PLASTIC INSERTS IN BASEBALL GLOVES
by
GORDON KING, OWNER, A1 GLOVE REPAIR, LLC.
Baseball/Softball glove manufacturers today, put plastic inserts into almost all new gloves. They are in Fielders gloves as well as, 1st Base mitts & Catcher’s mitts.
My research, has come up with several reasons why the manufacturers have chosen to implant these into the pinky and thumb padding.
Most glove companies state that, the inserts are in the gloves to protect the glove user from breaking a finger.
As a professional, who works on gloves every day and works with countless customers young and old, I am not certain that the inserts don’t cause as many broken fingers as they prevent.
These are my professional observations regarding the plastic inserts:
- They stiffen the pinky and thumb fingers, in most cases, making those fingers impossible to bend or ever break-in.
- In my study of accessible, U. S. court records, I note that since 2007, there have been 176 lawsuits against baseball/softball glove manufacturers for broken fingers. Please be aware, that none of these suits ever resulted in any compensatory judgement in favor of the consumer.
- The manufacturer’s legal team’s, explain that the inserts are in place to give the user the maximum protection. Therefore, any injury incurred must be due to player error, in catching a batted or thrown ball.
- For easier usability of all gloves, at A1 Glove Repair, upon customer request, will remove the plastic inserts. This makes the glove, easier to use and the pinky and thumb are more in control of the player. It gives the player much more feel for any ball caught too.
So, the information and photos are here for you to decide… Are the inserts there to truly protect the player?, or are the inserts there to protect a manufacturer in the event of injury?
At A1, we make our best effort to explain the existence of these inserts to all customers. Then it becomes their choice, whether we should remove them.
The process to remove them takes 7 minutes to remove the inserts and necessary strings and about 17 minutes to return all the necessary strings.
At some point, should the glove user/player wish to have the inserts re-installed for any reason, it can easily be done in 24 minutes.
THE PLASTIC INSERTS BELOW WERE REMOVED FROM A 2018 SSK 12” STANDARD FIELDERS GLOVE. EACH INSERT IS USUALLY 6-7” LONG, (DEPENDING ON THE GLOVE SIZE & COMPANY.) INSERTS ARE SEWN INSIDE PADDING AND HELD IN PLACE THROUGH THE HOLES BY STRINGS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE GLOVE:
THE PLASTIC INSERTS BELOW WERE REMOVED FROM A 2017 RAWLINGS HEART OF THE HIDE FIRST BASEMAN MITT. THE LARGE INSERT IS 10” LONG, THE SMALL INSERT IS 6” LONG. INSERTS ARE SEWN INSIDE PADDING AND HELD IN PLACE THROUGH THE HOLES BY STRINGS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE GLOVE:
