Summary:
Fathers always buy their children enormous baseball gloves; it's a fact of childhood. The gloves are oversized and never fit on the poor kid's hand, but dad insists that they will grow into it. Eventually. Once you reach adulthood, you tend to realise that dad probably just wanted to save himself the price of two baseball gloves: one for when you were 6 and had no hope of any kind of achievement in baseball, and the other when you were 10 or 12 and playing on an after school ...
Fathers always buy their children enormous baseball gloves; it's a fact of childhood. The gloves are oversized and never fit on the poor kid's hand, but dad insists that they will grow into it. Eventually. Once you reach adulthood, you tend to realise that dad probably just wanted to save himself the price of two baseball gloves: one for when you were 6 and had no hope of any kind of achievement in baseball, and the other when you were 10 or 12 and playing on an after school team. Dad was thinking.
Despite the fact that kids tended to hate the size of their first baseball gloves, they really did grow into them. What made that glove last until the age of 10 and still be in good shape was completely dependent on the original choice. Was the glove plastic or leather? What sort of basket did it have? Was the stitching sound?
The attitude of the parents largely affects the condition of a child's baseball glove come Little League time - If school teams are on the agenda then it's more likely that a good quality glove will be bought. If mom and dad just want to let their kid play around, it's unlikely the glove they choose will last. Although you can never know the future for your child, a good quality baseball glove is never a bad investment.
Some parents cope with the wide array of gloves by sticking with a known brand. While this does very often reflect the quality of the glove, a brand name will also cost more than generic gloves which can also be of good value. Shop around! Don't be afraid to buy a bigger glove, your little guy or girl really will grow into it. If it lasts until a real game, you've done your job.