Maybe you’re curious about how the different positions in baseball work. Or maybe you’re just a baseball beginner, who is trying to get the basic of baseball down.
Well here’s a detailed difference between the first baseman’s glove, regular glove, and catcher’s mitt, and how each of them is different in properties and play style.
Let’s see shall we?
Why are First Baseman Gloves Different?
The first key difference to note is the size difference in the first baseman gloves, which are also commonly known as the Infielder Gloves, the size ranges from 12.5 inches to 13 inches. Normally these gloves tend to have a single post web that increases visibility, quick ball retrieval, and flexibility while securing the ball at the first base. These gloves are made from soft and supple leather to allow quicker break-in and give greater flexibility.
First Base Gloves Vs. Regular Gloves
Well here are some of the key differences, which are pretty spot-on noticeable on a first-base glove.
Size And Shape
So here’s the thing that you’d first notice when seeing a first baseman’s glove. The glove is typically made huger, almost 12 -13.5 inches in size. The larger size helps in scooping up the ball from the ground.
Normal gloves on the other hand are more catered to fit your hand and properly fit the size of each of the customers. The gloves are designed to fit the hands of kids or adults properly.
Webbing
First baseman gloves are designed to have a single post webbing design, which allows for quick ball retrieval, thus allowing ball entrapment.
Other gloves may have different webbing styles that will cater to the position that one plays in or the age of the person.
Padding
The padding is made sure to be extremely protective since a lot of rough hits and quick balls come to the infielders at an immense speed. So this ensures that you get immense protection from all the hard-hit balls.
While other regular gloves might differ in terms of padding or how they are built for the different positions that they play in.
Finger Design
The finger design is specially designed for the needs of the infielders to flexibly and freely move around the field. While also allowing enough surface area for ball entrapment to be possible. The finger design allows gloves to be able to scoop the ball easily and provide better ball control.
Regular gloves on the other hand have a more common and standardised fit that’s regular for most players present on the field.
Wrist Closure
The 1st base glove and regular glove are widely different in this category too, as the wrist closure for the first baseman is comparatively wider and longer to ensure a secure fit and provide extra control when scooping or stretching through the game.
Regular gloves will tend to have regular wrist closures that are mostly catered to the player’s preference.
First Base Gloves Vs. Catcher’s Mitt
Now here comes a difference that is severely important to note. If you are a rookie to baseball then you should have an understanding of, how to differentiate between the two.
Catcher’s Mitt is Big
Now when I say catcher’s mitts are big, I mean they are huge, compared to the size of a first baseman’s glove, they are almost thrice as big as them! Well, the size of a catcher’s mitt is mostly 32 – 34 inches. These are designed so that pitchers are provided a larger target and secure those fast-moving balls.
On the other hand, first baseman gloves are larger than most regular gloves but as stated before they come in the 12.5 – 13 inches range. They are designed to scoop and secure ground balls.
More Padding in Catcher’s Mitt
It’s common sense at this point, if you are a catcher and you are the pitcher’s target you’re gonna be catching some hard-hit balls that come towards you. So catcher’s mitts have been designed to protect you from an excess of those hits by trying and reducing the impact that comes from the ball. They have padding present throughout the gloves to avoid any impact from those high-velocity pitches.
If we’re talking about first baseman gloves in this case, then it’s quite simple to understand that these gloves are designed to have padding mostly present in the palm area to avoid any impact targeted there.
Open Web In First Basemen Gloves
Now it’s no big shocker, that these gloves will tend to have an open web, for easier entrapment of the ball, whilst allowing to scoop the ball and giving enough control to the player as well to try and pass it quickly.
While in the case of the Catcher’s mitt, the gloves are designed to have a closed web which will allow a bigger surface area allowing pitchers to target it on this area easily, while also allowing ball entrapment easily.
Elongated Finger in First Basemen Gloves
Well again a no-big-brainer, but the First Basemen gloves tend to have a more elongated finger compared to most to allow enough ball control, which is also designed for enough ball control, making easier it to transfer the ball quickly and rapidly.
In terms of the Catcher’s Mitt, the glove has a more rounded finger which is heavily padded to ensure protection to the catcher’s hand from the impact of the balls coming to him in tremendous force and also allowing it to be secured firmly in the pocket.
Final Words
Well, I hope this article helped you to understand the difference between regular gloves, first basemen gloves, and the catcher’s mitt. And how each of them has a key role in trying and keeping their position in the field, while still having different functions thus having different gloves catered to their play style and design.
