put.

You slept with it.

Not all the time.

Yes, but this was.

This was my favorite glove that I ever used as far as footwear goes.

I picked the cleats that I wore my sophomore year.

They were the Nike Trout fours.

Mike Trout.

Zoom Trout fours.

Yeah, Mike Trout.

And the reason I picked these was because my freshman year, the summer before that, I played with a blue team.

And so I had blue cleats and When I came into school playing for Fairfield, played for a red team.

Yeah.

And it drove my.

My freshman coach nuts because I was the only kid on the team with blue cleats.

And I was like, coach, I just haven't had a chance to go get new ones.

It was like, dungan, you got to get rid of those blue cleats.

We need red cleats.

And so finally, we finally got a free night.

My mom and I went out to Dick's and spray paint.

We were getting close to that, but my mom and I went out and we got some.

Some red cleats.

And so that was just a funny memory that those will.

Those red trouts will stick with me.

And then last but not least, for accessories, I have the Oakley sunglasses with the prism lenses.

I had a teammate let me borrow them to play third base one time.

And with the prizm lenses, it was supposed to highlight the ball, make it easier to see.

And I played third base for like one inning, and I was like, no, I have to have these.

Like this.

This is a game changer because it just made it so much easier.

And cool.

And cool.

I did feel cool.

And so again, this is.

I was working a job and I saved up, and these were like $200 sunglasses.

And so that was a first, like, big, big purchase for me.

Your dad was proud of you.

You earned your own money.

You didn't say, dad, I need some money.

Yeah, it was my own money, but that didn't make it feel any better to the wallet.

So.

Right.

And my mom's like, are you sure?

I was like, no, these will make me play better.

And I don't know, maybe they did, maybe they didn't, but a cool accessory.

Look like a player.

All right, Rick, what do you got?

Well, making sure.

High school, from the youth, high school, we pretty much used each other's bat.

Pretty much.

So we would use a Easton aluminum bat, which was the silver and green.

Oh, the green one.

The green iconic.

Yes, the iconic bat or the black bat with the yellow writing on it.

Yeah, it had a white or yellow writing on that.

So we would use that bat.

And that was the first batch that Easton came out with back in the.

In the early 80s Wood, we would use Louisville Slugger.

And so those are the bats that we use.

And those, again, I think Easton brought back that silver and green bat about a couple of years ago.

Glove wise, Spalding.

Yeah, Spalding gloves, man, they were a little bigger and stuff.

But again, Spalding or McGregor was one of our gloves that we Used.

And as far as footwear, a lot of the guys in our neighborhood and a team use spot built.

That's going way back.

I know.

Or pony.

Yeah, we use pony.

And with the spot.

Soft leather.

Yes.

It was all white cleats.

So you could, like, take a marker and whatever color your team was, you could color it.

Color the colors in, you know, and.

And as far as accessories were.

Really didn't use any accessories except for some guys used to have a golf glove for a batting glove.

Might use one hand.

So as far as equipment was concerned, I don't think from our neighborhood and guys that did play high school, we kind of shared a little bit of the equipment and passed it down to each other.

Expensive stuff.

Yeah.

So that was it.

Because I don't think I.

I know we didn't.

I didn't buy any.

Now, as we moved on to plan semi pro and everything like that, it seems like there was several bats.

So again, never used a bat.

But a Louisville Slugger was a nice bat.

And we had.

Jimmy Parker was Dave Parker's brother.

He was on our team.

He played one year.

And I learned a lot from Jimmy.

And.

And so he had a.

I believe he had a.

A Louisville Slugger.

I know there were plenty of them.

And, you know, whatever bat was available, you kind of used it and went with that.

That's it.

Cool.

Well, I.

I retired from baseball about the same year that George did, so I.

I didn't play very long, just right.

Right up to high school.

So I didn't really have.

I.

I had a couple of preferred things as far as gloves go.

It was whatever we could find that was affordable, that we could get our hands.

Yeah, sometimes it'd be a hand me down.

I had an uncle who was eight years older than me, so sometimes he would have some gear he would hand down.

I had a catcher's mitt that we found at a local sporting goods store that was a brand actually.

Ethan found that it actually was a brand.

I didn't know what it was forever.

Yeah, I can't even remember what it was off the top of my head.

But I had to.

I had to do some digging because it wasn't a.

It wasn't like a nationwide brand.

It must have been some sort of local.

It was whatever they had at Gold Circle, man.

That's what Hutch was it.

Hutch.

No, not even Kmart.

So it was.

Yeah, so that was.

That was my favorite glove I ever had.

But you know what?

That glove was all leather, and it made it all the way to me.

And I used it for, man, at least quality.

At least three or four years.

So I, I loved that glove.

As far as bats go, the first, first home run I ever hit, I hit with a.

It was.

Well, of course, everything back then was just this sort of silver aluminum.

Kind of looked like a fence post with paint on it.

Yes.

You know, and so this one was bombat.

You remember Bombast.

Okay.

There was a guy on the team.

Team had a bombat.

And.

And so I, I, I managed to get one.

I don't know how.

I don't know where.

Where it was, but I had one that had blue paint on it.

And I hit the.

I hit the.

It was a high one.

I happened to get my hands on.

I didn't even know it went over the fence until I passed second base and I was trucking.

I mean, I was just hustling as far as I could go.

And the second basement was like, slow down, dude.

It went over.

I'm like, I didn't even know that.

So when they gave me the ball back, it had a big blue spot on it.

And I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.

So.

So that was my thing.

I had those torpedo bats like the Yankees are using.

Yeah.

So.

And then as far as cleats go, it was whatever, Whatever we could find.

So I, I'm sure I probably had a pair of.

You remember Brooks?

Yeah, yeah.

Brooks had.

Wow.

Yeah, So I probably had a pair of those.

And then as far as accessories go, I was a catcher, so it was just whatever.

You know, usually the team had gear, and you would use whatever the team had at that point in time.

And so, yeah, really, I didn't have a whole lot of preference.

Now when I did, when I, When I became an adult and I decided I want to buy a glove for myself, I.

I decided I was going to go with Rawlings.

And so I bought a fastback, okay.

At dick's sporting goods or wherever we were, and I found it.

And so I have the one with the basket weave that, like every person has.

It has Ken Griffey Jr.

Sized on the inside of it.

And that's the funny thing, because Ken Griffey Jr.

Did not use a basket web because he was an outfitter.

That's a pictures web.

But Rawlings would put.

It was just kind of the same fastback basket web, and they would just put a different signature in it.

So.

And that's probably the most common glove I get from dads to work on.

And so I've seen Robin Yount and Ozzie Smith and you know, just a, you know, a dozen different names in the same glove.

But, you know, just to get there.

Well, it was, it was big enough to hold a softball so you could, you could, you could play softball with it if you wanted to.

And that's why I bought interchangeable.

Yeah, yeah, I bought it to play softball with.

So anyway, that was, that was what.

But my, my very, very first glove, someone had given it to me and they had.

You could tell that it had been used a lot.

So.

So it had scuff marks on it.

So what I did, I actually got red paint and I painted it.

So from then on, I started using things that are red.

I think that was a coming of playing with the reds.

There you go.

But I cherished that glove.

I didn't have a glove at the time.

And someone said, hey, you want this?

Sure.

Went home and painted.

It looked brand new.

Ethan got a painted glove one time in the shop, didn't you?

Yeah.

Was that gold glove?

It was gold.

I had a guy come to me.

He was, he came to me straight out of prison.

He had just gotten out like a couple days before.

And he brings me this glove and it's a black baseball glove, spray painted gold.

And he's telling me he's running me through his highlights in the clink.

He was a gold girl.

He was like, man, I was so good.

I'm shortstop and gold glove.

Whatever.

I'm like, yeah, okay, cool, cool.

He's like, yeah, I traded a couple packs of cigarettes for it and I got this glove.

I was like, oh, okay.

And he wanted it turned around next day because he was heading out to go play.

He was already in a slow pitch league and ready to go out there and go.

But that was, that was an interesting one for sure.

The question is, did you buy it out of fear because you knew he was just got out of prison?

Yeah, I was.

Well, I certainly wasn't going to judge him to his face because, you know, I wasn't going to doubt his highlights.

Because, well, and he was heading out to do something constructive.

So good for him.

So you finished the season last year exhausted from all the travel and the tournaments, and you tossed your gear in a bag where it's been sitting all winter.

Now you're ready for another year.

But your favorite glove that fits just right is an error waiting to happen.

The leather is dry, the laces are brittle, and this year you're on a new team with new colors.

And it sure would be Cool.

If it matched well, wouldn't it be great if you had a glove guy who could help you out with that?

You do.

His name is Ethan and he owns Glovehound baseball glove repair shop in Fairfield, Ohio.

Just contact him@glovehound.com and upload pictures of your glove.

He'll give you a call back to talk it over and then you can send it in for a repair.

Relays, recondition, whatever you need.

If you're in the area, you can even just stop by the shop.

That way you don't have to bother with shipping.

And a lot of times he can even fix it while you wait.

Rawlings, Wilson, Mizuno, all Star, Nakona, he's seen them all.

And he's helped players at all levels, from beginners to pros.

Last year he worked on a glove that Jose Trevino used in the World Series.

And he can help you, too.

You can find Glovehound on Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and on the web@glovehound.com.

you're only going to get busier.

So reach out today and give your glove the love it deserves at Glovehound.

All right, well, today on the, on the main thing, we're gonna tackle a few, a few different things.

We're gonna make some recommendations.

Yeah.

At several different levels.

So we're going to start with the youth level.

And by youth, what I mean is from that first, like, you know, post T ball coach, pitch up to about when you're ready to jump to your first selector, travel team.

And then the second would be what I'm calling intermediate, which would be from like your first select team at 9 or 10 or 11, whatever that is, up until high school and then advanced, being high school and beyond high school, college, and anything beyond that.

And so we're going to make.

We're going to stick with those same four categories.

We're going to start with bat, and then we'll go to glove and then footwear and then accessories.

And then we're going to make recommendations to each of those, each of those groups of people.

So.

Well, let's start with you, Rick, with what would your recommendations be for youth players that you're buying that very first gear as far as bats go.

Okay.

First, I would go to play it again.

Sports.

Yes.

Right.

That's the first thing I would do.

They have so much of a wide collection and, and, and their kid can get it, get it, go in there and.

And kind of choose and see if they want to buy used.

Of course, you know, so they don't have to spend a whole lot of money on it.

Especially from 6.

The youth age is from 6 to whatever it is, T ball.

And it doesn't matter anyway the, you know, the cost and stuff like that.

So that's what I would do.

Go to play it again sports, you know, swing some bats there and get something that doesn't have to bring new.

But if it is new, I think at that age it's not going to be, it's going to be cost effective.

So I would start off with just a regular bat.

Do you, do you have any tips for picking size?

Size in terms of length?

I think when I was, when we were trying to choose, it was usually something about waist.

It's about waist or arm length, one of the two.

So they still use those kind of measurements to, to see, you know, for those kids.

And then obviously, you know, that depends on the size of the kid and whatever.

But as a, as a starting point, it was usually about, does it come to.

About your, about your hip?

Yeah, yeah.

Up about your hip.

So that's what I would do.

Glove.

There's something you don't want to buy something that's too cheap.

Yeah, that's one of those things where like you get what you pay for and exactly when you're, when you're in that early stage.

Let's see, what's our, what's our age?

We're saying from just after T ball.

To so like 6, 7 up to about 10, about to that age.

It does not matter.

You need to be able to squeeze it.

And that's the reason why I go to play it again.

Sports.

Because they have such a collection and gloves that, you know, of course you don't want to get a glove that's too stiff for a kid that don't have the hand strength to squeeze it.

But a soft, a soft glove, a beginner's glove.

Yeah.

Don't be afraid to buy used and don't be afraid to buy cheap.

You don't, you don't need something high end of that age.

You need something usable because if you get something that's meant for a higher level player, a stronger player and the kid can't use it, they're going to be discouraged because they can't use the glove.

So it really doesn't matter.

No.

Pick something that looks cool, something that excites them, that they're, you know, if it's a cool color that they really like, then they're more likely to be excited about playing and want to use it more Often.

Exactly.

And I always would recommend the parents just stay within your budget especially at that younger age.

You know, you don't want to go out and spend a whole lot and find out they.

They don't want to play anymore just sitting there collecting dust.

So stay within your budget.

They start liking the sport, they keep advancing.

Then you might be able to invest more in a bat, a better bat or a better glove and things like that.

So those are the two main things that I would consider.

George, did you have any thoughts on.

On bats and gloves at the, at the young age like that?

I, I agree with Rickett.

In going to sport again played against sports, you able to buy get something at a reasonable price and especially with a bat, it's a big investment even with gloves today.

So you want to get something that right away the kid can use.

And not getting a glove is going to take a while to break in and it's going to cost 300 or more dollars going there because those are quality gloves and right away it's playable.

I mean being able to use it.

So getting a bat that because it's used doesn't mean don't feel bad because it's used.

The main thing that you want to have something you can use right away.

And plus there are a lot of different changes.

Uh, maybe the next year you had to go to another bat and now that's more expensive.

Yeah.

So play it again sports.

It makes it reasonable for, for the parents and it's not as heavy out of their wallet.

But getting a glove, getting a glove or bat at play against sports.

I really agree with that and.

But it's getting you right away.

When we talked earlier about making sure the bat fits the kid not only if it's long enough or heavy enough but.

But does it fit his hands and you don't want a bat that's going.

The kid's going to say push it.

You want to be able to throw it.

But it had to fit in the base of the fingers well.

And if you end up with a bat that's too big, it's going to screw with their mechanics because then they.

Swinging with their arms.

You start forming bad habits because early.

Right.

Because your equipment doesn't fit your age.

Here's a term to offer for dads who are thinking about going to playdyn sports.

Don't think of it as used.

Think of it as proven.

There you go.

Proven.

Broken in.

Broken in.

Think of it as proven.

These, these gloves have proven effective otherwise they wouldn't be here.

So There you go.

And like these car dealership, they, you.

They don't say use, they say pre owned.

There you go.

Certified.

Certified.

Certified.

Right.

All right.

So what Ethan, what.

What are some of the, what are some of the more affordable youth gloves you've seen?

You've seen some youth gloves come through that, that are expensive for being a youth glove as a.

As opposed to some that might be a little more affordable?

Yeah.

For this really, really early age I'm not opposed to going to a big box store, go to Meer or Walmart or you know, and it's okay to do that.

I was try to stay under $100 for sure for that beginning stage.

I after, when we get to the next one, I think you're going to have to break that $100 mark.

But, but stay under $100.

But there with Wilson, the higher the number after the A, the higher quality it is.

So you can be looking for something in the A400, A500 and there's.

Yep, there you go.

There you go.

They have a 400, 450, 500, 550.

And the basic rule is the higher the number, it doesn't necessarily mean better in terms of performance.

It means higher quality materials being used.

But you don't necessarily need that super high level material for, for the young kid.

So I like that.

Rawlings has some really great ones.

A really popular one I'm seeing.

I think it's the Pro Light.

Select Select Pro Light I think is what it is.

It's on Amazon and it is.

I've done three or four of them and the glove is $60 full retail and usually it's on sale.

And, and the ones that I've gotten in and we're talking young, young, young kids, they really like them.

Baseball savings has the same price.

About 69.99.

Yeah, it's a, it's a blonde Chris Bryant model.

But I had one dad who bought a really cheap.

And it's.

That's very cheap, you know, considering some of the higher end gloves.

He bought that glove sent it to me just before Christmas and put.

Had me put blue laces in it.

Brand new.

Oh, and embellish it.

Exactly.

But that's his kid's favorite favorite color.

And so then for the price of a brand new glove and a relays, you're still under 150 bucks.

And he's got a glove that he's really excited about using.

So that was a cool.

Laces are guaranteed now.

Well, yeah, I'll mention this as well Obviously cheaper gloves use cheaper materials and that's okay because it's, it's meant for the beginner player.

But I've also done a lot of gloves.

Usually it's a, usually it's about a 500, a 550s where the kid is getting up into that next tier.

But they really like the glove and we put new laces in it because the laces are going to be the first thing that breaks.

And so I've been able to extend the life of a lot of these cheaper gloves by putting high quality laces in it and they'll get multiple more years out of it because of that.

Dr.

Ethan, the way that I met George was he brought one of these cheaper gloves that the kid really liked, but we were able to extend the life of it and now that kid's still using that glove.

That makes sense.

The laces are the ones that are going to have that lot of wear and tear.

So being able to reinforce that.

But I like what Greg was saying is something that's affordable and also something that you can use.

And it's not just the look.

A lot of them get it just for the look.

But a ball had not hit in that glove yet.

But getting something that's affordable and that it's usable and not looking at the fact that it's certified pre owned, you don't have to have a brand new piece of equipment.

I know you, you want to go out there and, and show your teammates or you don't want them teasing you that you got something used.

But the thing is, how do you use it if you're able to put it to use?

Yeah, it'd rather be teased for using something used than for making errors.

Right.

Well, and talk about a little bit.

So when you buy one of these youth gloves, it's not going to come with any sort of guarantee.

But once you put laces in it now they've got a year on the lace.

Yeah, a lot of times.

And a lot of times manufacturers won't warranty the laces for any period of time because that is the first fail point and they kind of know that.

They know, right?

I don't know.

I don't really fault them for it because it's not really worth their time because you're just as likely to buy a new one.

But when I'm able to put new laces in it, I guarantee my laces for a whole year.

And if it breaks within a year, I'll fix it for free, you know, no questions asked.

And I've only ever had.

I've only had two broken laces come back to me, and they were both over multiple years, and I was able to get that turned around real quick.

But that is.

It's a great way to get some business.

Well, some.

Some reassurance in.

In your equipment on the field that you are covered if something does happen.

So.

Yeah.

So the father that buys the inexpensive glove and then immediately has the relays now has an inexpensive glove and better laces with a guarantee.

Yeah, exactly.

So that's kind of how he came ahead there.

So just.

Just.

There's lots of different ways to do it, so just don't feel like you have to go out and spend a ton of money.

There's other.

There's other ways to do it.

Yes, it is like Rick had.

He would wear a tuxedo.

What?

He'd go get some Chuck Taylor shoes.

You know, man, I'll be.

I'll be looking sharp.

He would.

They come in different colors now.

Yeah.

So that'd be great.

You go give me gq.

Talking about shoes.

Let's talk about shoes for.

For young players.

Molded cleats.

I like Easton's.

I mean, a lot of the kids, even myself, wear.

Yeah.

New Balance.

New Balance, not Easton.

It's my fault.

New Balance, man, and New Balance are like wearing gym shoes now, just with the turf and different colors.

And I have one kid that comes in.

He plays for the Cincinnati Angels.

He's got ca in the front of his New Balance man.

He's got it all embroidered, man.

Looks good.

And they.

And you can get New Balance for the match, your team colors and what have you.

So I like New Balance turf shoes and for cleats.

Yeah.

And at that.

At that beginning, when do you recommend jumping up to metal?

I think it was high school.

It's high school, actually.

What is it?

13?

14?

Because.

Is it.

It's restricted.

I think it's for a while.

It's 14.

Yeah.

14.

You can wear metal.

So.

But yeah, don't.

Let's just stick with moldeds and make.

Especially because the turf fields are coming back.

So you're gonna.

You're gonna have to use it more.

Not only that, it's making sure they learn how to slide before they get.

The spike, before they get this.

Yeah.

Break an ankle.

But that a lot of kids.

So, like in Bunny.

No one really work on Bunny.

So learn how to slide.

I always work with these kids.

I wouldn't.

I didn't slide like myself because I hit a lot of home runs.

I didn't have a chance to slide.

But making sure that they learn how to slide before to get the metal.

Spikes because it is, it is different.

You're not on the ground anymore.

You're elevated, you get them caught, that's it.

And making sure that you have a good solid fit, that's a big thing.

Got to fit to your floor.

Ethan.

Ethan.

He grew up with my wife.

Her.

Her.

Her grandfather was the third generation owner of a shoe store in, in Indiana.

So shoes are a big deal in their family.

And so Leslie is the, she is the, the standard of.

Does this shoe fit you?

And it benefited us.

Well, my thing was always I wanted it tight around the top of my foot but loose where my toes were.

Because if you constrict your toes then it, it.

Yeah.

There's no skinnies up the.

The base of your foot.

So being able to move your toes and spread them out gives you a stronger foundation.

So that.

I don't know, that's just how I.

Always try to look at creating hotspots.

Because as George has said before, running is key to everything.

And if you hot spots on your feet, you don't want to run.

And if you don't want to run, you're going to struggle in all aspects of get blisters.

And the other one is had to really help with your arch.

You don't want to have making sure that it fits arch of your foot because you're going to change.

Not only change the way you run but, but you're going to have feet trouble.

Another thing that I think a lot of people don't take into consideration when they go and look at spikes and in turf shoes, the type of socks you're going to be wearing, some socks might be too thick.

So therefore you might need to get a bigger size or a half a size bigger because.

Because as they grow they're going to be.

Their feet gonna expand a lot more.

But once again that the expense that's affordable but yet quality.

Cause now you're dealing with part of your body making sure that it's gonna.

Yes, I've seen kids outgrow their shoes within two, three months, man, bam.

You know, and they got about a couple weeks of baseball.

They gotta go and buy more, more cleats and stuff.

Well, it's something that not so much an issue anymore.

But when I was a kid, every, every uniform had stirrup socks.

In fact, when you would, when you would sanitate, when you would get your uniform okay, it was a hat and a shirt.

You had to go Buy your own baseball pants.

And you got socks.

So you got a hat and shirt and socks from the, from the, the league when you.

For what you paid in.

And so you get your hat and your shirt and your socks, and your hat would have the logo and your shirt would say some manufacturing facility in town that was bent, you know, some, our version of jungle gyms, you know.

Yeah.

And.

And then you had wider gray pants and then you got stirrup socks, but you had.

And you wouldn't think that those socks made a difference, but there's a little bit on either side of your foot that now has to go into your shoes.

Right.

And if they're not positioned right, it can, yeah, it can cause a blister on the inside of your foot.

So if you are, if your team does have.

Look stylish, then yeah, if you do.

Have a what I would consider a proper baseball uniform and you are wearing stirrup socks, then you have to take that into consideration.

Okay, so let's talk about intermediate players.

So now you're ready to go to that first select team.

You're 10 to 12 years old and, oh, I think you went when you were what, 10 or 11?

7Th grade was my first year, so however old I was.

12.

Okay, 12, 13, maybe.

Yeah.

So you're getting ready to go to, to select.

And now we're going to, we're going to play more tournaments, we're going to play more, you know, intense game situations, things like this.

So what, how does our recommendation change.

For those kids so when it, when it comes to bats?

Well, actually, I want to defer to you on bats, Rick, because you'll be more familiar.

But now is when rules are starting to change with the different weights.

So do you have recommendations on which weights to hit?

Yeah, I would.

13 start getting into a drop five.

I have some kids even at 12, going into a drop five.

They say by 14.

Now, rules are different some parts of the country since they use wood.

Like down south Georgia, Florida, a lot of Those kids at 13 are using a drop three versus up here, they're using a drop five.

So in, in tournaments in Georgia, and at 12, they use a drop five versus up here, they're using a drop.

Okay, so in the reason why the, the, the difference, because they use wood a lot down there and wood develops that strong wrist strength and start getting you a little stronger.

So they use wood so much.

So now they, they challenge the kids to, to hit with a heavier bat now.

Okay, so let me ask you something real quick.

Would you explain the Drop system.

Right.

Real quick, just in case we have parents who don't.

Okay, so drop.

So say for instance you have a 30, a 30 drop three.

That means that you have a 27 ounce bat.

So a 30 inch bat add a drop.

Yes, that's length.

Drop three is the weight of the bat then.

So that's 27 ounce.

Okay.

Okay.

Yes.

Okay.

So a 30 drop five would be a 25 ounce at 30 inches long.

Exactly.

Exactly.

And so that's what the, that is, that's education.

And different drops are appropriate at different.

Different ages as you move up.

So you need to find out what that is.

At 14 you, you should be in a drop three.

But some, some kids because of strength and their build, they're not strong enough.

Probably still swinging a drop five because.

By the time you hit high school you have to use, you have to use drop three.

You can use a drop five but you got to be be aware that you're going to have to switch sooner or later.

So depending on when you want to go ahead and make that jump.

Exactly.

But to the way to make that jump, use wood a lot during BPT work, whatever that'll help you with your, your wrists and hand strength and finger strength.

That'll help you move into, to the, the upper echelon of bats.

And I always tell people that's a cheat code right there because when you do that it's almost like swinging a wiffle ball bat because their, their hands and stuff and got faster and got stronger and they'd be able to adjust.

Had a kid the other day is a big kid man.

He plays for a 12 year team and I was doing evaluation of the team again.

He's about your size, Ethan.

He was swinging a drop ten.

Oh my man.

No wonder you're struggling and the bat is too light for you, man.

Well, in a heavy bat is you'll hit the ball harder and farther if you use a heavier bat.

So don't, don't be scared, don't jump ahead.

You know, get ahead of yourself but don't be scared of going up in experiment.

And again, I always recommend parents out there, you listening?

Go to play it again sports.

Try a bat at a pre owned certified bat before you go and spend the three to four hundred dollars on a, on a, a bat that they need to keep for a couple years.

Go that route first and test it out, keep it for a while and then go to the next to the next option.

The biggest investment would be the shoes you got.

Like I say, we got to Take care of your feet, but don't be.

You can buy new shoes.

But going to the bat of the glove you don't have to get.

You get it pre owned and then if you have a teammate, you'd be able to share with the bat because that's a big expense.

And the main thing is having something like I said earlier before that you can use and that's affordable but you don't have to go out there and make that big expense.

Buying a glove or buying a bat as you get older.

Yeah.

Something that's going to be consistent, they can use.

Like in high school you're going to use that, that same size consistently.

Yeah.

But when it's going to fluctuate as much, that's a lot of money in a way you throwing away because it may only last a year or two years.

So play it against sports.

We keep plugging in.

Play it Again Sports.

We're not sponsored by sports either, but again sports.

Get in touch.

Okay.

All right.

So this is so intermediate, I think is, is the age range with the most variability.

Yes.

Once you get to high school, sizes start to even out a little bit more.

And when you're in the youth, when you're in that 6 to 10 range, nobody's really hit puberty yet.

But intermediate, you're going to get everything.

And this is where I see the most.

It seems harsh to label them.

Yeah.

But I would say misconceptions rather than mistakes.

I say misconceptions.

I agree.

From 12 to 14.

Yeah.

So this is where you'll get parents who want to buy their kids that high school glove or buy their kids that high school bat.

And here's where I want to throw in sideline swap online.

It's basically an online version of Play It Again Sports.

So I like Play It Again Sports for the very beginning because you, you got to be able to go in and test stuff out.

Right.

Right.

When you're in this second tier, you've been around the game, you're a little more serious.

Maybe you're a little more familiar with different bats, different gloves.

You can start, look, you start to know what you're looking for and you're a little more comfortable buying online.

I think that's a good time to start doing that.

So as a.

I call them PG13.

That you don't need to be worrying about that higher level glove until you're at least 13 years old.

Obviously there's exceptions.

If you're a really big 12 year old and you're ready for it, sure, go ahead.

But as a, as a blanket, you know, beginning rule PG13, wait.

Wait till they're big enough to be able to use that stuff.

Now there's an exception to that in buying used.

So if you can find one of those higher end gloves that is used and already broken in, then you can go ahead and use it.

Like if you find a really good catcher's mitt at the antique store.

Yeah.

Which is how I ended up with mine.

But, but, but at the same time, don't be afraid to keep using the glove you have been or don't be afraid to buy another cheaper glove because I deal with a lot of kids that haven't hit that puberty yet and they're still really small.

So keep buying something that they can use.

Don't, don't feel like you have to jump because your teammate did right.

If he's a foot taller than you.

You know, let him be like.

Exactly.

You're a different player.

So it's, you have to pay attention to your player and their needs rather than trying to fit them to what everyone else is doing.

So that was something I really like.

Sideline swap.

Because it's an opportunity to get those higher level stuff, those higher level gloves, higher level bats at a much cheaper price.

And a lot of times, you know, maybe you'll run into something where somebody bought, did spend the money on a, on a new one and they don't like it and they're trying to get their money back out.

You can really, you can really.

Yeah, clean up there.

Clean up on that.

And then the other thing I'll mention, shout out to YouTube channels.

One is the baseball Bat Bros.

Yeah, they test all the metal bats and bats are.

It's a tricky thing because they all look the same other than the colors.

And so to act, you really can't tell with gloves they look different.

You can get a better idea.

You can feel them, you know, see how they might perform.

All bats basically look and feel the same.

So it's really hard to get an idea for how they perform.

So these guys go out and they hit with all of them and give you an idea of how they're gonna be, how they're gonna perform, which is huge because that wasn't around when I played.

And so you just bought the newest one and hoped it was everything that the company told you it was gonna be.

And then for gloves, another Great Another great YouTube channel is Ball Glove King.

He does a lot of different reviews.

Yes.

Shows you a lot of different stuff about gloves.

And then you know, don't be afraid to call and ask questions.

That's the biggest thing I get parents that, that call me and they just, they just want to pick my brain and I always happy to, always happy to give that information.

So if you ever have questions, give me a call.

I'm happy to help you out there.

That's a very important aspect is ask questions and talk to people who have you feel expertise in gloves or bats and, and not just go out and like play it against sports or these other companies.

Like, like Ethan said, don't be afraid to ask questions and hopefully they have somebody there to have knowledge about the recommendation, not just to make a sale.

And sometimes they don't.

Right.

So, so keep asking, you know, don't, don't just take.

I don't know two other things too.

People need to understand this, that there's a balanced bat and there's an in loaded bat.

There's two differences there.

Balance bat is for a kid that might not be that strong.

It might be just a singles hit or whatever.

A bigger kid might need an in loaded bat.

Okay.

Also the difference between U trip and USA bat.

A lot of regulations, A lot of regulations.

U is a fatter barrel like the, I'll call it the bam bam of bats, man.

And then you got the USA bat which is skinnier bat which is probably closer to a wood bat.

Okay, Now I remember when USA bats were kind of dead like now you see like Maruchi has a Cadx man, that bad boy has some pop to it for USA bat.

So understand the rules of yours in a USA bat and a U trip bat.

Yeah, but the knowledge you guys putting out there, I know a lot of these parents, they don't know hard any of it.

But just you know, call on Rick, call on Ethan and those guys have information to help you.

So when you invest the monies you, you know you're making a good going to get a good return from it.

Well, George, you could probably speak to this too.

The idea that when you have invested the time and built your skills right, the, the bat is a preference, not a necessity, not a necessity.

In the, in the, in the word.

I'll get it out in the way that you could hand Pete Rose just about any bat and he can go up there and get a hit.

Well, he can't anymore, but he could at one point in time.

Okay, you, you can hand Hank Aaron, a bat, he can go out there and hit you, hand you a bat, you're gonna go out there and hit.

But you like, you prefer some more than others.

It's the feel a lot of times, and then it's a quality.

And because even if I get, you know, the bats from Louisville Slugger, I may get a dozen, but maybe six of them I really like.

And the flex that, that's in it and my bat that feels stiff, I don't feel I can get that whipping action.

And then maybe it's a little bit too thick, the handle itself.

So it becomes a feel as you get, get older.

But in the beginning is you're working on your, your mechanics, Right.

And so like you said, it's.

It's not a necessity, but it's more of a preference.

And so we.

But you gotta make sure the.

It's important that you're getting a bat that you can use.

Right.

We'll use what works for you.

That's the saying is $100 bet.

Can't fix a $10 swing.

I hear that.

I say that all the time.

It doesn't do you any good to have gear that you can't use.

And if you can use it, then it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks of it, it works for you.

So, you know, one more, one more thing I want to touch on in gloves in this age range is this is when you're going to start picking based on position.

Yes.

So in six, in six to 10, it doesn't really matter because you probably haven't picked and you're not sticking with a specific position anyway.

You can play anything.

Exactly.

So that one glove get.

Don't get something too small.

Don't get something too big.

I wouldn't go bigger than 12 and a quarter.

Yes, 12 and a quarter.

If they're playing a lot of outfield, maybe.

But that, that's kind of the, the general area I'd like to stick.

But now once we're in, you know that 11 to.

I don't know, I guess 14, you know, you're maybe playing more outfield, playing more infield.

So a lot of parents get confused on how to pick the glove for that position.

So I like to say that infield is 11 and a quarter up to 12.

Sometimes you can go a little higher if, if the player likes a bigger glove and they're playing some outfield.

Outfield is usually 12, minimum.

Yeah, usually 12 and a quarter up to 12 and three quarter.

So if they're playing both and you want to stick with one glove, you're going to be looking probably in that 12 to 12 and a quarter range.

If they're playing one or the other, you know, try to get one that's going to help them succeed at that position.

And that's another thing where don't be afraid to buy used because if, if they're playing, if it's their secondary position, it doesn't have to be, you know, as nice as their primary glove.

So don't be afraid to get a used outfield glove.

You know, if they're mainly playing infield and then obviously catchers need their own glove.

Right.

This is the age when first basemen are going to use a dedicated first base glove.

Six, six to ten, you might just be using your regular fielders glove.

But 11 to 14, you're going to want a first base glove.

And then pitchers.

I get a lot of parents concerned about pitching gloves.

I don't really worry about that until you're playing in high school.

Because that glove I just showed, it's an iWeb, it's an infield glove.

I used it to pitch.

Yeah.

So if, maybe if you decide you're a po, you know, go ahead and worry about that.

Otherwise just use whatever glove you're most comfortable with.

Another, another thing is that about, I would say about 12, I know my son Ricky, he had an infield and an outfield glove because he played a lot of short and second base and I think he had 11 and a half and then a 12 and going forward by the time he got to high school, he didn't really need his infield glove that much unless in the summertime.

But in high school he played mostly outfield.

So 12, I think he had a 12 and a quarter 12 and a half inch outfield glove.

So I didn't have to buy that until probably later, you know, once he got there because he outgrew the other outfield gloves.

So these timelines.

Oh, and the different types of gloves from a trapeze and outfield.

Right.

Yeah.

I'm glad you mentioned.

I used to love that trapeze.

Yeah.

Say here I've got one still infield.

Generally the Most common is iWeb by far.

Posts are common as well.

Some, some hwebs in the infield, but IWEB is definitely dominant.

Outfield is mainly H, web and trapeze.

Yes.

And I don't know, there's maybe a marginal advantage that you can get.

But don't, don't let the web be your deciding factor.

Leave that up to the player for preference and worry more about size and functionality before you get really hung up on the web type.

So I'm curious George.

So what size glove did you like to use to play outfield?

The longest possible.

So I could say increase my reach but like I say with the kangaroo scan I can stretch it more but it's still making sure that it fits my hand.

But the kangaroo, but it, they don't have these long gloves as much now as before.

And plus how I put my hand in the glove, it gave me more range.

A lot of kids that have their glove, their fingers all stuck straight into the glove, you don't really have a pocket so to speak, you're gonna get a lot of bone bruises.

But it's getting a glove that I keep saying it, that it fits your hand is not too heavy and because the ball is going to be coming at you pretty fast.

So you've been able to have that strength to, to, to get the glove in that position.

But two things that I wanted to mention about when you buy the glove make we talked about position is going to be influenced by what position you play and also your size.

You have two 10 year olds but one's going to be bigger and stronger or bigger hands, you know, bigger hands than the other kid.

So it's not buying it according to the age but the size of the hand.

Yeah, that's very important.

And I have big hands but like I said earlier, short fingers.

So a glove is going to be different for me or for, compared to say Ethan may have longer fingers.

So look at all those aspects but look at, talk to people, call Ethan, call Rick.

Those guys have expertise on gloves, on bats.

For me we're growing up, we just had a woodback.

Yeah.

And it was easy.

But now you, you.

It's not a big, as big an investment as put into the aluminum bat.

So making sure that you get information, sound information that's going to help you when that, when you purchase something.

Well Ethan, you've even from time to time you've, you've coached parents on, on, on what might be a good choice for them to buy.

You've actually, actually sold some gloves to parents too.

Yeah, every once in a while I'm able to find something online that's you know, used and I'm able to bring it in and clean it up and I've been able to provide those used gloves to, to different customers and it's not something that I have all the time but you know, I'll keep them on the shelf.

And sometimes I have a parent and they're in that in between spot looking for something affordable and I'm able to.

To provide that for them.

Talking about gloves, we are go back to infield since you're infielder to George was an outfielder.

I played infield when I was 12 years old.

How many games at first base in the base?

1.

I think I was a gold Glover at first base.

I think I played three or four games there.

But as an infielder, getting the right glove to.

Parents need to understand getting the right gloves.

After you move up to this intermediate age, learning how to get the ball out of your glove quicker, you know how to deflect.

And I have to show kids this all the time.

It's like, man, how you able to do that practice.

That's where at this age you don't have to buy a position specific glove.

But it can definitely help, especially if they're leaning towards one or the other because the equipment does help the mechanics to an extent.

So this is a good time to maybe, maybe go ahead and differentiate and don't get rid of that old glove.

Keep it as a backup, you know.

Hand it down to your brothers.

That's what happened in our.

Yes.

Yeah, something like that.

But this is a great time to start experimenting right at the cheap level.

That's good.

You know, with different sizes before you invest in something super high quality.

The other.

The other place where places like play it again sports and sideline come in handy is if you've taken care of your glove and you've had.

Right.

You've had it conditioned and cared for and the laces taken care of and things like credit, you can go and sell it back toward the next thing.

So, you know, not only can you buy there, you can sell there, which is cool.

Let me ask you guys a question.

This.

So we're in the intermediate.

So when you get the little.

The little guys who are just starting out and then they get to that first kid pitch, you know, that's when a kid first.

You first have a catcher really who's like participating.

Yeah.

Okay.

So like now when I was a kid, the team had gear and the team would also have a mitt and the kid would use it.

But at some point in time you got to buy a catcher's mitt.

If you're really going to say, hey, I want to be a catcher.

When do you do that?

That's a specialized mitt.

When do you decide, hey, I need to need to buy a catcher's Mitt.

I would say when it starts hurting to use a regular glove, I would.

I would say in coach pitch, it doesn't really matter because the catcher.

Catcher is not really, you know, a part of the game.

They're just sitting there and waiting to.

To go bat and switch out with somebody else.

But once you're in kid pitch and you're going to be catching, I think that's a good time for the thing to keep in mind.

Catcher's mist, though, is that brand new.

Even the low.

Even a cheap glove is going to be hard to use for a while.

So it takes a long time.

And be careful trying to speed that up, because you're going to shortcuts or shortcuts for a reason.

So I'm a big advocate for taking the long way to break one of those in.

But.

But catcher's mitts specifically are a great opportunity to buy used.

I had a guy come in not long ago, and he had bought a glove off a sideline swap.

It had somebody else's name on the back of it.

And he was like, it's not his main position, but we needed something easy to use.

It's been here for a few years, and.

And I ended up releasing it, and he was going to continue to use it for a while.

But.

But catcher's mitts are a great, great time to buy used so that somebody else did that work for you.

So the one good myth, the one good catcher's mitt that you had, we found at the local antique mall.

This was interesting.

We were.

I was selling some.

I was making leather goods at the time, selling some stuff at the antique mall.

And we were walking through there one day, and there was one little booth, and they just had big, you know, buckets on the ground with just full of baseball gloves.

Okay.

And I thought, let's just kind of go through here.

No sitting right on top.

Oh, is that what it was?

I was like, what are the odds of that?

And to this day, going back to that antique mall, I've never found anything that nice, but it was good.

And funny enough, I ended up putting a leather pad in that later in my career myself, because it started to.

Started to hurt.

But it was a good.

It was a good.

Was it Rawlings?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And he brought it to me.

I said, hey, this is a good one.

So I.

I bought it for, I don't know, dirt cheap there, right?

And he went to his next lesson at Rick's, and Rick's was like, hey, this is the same glove.

I got this Is cool.

Yeah, yeah, that's what it was.

I remember actually I found one and Ethan released my catcher's mitt for.

That's outstanding.

But you never, you never know.

Garage sales, you know, even.

Even Facebook Marketplace is a good place.

So I will say when you start going beyond sports dedicated platforms, you have to have a little bit better of mind to what you're looking for.

But you never know when a high school kid switches positions and he's just looking to offload something.

So a lot of, A lot of good opportunities on.

On places.

So when I said earlier about my first glove, someone had given it to me and then I painted it and looked nice.

I remember when I was back in, yeah, I want a bat.

I was probably about 12 years of age.

I want an actual.

A bat I could use.

I was so excited, you know, when it.

I said, but that's the time that I said, nobody better use my bat.

It was fighting time, but I cherished that bat.

That was great.

Well, when we used to use your Batman, mine broke.

You got one of those defect bats.

Yours wasn't one of the six.

Okay, okay, you got it.

You got to put the handle in your hand.

You had the barrel in your hand.

Everyone used it in the neighborhood.

There weren't any instructions.

We thought you would know.

All right, let me, Let me wrap this up real quick.

I want, I want you guys to talk real quickly about before we move to.

Before we move to the advanced players.

I want you to talk quickly about the dangers of break in shortcuts, steaming, putting it in oil, run it over with the car.

Yeah, Come on, give us some, Give us some sanity here.

If you're questioning if it makes sense, it probably doesn't.

So I'll just run it through the common sense meter first.

Okay.

Dick's has a steamer, and a lot of times they'll pitch that and you can get it for free if you buy the glove or whatever.

Not a big fan of that.

It's just really, really, really intense on that glove.

And I've seen a lot of gloves shrink or with color gloves with dyed laces.

The colors can run.

Sometimes it can make it too floppy.

So I'm just, I'm not a huge fan of that.

If you know what you're doing, it can be okay.

But a lot of times the people at Dick's don't.

They're not that they're not.

They're not glove specialists.

They're the guy that works in the glove department.

Right.

The hot water method.

You got to Be careful.

You got to know what you're doing for that.

Yeah.

So they see also do it online and then they think, okay, that guy has been breaking in gloves forever.

Yeah, you just, you got to be careful with that kind of stuff.

So.

So seek professional help if that's something you want to do.

Right.

There are a lot of guys, a big thing right now is the hydraulic presses.

Those are.

Okay.

It's.

To me, it tends to give lots of little creases instead of stretching.

So I, I don't know.

Those haven't been around long enough to really see the long term effects.

At glovehound, I don't, I actually don't offer a full break in service just because it's something that's so specialized to each player, and I'm a different size, different shape with different habits than the player with, with their glove.

So, you know, that's not something I offer.

But if anybody ever has questions, I'm always happy to have them in the shop point them in the right direction.

And my goal is to educate them so that they can do it themselves.

Because if you put that time in and get it set exactly how you want it, you know, it's more personal and you have a better connection to the equipment.

So a lot of people look at the break in as a burden, but look at it as an opportunity to learn your equipment.

And it's really, it's, it's, it's.

It's going to.

What do you say?

Further?

It's gonna, it's gonna further your skills.

It's gonna.

Well, and this is another thing.

It's gonna elevate, elevate your skills.

This thing that, that is generational in our family because, like, my dad would help us break it in.

He was bigger and stronger than us, and he would, he has, my dad has really strong hands and he would, he would help us break our glove in a little bit, but then, you know, he would kind of get it so you could basically use it.

And then it was our job to go out and play with it, get it broke in.

And so breaking in your glove was the way it was explained to me, is your responsibility as a player.

This is.

You're going to play.

This is your personal equipment.

You need to break it in.

And so we would go out and we would put the time in and we would play catch with it until we couldn't stand anymore.

And we would, you know, throw to your arm falls off.

And we would go out there and just play and play and play.

And then we Would oil it, put the ball in it, wrap it up, put the Ace bandage on it, keep it.

So it was, you know, every night, get it out the next day, go out there, you know, keep it soft.

And that was something that was explained to me.

This is your responsibility, this is your equipment.

And so this is how I explained it to Ethan.

I was, okay, all right, we'll get it started.

You know, I'll sit here and bang the, you know, bang a ball into it for a while for you so you can get it moving.

And then I'm gonna hand it to you and then it's up to you.

You gotta go do it well.

And I'll say, my first 44 that I had, I was impatient with it and I.

The break in was terrible on that thing.

And then my dog ended up getting ahold of it and I really, I was, I wasn't.

But I wasn't really torn up about it because I didn't like the way it broke in.

So, you know, I was happy to get this next one.

Good way to get a new one.

Yeah.

I was like, yeah, well, you know.

But two things that Ethan had hit on, get professional help as far as expertise and knowledge about it.

And the other one is specialty.

You got to like, if you're a golfer, you want to go, you get, you get the clubs fitted to your swing, right?

So now when a kid is catching a ball, you got to see how he's catching the ball very much.

Because you don't want to change how you break it in.

You want to have it the same way how he's catching the ball.

And that's, that's good point.

That's part of my, you know, kind of.

That's why I don't necessarily agree with a break in service.

Right.

Because you know, you get, I talk to a lot of parents are like, oh, well, I want to have it broken in.

I'm like, yeah, but they're going to do it in a generic apply to everybody kind of way.

It's not specialized to the players.

So, you know, when you're breaking it in, it might seem silly, but think about your hand in the glove.

Think about how it closes.

Think about how you want to receive the ball.

That stuff matters.

And it can thought of it.

You got to get the mold of the kid's hand.

Absolutely.

And then you break it in.

Well, well what I mean, they would say cowboy boots or cowboys would soak their, their feet in water with, in their boots and then wear them around and then it would mold To.

So water molding in leather is a very, very common practice.

That's how you get, that's how you get.

That's how you get it to, to form to, to a knife or a wallet or you know, adhere.

Adhere.

Exactly.

So, so to take that scale down, you know, you don't have to submerge it in water, but as your hand is in that glove and it heats up and it sweats, the glove will start to form to your hand.

And there's something to that try.

Don't, don't overlook that because you're impatient.

Okay, so let's talk about, let's talk about advanced, advanced gear.

So George, when do you start thinking about.

All right, now, I'm, I'm.

These are tools of the trade, right?

These are.

You start to specialize.

Yeah.

So probably a high school.

Yeah.

Because that, that's a, that's the time high school and of course summer ball.

But then, then you start putting more investment into a bag or a glove along with, with, with the shoes.

And, and of course the bat itself is going to cost more.

The gloves gonna.

But still making sure with that glove that's, that's you can get a new bat, new shoes.

But now with the gloves still making sure that it's going to fit the kid's hand and then finding out what position he's going to play on a regular basis.

Yeah.

And.

But the kid, like you said earlier, it's important for them to go out and practice to break it in the way.

Way they're where they're catching the ball and according to their hand.

We talk about molding so that now you knowing how your hand is fitting into the glove.

So it makes a big difference.

So I would say around high school that's when you, you're really serious about playing a game.

Yeah.

That's when you start putting more not only investment money wise, but invested in time.

So what about things like at this point in time, you might be, you might be driving a car for the first time and you're going to have your gear in your car.

Talk about how we keep our gear organized and in good shape.

That's a.

Now with the bat, especially with the bat and then the glove, do not leave them in your car, especially when it's cold, super hot.

So it's gonna change.

Especially with that bat.

It's gonna change the glove not so much, but still being able to take it.

You're going in the house because it's nice and comfortable.

So take your equipment into, into the house.

Yeah, absolutely.

We did hit on.

What's that?

The types of bats.

Composite.

Oh yeah.

Because if you use in a composite bat when it's below zero, a lot of people, a lot of people do not understand that you spend a lot of money on that, a composite bat.

Once it, once you leave it in the, in the car and it gets hot and everything starts warming up, the back will expand and then the cracks will start forming in the back.

So that's where, you know.

Yeah, weekends and it cracks and everything versus a metal bat won't do that.

You can use it in the cold and things like that.

Yeah.

And I'm up here in Ohio those first few games, you know, maybe you're starting in March.

Yes.

Yeah, they could be cold.

So that is something, you know, maybe down south they don't have to worry about that as much, but we do have to pay attention to that up here.

What about.

So I know that in some colleges that they will have deals with companies where gear is provided.

Like maybe guys get a glove when they're in college, then also like in the pros.

I don't know how that works, George.

How, how does that.

When, when do you, when do you reach a level where you're playing?

And all of a sudden now they're saying, we're providing you gear.

And then what part do you play in picking that gear or how does that work?

Once you sign a professional contract, you, you get say a free.