Glove It or Hate It - Who Should Wear a Baseball Glove to a Baseball Game

In the early days of Three if by Strike, I wrote an article about people wearing current players' jerseys and t-shirts to baseball games and whether or not there was an age when the jerseys should be hung up.  If you are over 25 and are wearing the jersey of a player younger than you, there's a problem.

There's also a problem if you are anywhere close to 25 and are wearing a baseball glove to the game.  During the average contest, nearly 150 baseballs are used, most of which end up in the stands.  Some are tossed by players or the ball boys, and others are hit in the form of foul balls or home runs.  The chances of catching a ball off the bat as a spectator are worse than the odds of you getting hit by lightning...twice.

But, is catching a ball really worth looking like an idiot?  When baseball was first invented, players didn't even use gloves.  They were men.  If you consider yourself a man, never take your baseball glove to a game.  Once you are out of Little League, the glove stays at home unless you happen to be playing on the field that day.  And you're not.  Leave it.  I've had a foul ball hit off my hand during a game.  Yeah, sure it hurt.  But you look to see who ended up with the ball, clap, and move on.

The gloves stay at home from age 13 and on.  When you hit 100 years old in a wheelchair and happen to find yourself at a baseball game, then yeah, why not.  Go ahead and dust off the ol' leather mitt.  But that is the one and only acceptable circumstance.