How to choose the right baseball glove for a pitcher

If you're a pitcher, you'll want to make sure that you choose a proper ball glove. Of the few pieces of equipment you'll use (including a good jacket and maybe a pitcher's toe for your cleats or some long-sleeve Under Armour shirts) your glove is probably the single-most important piece of equipment you have.

Now this doesn't mean you need to go out and plunk down $300 on a brand new mitt. There are good deals to be had for much less money. But when choosing your glove, there are a few things I suggest your glove has: Purchase a glove that's 11-3/4 to 12 inches, that has a closed web (to hide the baseball, of course), and that's all one color (e.g., all brown or all black).

If you are a guy like me who leaves your index finger outside the back of your glove, then do try to get a piece of leather to cover it.

Some glove companies such as Rawlings are offering this on their gloves. (If you don't wear Rawlings, you can simply take your glove to a leather shoe repair shop and have a piece of leather affixed to the back of your mitt.)

The reason this is important is because often, without knowing it, pitchers tip off their off-speed pitches by making subtle movements with their index finger. If it's covered, however, those movements are shielded from view.

Rawlings, SSK, Mizuno, and Zett (shown above right) make good gloves. Wilson and Nakoma tend to be on the heavy side while Akadema and Nike tend to be a bit lighter in weight. Another company, comparable to Akadema, is Yennaco. These gloves are made by Jay Yennaco, a friend of mine and former Chicago Cubs player.

Most premium-leather baseball gloves have a "break in" time of about three or four weeks. Baseball blogger Joe Janish, a regular contributor to my Let's Talk Pitching Baseball Forum offers some helpful tips on "How to Break in Your Glove" here.