You may have watched the baseball game in a stadium or on TV and wondered why the base runners wear oven mitts on their hands? Actually, they were called sliding mitts in the beginning but later for the similarity to oven mitts people started to call them baseball oven mitts. Now they are known as both baseball sliding mitts and oven mitts.
Why Baseball Players Wear Oven Mitts On Hand
While wondering why the baseball players wear oven mitts you may have guessed the answer. Yes, they wear it to protect their hand from injuries. Because while running for catching the ball the runner slide and falls to the ground hard. At the time of falling they recline on the hand, that’s why the hand or fingers gets injured.
Some people also call them gloves, as the batsmen, goalkeepers, or boxers wear gloves on their hands. The different gloves don’t resemble each other in look but the purpose of wearing them is the same. Wearing these reduces the chance of jamming, fracturing, or breaking your fingers. Wearing sliding gloves or mitts gives protection to your wrist and hand too.
What Happens If You Don’t Wear Oven Mitts
If you don’t wear oven mitts while playing baseball, you can hurt your hand badly enough to leave your baseball career. Because at the time of playing you can fall on your hand, someone can step on your hand, your hand can get hit by the bat or fastball. Many other unpredictable incidents can happen. As a result, the worst can be you lose the strength of your hand.
So wear oven mitts, in case you don’t have them keep dirt or soil in your hand. Keeping dirt or soil on hand can save your fingers from jamming. This is the least you should do for your safety.
When The Baseball Players Started Wearing Sliding Mitts
Apparently, in 2008 or 2010 the sliding mitts were made for the first time for Scott Podsednik. He had injured his finger while sliding on the basepath before. After that, he used to wear a hard piece of plastic on his hand to protect it. Later he and his hand therapist created the gloves including pads with plastic. They covered the pads and plastic to make it comfortable.
Afterward, some of Podsednik’s teammates started to wear them. Eventually, it got popular among the baserunners and now everyone wears them. But they like to wear it on only one hand. Most of them were on the sliding hand. Again they don’t wear it all the time of playing. The oven mitts are worn while sliding and catching the ball.
The Sliding Gloves Are Made Of What
Nowadays oven mitts are updated a lot and made with more materials. They have a few more protection layers than before. Within the cover, elastic pads and hard plates are fixed at the places of fingers, in and outside of the palm and wrist.
If you’re a baseball player, while playing you can fall and some other player can step on your hand unintentionally. Happening such an incident is very normal, though it can break your bones of the hand. So to prevent the misfortune you should use the oven mitts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Purpose Of A Sliding Mitt?
A sliding mitt is made out of elastic pads, plates, and covers. The pads remain inside the mittens and the plates are on the outer side. This structure of the sliding mitts provides protection to the baseball player’s hand.
What Hand Should I Wear Your Sliding Mitt On?
There is no basic rule for wearing sliding mitts. You can wear it on any hand you hand. Though it is advised to wear it on the sliding hand. That is the hand you’re going to use the most in the game. However, you can wear it on your left or right hand without worry because the gloves are available in various shapes and sizes.
Why Do Baseball Players Hold Gloves While Running?
The oven mitts protect the hands of the players from getting injured, moreover, it prevents the fingers from jamming and the wrist from fracturing. All of these injuries can happen to the players while running. This is why they hold the sliding gloves or oven mitts at the time of running. The rest of the time they keep it in their pocket or to the referee.
Conclusion
The baseball oven mitts are basically the safety equipment for sliding. Though baseball is a safe game compared to football and cricket. But before oven mitts were invented many baseball players used to have severe injuries on their hands. Now they face fewer injuries compared to the past.
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