Parents Page

Parent's Page

It’s that time of year again. Time to dust off the baseball gear (or try to find it) and figure out what new equipment needs to be bought for the new season. Or, this could be the first year your son or daughter will be playing baseball, and you need start from scratch (no, it's not a good idea to recycle Dad's glove from his high school glory days for son/daughter to use.) For those in need of equipment, here’s a short list of local and web based stores to consider. This is just small sample of available outlets, and shouldn’t be considered as being endorsed by MTYAA Baseball.
Local Stores:

Sports Authority: Good place to shop for all types of baseball gear and clothes (pants, baseball T-Shirts, belts, extra socks, and the all-important sliding pants). The gloves and bats are tailored more for players up to about the Bronco level. They have a good selection of all the main brands of baseball gear.

Risan Athletic: (13649 NE 126th. #104 Kirkland, WA. (425) 821-5172). This is a small shop that handles uniform sales and mid-high end gloves and bats. Older players will want to check them out.

Big 5: Some, but not a lot of baseball gear and clothes. Low-mid priced bats and gloves - but with pretty good prices.

3GI: (www.3gisports.com). Small shop near Northgate that has a supply of higher end gloves, bats and clothes.

Internet Stores:

Baseball Express www.baseballexp.com

Direct Sports: www.directsports.com

Baseball Warehouse: http://www.baseballwarehouse.com

Ballglove Warehouse: http://www.ballglovewarehouse.com

EQUIPMENT BUYING GUIDE

Gloves: Buy a glove big enough for the player to easily control. You want the player to learn eye-hand coordination and to gain confidence in their ability to catch the ball (without getting hit in the face). Parents may be tempted to get the biggest glove they can find for their son or daughter, but a seven year old trying to hold up a 14-inch softball glove (i.e. a barn door) isn’t going to help them to learn proper catching technique. Their hand is going to be swallowed up by a big glove, their fingers won’t be able to reach far enough into the fingers of the glove, and they won’t have enough strength in their hand to actually squeeze the glove to catch a ball. A better approach is to buy a smaller glove that fits their hand, that’s not too stiff that allows them to squeeze and catch the ball. (Before the first team baseball practice, make sure you spend some time playing catch in the backyard to develop confidence with your players ability to catch the ball with the new glove. Stand about 10 feet apart to begin with and toss the ball underhand to the player in a nice easy arch. As the player gains confidence, start moving farther back, and then start throwing soft overhand tosses, gradually increasing the speed.)

Breaking in a glove: Many of the gloves on the market today don't require much of a break-in period to get them ready for game play. However, as the cost of the glove increases, so does the quality of leather - and an increase in stiffness (this is especially true with catcher's mits) Click here for additional information on breaking in gloves.


Bats: Don’t be in too big of a hurry to buy your son or daughter a new baseball bat, especially if they are just starting out - bats are the one recurring expense that can get expensive. The league will supply each team with bats that will be good enough to practice with and use for games. However, if you really want your son or daughter to improve with their hitting ability, it will require lots of swings at home (off of a batting-T, soft toss hitting into a net, or in a batting cage) – and will require taking the plunge and buying a bat. One word of warning – once you start buying bats (as most parents do), it will get to be an annual event, since as the player grows and gets stronger, the bat will need to get longer and a bit heavier as well. Expect to pay around $60 - $150 at the younger age. Prices are around $150 - $300 at the older level.

Some Recommendations:

General Information: Bats used in MTYAA Baseball are made out of aluminum, or a composite/aluminum or other alloy. Older players tend to use wood bats in practice (especially indoors) to work on hitting the smaller “sweet spot”. Bats are available in different lengths and weights, and are typically listed as number such as “ 30 -13”, indicating the bat is 30 inches long and the weight (in ounces) is 13 less than the length, or in this case, 17 oz. In catalogs youth bats are often listed as -11 or -13. Older players (or Senior League) are usually listed as -5 or -8, and Adult bats (also required in high school) are listed as -3. Normal sized bats have a barrel diameter of 2 ¼ inches, while bats for older players and adults have a barrel diameter of 2 ⁵/₈   inches. Some Senior League bats are referred to as “Big Barrel” bats – and have barrel diameters of 2 ¾ inches. All of the various bat sizes are legal for Pony League play.

Shetland & Pinto: Bats should be in the 26”-28” length range, and as light as you can find. Unfortunately, most of the bats that the league supplies are a bit on the heavy side – around 20 – 22oz. (Due to the cost, the league can’t afford to buy lighter bats – hopefully some donated bats will find their way to these divisions.

Mustang: Bats are usually in the 29”-31” inch range and anywhere from -10 to -13 in weight. Some of the better (and bigger) 10 year olds will start using big barrel bats.

Bronco: Bats are usually in the 30”-32” range, although shorter players may decide to go with a 29” bat. Weights are typically in the -8 to -10 range.

Pony: Bats are usually in the 32”-34” range, although shorter players may go with a 30” bat. Players are bigger and stronger, and bat weights are increasing, with a range of -3 to -8 being typical. Players often have wood bats for indoor practice as well.

Colt and above: At this age, you will see lots of expensive 32”-36” bats at a -3 weight. Wood bats are commonly used for indoor practices. Bat weights are usually not provided with wood bats, although some wood composite bats are produced in a -3 weight.



Cleats: Young players in the Shetland/Pinto divisions can usually get by with tennis shoes, but they will have problem playing on wet fields (especially wet grass) without slipping and falling down. To avoid slipping, some type of shoe with molded rubber cleats can make a difference. To stretch the dollar, it is fine to use soccer cleats for baseball. However, since baseball cleats have an extra cleat by the toe, they cannot be used for soccer (unless you cut-off the extra toe cleat). Although many parents have complained about the use of metal cleats, they are legal at the Pony Division level, and are commonly used there. Metal cleats can cause some nasty injuries, but players should get used to wearing them because they are used extensively at the high school level. There are problems with metal cleats on some field-turf fields however – with some injuries being caused by metal cleats catching on the turf while sliding. Older players may need to have a pair of molded rubber cleats to go with metal cleats for safety issues on Field Turf fields. In addition, some Field Turf fields have banned the use of metal cleats – including Mountlake Terrace High School.



Helmets: MTYAA Baseball provides batting helmets for all players (All base-runners, on-deck batters warming up, and of course batters must wear an approved helmet). However, if you think your son or daughter will be playing for at least a couple of years, you may want to consider buying a helmet for them to use (and then not share it!). Having their own helmet makes it easier (and safer) to do batting practice with Mom or Dad at the park, will ensure that the helmet they use is a perfect fit - and avoids the problems associated with sharing helmets (I still remember the phone call we got years ago from a Mom on my daughter's softball team informing us that her daughter had head lice! Every girl showed up at the next practice with their own helmet.) Note: Helmets provided by MTYAA Baseball are thoroughly cleaned before the start of each season. Although they may be harder to find, look for a helmet sized as "one size fits all" which has two internal elastic straps that make for a perfect fit and ensure that the helmet doesn't come off.



Sliding Pants: These are padded, mid-thigh length shorts that are worn under baseball pants. The provide extra layers of fabric to cushion the landing when sliding on dirt. Other baseball items to consider:

Batting Gloves: These cut down on blisters from forming during those long sessions in the batting cage, improve the grip on the bat, but more importantly, keep the hands warm during our typical cool (cold!) spring weather. Many players also like to wear a batting glove inside their glove when in the field to provide more cushion.

Hooded sweatshirt and windbreaker: Spring weather in our area can be rather unpleasant - especially for the younger players. Make it less miserable by keeping your player warm!

Extra baseball pants and socks: Unless you really enjoy washing a uniform after every practice and game, invest in extras!