(Because I keep some old gloves on my bookshelf…)
While looking for some artwork for the piece on the Forbes baseball special, I came across this 2001 article from the magazine on why they’re not making baseball gloves like they used to.
Upshot:
[T]oday’s inactive, rushed-to- slaughter, feedlot cattle don’t have hides as strong and mature as ’60s range cattle. But more distressing is that the era of instant gratification (and more single moms as glove buyers for Little Leaguers) now requires glovemakers to give kids a product they can easily flex in the store and play with right away….Companies do this by using thinner hides, oil-treating the leather and using less padding. Nearly gone are the days when it took two months of careful nurturing and playing catch to make a glove. Companies obviously sell more gloves this way. Purists are aghast.
For what it’s worth, I think that “single mom” line is gratuitous. I’m sure lots of modern parents in general — who don’t have the time or patience to break them in by traditional methods — are buying such equipment.
is available on Amazon.com,
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