Anyone out there play Ball?

[SeaCat]

I'm talking Baseball or Softball.

I'm on a team and haven't played for decades. I picked up a new glove and am trying to break it in. I've been hitting it with Mink Oil on a near daily basis but it's still stiff as an 18 year old virgin in a whorehouse. Any ideas on how to break it in?

Cat

 

[cheerful_deviant]

I'm talking Baseball or Softball.

I'm on a team and haven't played for decades. I picked up a new glove and am trying to break it in. I've been hitting it with Mink Oil on a near daily basis but it's still stiff as an 18 year old virgin in a whorehouse. Any ideas on how to break it in?

Cat

Oil it up good and park your car on it for the night.

 

[Liar]

Oil it up good and park your car on it for the night.

I was just going to suggest "more brute force", but that summed it up nicely.

 

[Belegon]

Let me answer this before you get a million PM's to ask me...

mink oil won't penetrate enough. that's what I've always been told...there are some good commercial glove oils out there now, but if you need to resort to stuff around the house? Lighter fluid supposedly works well. Really. but it does smell rather interesting, and I have never done it myself... even a light vegetable oil is probably better than the mink.

Personally, my "go to" was shaving cream. Lots and lots of it. Work it in hard, put a ball in the pocket and wrap the glove round it and then tie it with twine or wrap some of those really heavy rubber bands around it...shoelaces work too.


and don't just work the pocket...work the back of the glove too...otherwise the back of the glove stays resistant to motion.

some people say to bake it, but I never tried that...oh, and I wouldn't recommend combining that idea with the lighter fluid

 

[Boota]

I can't think of the name of this product, but I would imagine any sporting good store would have it. You spray it on your glove and bake it in the oven. After one application my new glove felt like it had been used for about a year. After the third application it flopped closed like the glove I had been using since I was twelve. Great stuff.

 

[R. Richard]

I had the following method described to me by a guy back in school.

1) Get pure neatsfoot oil. [The real stuff is made from the shins and feet (not hooves) of cows.
2) Rub the neatsfoot oil all over the glove. [There are also commercial glove conditionsers. Some people swear by them.]
3) Play catch with the glove for at least 50 catches.
4) Wrap the glove around a baseball, using rubber bands or whatever, to hold the glove around the ball. Leave the glove for at least two days.
5) Repeat 3) and 4) as needed. You only use the neatsfoot oil a couple three times a year, unless the glove gets really wet. If the glove gets wet, repeat 2), 3) and 4).

 

[MelissaOB23]

*raises my hand* I play softball...and I'm addicted to watching Baseball

 

[yui]

Personally, my "go to" was shaving cream. Lots and lots of it. Work it in hard, put a ball in the pocket and wrap the glove round it and then tie it with twine or wrap some of those really heavy rubber bands around it...shoelaces work too.

You didn't mean this to be hawt, did you?

Holy smokes, Bel! Pick me! Pick me! Break me in!




Hey, Super Cat. I don't play ball, but I rock as a cheerleader! I throw like a girl.

 

[Belegon]

Holy smokes, Bel! Pick me! Pick me! Break me in!

talk about instantly raising a guy's pulse by 50-60 beats...damn Yui!

Boota, you've apparantly had good luck with the baking thing...but I wonder if you need the specific product..

RR, I've always heard good things about neatsfoot oil too...

Cat, I think a lot of it just depends on what's available...

 

[SeaCat]

Hey all,

Thanks for the tips. I'll be hitting the shops tomorrow to see what's available.

Played our third game as a team tonight, got beaten again but hey we at least are starting to look like we know what we're doing out there.

I personally got two R.B.I.'s and made it around the bases to home thre times without getting out.

Snagged a Tip Foul with my free hand just before it tagged the Ump in the face. (That stung a bit.)

One little hint for catchers when they hold a bat to hand off to a runner coming in across home plate. (A courtesy) Stand facing the base line and hold the bat in front of you. Do not stand side on to the base line and hold the bat out behind you. You might get accidently groped.

Yui, after having watched women Fast Pitch Softball more than once, I never use that comment.

Cat

 

[Belegon]

I guess I'm too old school....

I'll toss or kick a bat towards the opposing teams dugout...but hand it to him as he scores? I guess I'm a bad sport, but I would never do that...

um....I kinda take the old "That's the enemy over there" attitude too much to heart I suppose. But I've had an awful lot of people come down that line knowing I was getting the ball before they got to me too...and I never asked or expected anything but to get leveled...

 

[SeaCat]

I guess I'm too old school....

I'll toss or kick a bat towards the opposing teams dugout...but hand it to him as he scores? I guess I'm a bad sport, but I would never do that...

um....I kinda take the old "That's the enemy over there" attitude too much to heart I suppose. But I've had an awful lot of people come down that line knowing I was getting the ball before they got to me too...and I never asked or expected anything but to get leveled...

Well Bel, there's a time and a place even on the Diamond. If the balls was just hit out into the outfield and is rolling along the fence I know it's going to be a short while before it comes in towards me. If the bat is laying nearby I'll kick it to the side or pick it up and hand it to a runner coming through.

If the ball is in play and within throwing distance then I am going to stop you, to hell with the bat and being nice about it.

If I'm running and you're butt is on the baseline then I will run you over. (Unless of course your small and cute, in which case I'll pick you up and carry you with me. )

Cat

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Personally, my "go to" was shaving cream. Lots and lots of it. Work it in hard, put a ball in the pocket and wrap the glove round it and then tie it with twine or wrap some of those really heavy rubber bands around it...shoelaces work too.

I never did the shaving cream thing, but the best success I ever had with breaking in a new glove was to completely soak the mit (front & back) with the mink oil (or any good leather tanning oil) and wrap it tight with postal rubber bands and then stuff the whole thing into a large coffee can. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but I think I've used this method on four or five gloves and it's worked well each time.

I'd think lighter fluid would dry the leather too quickly and make it prone to cracking and breaking down.

~lucky

 

[Belegon]

If I'm running and you're butt is on the baseline then I will run you over. (Unless of course your small and cute, in which case I'll pick you up and carry you with me. )

Cat

While the Giants are rivals of my favorite team and I have many times cursed the man, J.T. Snow earned my undying respect in that moment...

 

[Belegon]

I'd think lighter fluid would dry the leather too quickly and make it prone to cracking and breaking down.

~lucky

this makes sense to me...I mean, you wouldn't use alcohol on a new glove....or gasoline....perhaps why I never tried that method.

...but more likely it was just that my grandad taught me about the shaving cream method...

 

[Boota]

Bel, now that i think about it the product I'm talking about looks like shaving cream when it comes out of the can. Kind of makes me wonder if IS shaving cream. Or close enough. Maybe baking a glove with shaving cream on it would be the same thing?

 

[Selena_Kitt]

damn, I'm glad it isn't just me, because this whole conversation is making me all tingly....

 

[SeaCat]

Update.

I picked up some foaming glove conditioner from the store I bought the glove at. I followed the directions, using it once on the glove after cleaning it with a hot damp rag, letting it dry then using it again and playing catch while it's still wet. It seems to be working a bit, although the playing catch was a bit of a joke. (My wife throws accurately but softly, and the neighbor who decided to join in throws fast but wild.) I then hit the glove again with the foam, wrapped it around a ball, tied it and stuffed it into a can.

Tomorrow I'll work on it some more by taking it with me to a place with batting cages. My intention is to rent a cage for 30 minutes. For the first fifteen minutes I'll foam up the glove, set the machine on fast pitch, and just catch the balls. That should form the pocket nicely. For the last fifteen minutes I'll set the machine to slow pitch, grab my bats, and practice hitting. (I have two bats, one 26oz. and one 28oz. I have never used the 26oz. but others on my team seem to think I'll hit better with it. We'll see.)

Cat

 

[SeaCat]

I never did the shaving cream thing, but the best success I ever had with breaking in a new glove was to completely soak the mit (front & back) with the mink oil (or any good leather tanning oil) and wrap it tight with postal rubber bands and then stuff the whole thing into a large coffee can. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but I think I've used this method on four or five gloves and it's worked well each time.

I'd think lighter fluid would dry the leather too quickly and make it prone to cracking and breaking down.

~lucky

Just heard from my mother. (She used to do a lot of leather tooling and other work.) She informed me that if this new stuff I'm using doesn't work, then I should get me some Mink Oil.

Her directions are a bit labor intensive but she says they worked well for her friends oh so many years ago.

She said to work the Mink Oil into the glove, using a lot of it, then do what you mentioned with the rubber bands and a coffee can. She said that the next day I should re-apply the Monk Oil, again quite heavily, and play catch with someone who can throw hard and fast for at least one hundred catches. Then re-oil the glove and repeat the coffee can. As far asa she knows that is the best way to break in the glove. (It also makes the damn thing smell like a Mink and waterproof.)

Cat

 

[R. Richard]

Tomorrow I'll work on it some more by taking it with me to a place with batting cages. My intention is to rent a cage for 30 minutes. For the first fifteen minutes I'll foam up the glove, set the machine on fast pitch, and just catch the balls. That should form the pocket nicely. For the last fifteen minutes I'll set the machine to slow pitch, grab my bats, and practice hitting. (I have two bats, one 26oz. and one 28oz. I have never used the 26oz. but others on my team seem to think I'll hit better with it. We'll see.)

Cat

In general, you will hit better with as light a bat as will hold together under your swing and the pitching you face. You can swing a lighter bat faster and get more energy into the ball. Coaches use a very light bat to hit fungoes for outfield practice and they can hit it a mile. However, a fungo bat would never hold up in a major league game.

[According to the record Babe Ruth swung a bat of 35-36 inches in length and 36-47 ounces in weight. However, in his day, Ruth was known as "The strong one."]

 

[Belegon]

Re: bat weight

follow R.R.'s advice...

It has been proven that bat speed imparts more distance to a ball than weight. Get the lightest thing that will hold up. One of the reasons you see more broken bats now is because they shave every fraction of an oz. they legally can...

 

[SeaCat]

Well damn guys, I never knew that little piece of info.

I'll try my 26oz. in the cage tomorrow and in practice I'll try the 24oz. one of the others have.

Why did I think a heavier bat would work better? Damned if I know. I'll let you know how this works and what I find out.

Cat

 

[SeaCat]

Well,

I tried the lighter bat in the cages today and it did seem to make it easier to hit the ball. We'll see what happens in practice tomorrow.

As for the glove. Ouch!

I took it to the batting cages and set the pitching machine for Fast Pitch. I then stood at the end of the lane and started catching balls. Talk about catching a cannon ball. Now the glove is again wrapped around a ball, tied and stuffed in a coffee can. I will of course do this several more times. If this doesn't work though I'll be tempted to soak it in Corn Oil Overnight and then park a damned Bulldozer on it.

Cat