Travel ball coach: No need for sliding mitts on base paths

Cleveland Guardians shortstop Andres Gimenez had 30 stolen bases in 2023. (Getty Images)

My father always said to not let small things have a big impact on your life. But, I’m sorry, Dad, there is one small thing that continues to bother me.

Sliding mitts.

The worst thing to happen to baseball in years.

Let’s think about this for a second. A kid is wearing a sliding mitt to prevent injuries to his fingers when sliding head-first. To start, a large portion of youth baseball leagues don’t even allow head-first slides until age 13. There is no reason why a sliding mitt should ever be needed then.

To all the coaches out there: How frustrating is it to give a signal to a player on first base who is distracted while fiddling with his oven mitt? He misses the first two pitches of the at-bat because he’s putting his brownie-maker on?

I implore first-base coaches to stop taking and holding equipment for players. If a player can’t carry it around the bases, he shouldn’t be wearing it in the first place.

Here’s a simple lesson to all players, parents and coaches taught to me by former major leaguer and baserunning instructor Bobby Meacham. If you want to protect your fingers, take your batting gloves off at first base and hold them in your fists. Your closed fist will protect you while also preserving the palms of your batting gloves from being damaged while sliding.

To the kids out there: You may think it’s cool to steal second base while looking like you make cookies in the dugout. But in my opinion, the coolest kids hold batting gloves in their fists.

Please, parents. Stop the madness! And while we’re at it, take off your elbow pad, shin guard, and face shield. Play baseball, get hit by pitches, feel the pain, get hurt, recover, play more baseball.

It’s all part of the experience. Let’s not coddle our baseball players.