SolveYourProblem Article Series: Baseball
Teach Me About Baseball

Benefits of Batting Gloves In Baseball

Although many technological improvements have greatly advanced the effectiveness of baseball batting gloves, their basic premise remains has remained the same. Currently many hitters use two batting gloves - one on each hand - so that both hands can receive the benefits that a batting glove offers. These batting gloves may serve a baseball player in a variety of ways.

First, when using a batting glove at the plate to grip his bat a hitter effectively minimizes the chances of having the bat slip. This allows a batter to become much more efficient in hitting for average, power and contact. Not only does this minimize the slippage of the bat, but it also benefits the fans at the game. This is the case because if a bat slips out of the hitter’s hands, it may fly into the stands and strike a fan.

The second purpose a batting glove fulfills is acting as a buffer between a player’s hand and bat. When making contact with the ball, quite often a player will experience a painful stinging sensation shooting through his hand due to the vibration reverberating through the bat after contacting the ball. Thus, when using a batting glove, these stinging reverberations can be greatly reduced if not completely eliminated in some cases.

Another purpose the batting glove serves is that it cuts down on the cost of having to use pine tar. Pine tar is a natural sticky substance that enables a hitter to maximize his or her grip on the bat. However, the substance does not last through very many uses. Thus, in order for a player to consistently maximize his or her grip by using pine tar, they must constantly buy the product. Although inexpensive, when one repeatedly buys the substance over time, the cost can add up and far outweigh the price of one batting glove.

The final purpose a batting glove serves a baseball player is yet another form of hand protection. Although not one of the batting gloves original intentions upon invention, it has retrospectively enabled baseball players to protect their hands while on the base paths. For example, if a batter slides into second base and the defender steps on his hand with metal spikes, then his batting glove(s) will in effect keep that defenders metal spikes from puncturing his skin.

There are many different types and brands of batting gloves that a baseball player can use. Depending on that player’s preference he can choose from the Franklin models, to the Louisville Slugger versions with each one specially engineered to meeting the needs of becoming a better baseball player. Probably the most used type of batting gloves in Major League Baseball are Franklin’s. No matter which team you examine, each one of them will have at least a few players using this throwback type of batting glove. Unlike the new generation of batting gloves, which entail many bells and whistles, Franklin models are just your basic thin layer of leather.

Perhaps the most popular “new generation” batting glove used by Major League Baseball players is the Louisville Slugger Bionic Pro. These batting gloves are orthopedically designed to improve and maximize fit, comfort and performance. They entail a “pre-rated” finger design that naturally forms around the fingers that have dorsal hand expansion zones, which allow the glove to expand during hand muscle contractions. The biggest selling point of these batting gloves is the anatomic finger and palm pad. According to experts, this pad effectively eliminates any chance of getting reverberations after making contact with the ball.

There are also other ways a baseball player can protect his hands. According to Moises Alou of the San Francisco Giants, a “natural” batting glove can be used at zero cost and will have just as much effectiveness. He claims that before every game he urinates on his hands in order to promote tactibility. Alou also claims that this method greatly cuts down on the pain due to the bat reverberations caused by striking a ball. As out of the ordinary as this theory sounds, Alou has had a very successful career. Thus, his philosophy on using a “natural” batting glove can be taken as credible advice.

# # # # #

SolveYourProblem.com : 2009

> Home > Baseball: Main Page