This summer my sister and her family moved to the states for her post. Apparently my 6 years old nephew got interested in baseball, so I though I’d buy him a glove. So I’m looking in Amazon at kids gloves but I have no idea what these measurements mean.
So, what size for a 6 years old?
Edit: Tom - For the love of god why won’t you let me edit the title.
You should wrap around a baseball to break it in. Don’t use your butt.
Thanks for that ;)
Now that we’ve got the butt jokes done with (or have we?), please try for some serious advice.
Not knowing the size of your nephew, or what position he’s interested in playing cuts my recommendation a bit, but a 9.5-10" glove is a good bet for a kid that age. Mizuno and Rawlings are the gloves I swear by if you’re looking for a brand recommendation.
Most of the smaller kids’ sized gloves won’t be position specific, so you “should” be good with anything in the size triggercut recommended. Don’t go with a catcher/first base glove. Another brand I’ve personally had good luck with is Easton.
The best way I’ve found to break it in, as already mentioned, is to take the glove and put a baseball in it, and wrap a rubber band or something around it so a nice pocket will form where the ball should be landing. A bit of glove oil to loosen the leather up also works wonders and makes the process take less time.
I think you’re probably best off actually going to a sporting goods store and talking directly to someone. But in general, for a kid under 8, you’re probably looking at about 9" for an infield glove – which will be more suitable for learning fielding than an outfield glove or a specialized first baseman’s glove. (Unless he has expressed firm aspirations to be the next Pudge Rodriguez, don’t get him a catcher’s mitt.)
Also, don’t forget to take into account which hand he throws with. :)
Edit to add: Also, also, don’t forget to get one for yourself!
Won’t he outgrow it pretty quickly in any case? I’m not trying to talk you out of getting one. It’s a great idea. However, I think when I was that age, I learned to catch a baseball with my hands, and then it was even easier to use a glove. But my main point is that you probably don’t want to spend a ton on it, though you definitely don’t want to just get the ultra cheap plastic kind either (they barely work, and they can actually hurt to wear).
OK, thanks for all the information. I wasn’t aware there were role specific gloves. I can’t go and buy it to him in a store because I’m living in Ireland now. If he was here I’d probably buy him a hurling stick.
I suppose he will, but I still like to get him something that might cheer him up in a new country. I know my daughter had a rough time when we first got here. I don’t want to spend a furtune on it though for the reason stated above.
Are any of these good?
A few of those are from some decent brands. I’m a Rawlings guy myself, but Mizuno is also quite a solid brand. Easton’s and Louisville’s gloves aren’t as well known as their bats, but they’re not too shabby from what I’ve been told. I’ve never been a big fan of Macgregor or Franklin, but so much of it is personal taste.
I’d say the best thing to do is actually get him to try some on and make sure that the slots for his fingers are a good fit. Some may be made for slightly different hands, and that’s just going to be aggravating for him.
Oh, and I’d normally suggest twine over rubber bands as you can make it tight and not worry about the elastic letting it back out over time, but I also put them through longer breaking in periods than most would and we’re talking about a 6 year-old, not a pro. The delayed gratification is likely to be hard enough as it is.
PS - don’t get it large with the notion he’d grow into it. It should fit … like a glove ;)
From firsthand experience: the worst thing you can do to a kid playing little league baseball is give him a glove that looks like a toy. From then on and for a very long time, he’s that kid, the one with the Dora The Explorer plastic ball glove.
My first glove I still own. It is a 1974 Rawlings model autographed by Davey Johnson. Just measured it, and it is a 10.5" glove, and I wore it well at age 7 and I was average size for my age. Still fits, could still use it to pick 'em at second base if necessary.
On that page, I love that 10.5 Louisville Slugger glove, and the Rawlings 9.5" is also very nice.
Fuck you guys, I’m getting this:
The Louisville Slugger gloves are very nice. I’ve purchased them for both my son and daughter in the past and they are good quality gloves that hold up well. They also come game ready, which means they are designed to not need a break in period or conditioning before use. Best of all, Dick’s Sporting Goods sells the 10.5" model for $30 regular price and often marks it down $5-$10 when they have baseball specific sales, making it a great price/performance combo.
Dora the Outfielder?
Go to a Goodwill or a Salvation Army thrift shop. Get a cheap, smaller glove that has allready been broken in properly and also get him a larger one that also is well formed- that way mom can play catch with him Breaking in a glove takes a long time and it kinda sucks playing with one that isn’t shaped properly or isn’t broken in at all-like catching a ping pong ball in a wine glass. You should not have to spend more than $5 for each.
If he’s just six, you probably won’t need to worry about that. Chances are, the coach will be moving him from position to position for years yet, and specialization will come later.
Are any of these good?
Another vote for the Louisville Slugger glove if you can get it small enough; my boy was using that this year, and liked it a lot.
100% on that recommenation. In the words of Kevin McAllister, “You can get beat up for wearing something like that. Yeah, I had a friend who got nailed because there was a rumor he wore dinosaur pajamas.”
Another vote for Rawlings. One of my boys had a Mizuno, and it just never broke in right or fit as naturally as the Rawlings glove.
I had a Rawlings when I was a kid, with a facsimile of Roger Clemens’s signature. Loved the glove, and the Rocket. But I never played much baseball, and Rocket fell from grace. And then to add insult to injury, he got into that doping scandal, as if joining the Yankees wasn’t bad enough.
It was still a solid glove, though.
Thanks for all the information again. I’m not sure what’s the big deal with the Dora glove as I know that kids like her very much and I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.
marxeil - you’re kidding on that last sentence, right? Having been on the field with “that kid” a while back, he’ll get laughed off the field.
This came from Dick’s Sporting Goods, which was never where I bought my gloves, but I’d go with it anyway:
Sizing Chart
Age Position Glove size
Under 8 Infield 9 inches
Under 8 Outfield 11 inches
9-13 Infield 9-10 inches
9-13 Outfield 11-12 inches
High School/Adult Infield 10 1/2-11 1/2 inches
High School/Adult Outfield 12-12 1/2 inches
The only position-specific thing to avoid is a catcher’s mitt, and they’ve got a giant puffy ridge along one side, so they’re easy to tell apart. Other than that, pick something that looks cool and that you can imagine your nephew striding into the outfield with in pride. He’ll love you forever. :D