'I still got it in a safe': Players look back on their first gloves

The thrill of getting your first glove is often something that baseball players never forget. Whether you¡¯re a big leaguer or someone who just played baseball or softball growing up, there¡¯s special meaning behind that first mitt.

This week, MLB launched the ¡°First Glove¡± campaign, intended to promote youth participation in Play Ball. What better way to get the conversation started than to focus on something everyone who has played baseball or softball can relate to ¨C breaking in that very first glove.

Stars such as Juan Soto, Bobby Witt Jr. and Paul Skenes, former MLB players like Gary Sheffield and CC Sabathia and other prospects, softball players and even actors with ties to baseball all have clear memories of their first gloves.

¡°In fifth grade or so, my first real glove was a Wilson A2000,¡± said Skenes. ¡°My parents gave it to me. It was a Christmas gift. I got it in a little shoebox and I thought it was shoes, but it was actually a glove.¡±

Similar to Skenes, many players cited family members or friends who gave them their first gloves. Skenes, Pete Alonso, Teoscar Hern¨¢ndez and Willy Adames all said they got gloves from their parents. Soto said he received his glove from a friend in the Dominican Republic. What many of these stories had in common was the importance of that glove and how it shaped their baseball journeys.

¡°Without my dad putting that glove on my hand, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d be here,¡± said Hern¨¢ndez.

That first glove was more readily available for those who had fathers with MLB careers. Witt talked about getting a tan Wilson glove from his dad, 16-year big leaguer Bobby Witt. For Fernando Tatis Jr., he says he simply stole a glove from his dad, an 11-year veteran in the Majors.

Those who have played baseball or softball probably know that getting a glove is just the first step to using it -- you also have to break it in, which produces just as many vital memories for players. As Mookie Betts said, though, there¡¯s no shortcut to breaking in a glove -- everyone has their own unique way of doing it.

¡°Playing catch is the easiest way,¡± Betts said.

Other players also had pretty straightforward methods of breaking in mitts. Jackson Merrill said he¡¯d sit in front of a machine and continuously catch a ball. Jose Altuve put a ball in his glove and placed it underneath his mattress. There are plenty of common methods for breaking in a glove, however, that might sound crazy to someone who isn¡¯t immersed in the game.

¡°We used to put vaseline on the glove and kind of wrap it up and put it under my mattress and leave it there for a few days,¡± said Adames.

That hardly sounds extraordinary when compared to another extremely popular method.

¡°I think we did the whole ¡®put it in the oven trick,¡¯¡± said Skenes.

That¡¯s right. Putting gloves in an oven to break them in is a common tactic in the baseball world. Similarly, Detroit¡¯s Tarik Skubal put his glove in a microwave. There¡¯s no exact science to it, but the theory is that the heat from ovens and microwaves softens the glove¡¯s leather, making it more pliable and lets you stretch and form it easier.

Shockingly, many players still have their first gloves all these years later.

¡°I still got it in a safe,¡± said Angels star outfielder Mike Trout.

Witt said he used his first glove for three to four years before retiring it, and it now sits on his parents¡¯ shelves. Merrill and A¡¯s closer Mason Miller both said they used theirs for years and still have them.

For others, those gloves are either long gone, somewhere in their parents¡¯ garage or have been handed down to family members.

¡°Nah. That glove¡¯s long gone,¡± said A¡¯s outfielder Lawrence Butler.

Regardless of how players got their first glove, their methods for breaking them in or if they even still own those mementos, there¡¯s always a special story behind them and how they shaped their baseball journeys.

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