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Article: For the love of a glove: a baseball mitt just isn't a necessary piece of equipment, it's a part of life for many players.
- Article from:
- Baseball Digest
- Article date:
- August 1, 2004
- Author:
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THERE'S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT the smell of a new mitt (or even better, an old mitt)--"the smell of baseball," as former Mariners infielder Rafael Bournigal once said.
There's just something about the look of a mitt, new or old--as aesthetically pleasing, arguably, as any utilitarian device known to humankind. Noted sculptor Claes Oldenburg made a 12-foot-high, 5,800-pound first baseman's glove out of lead and wood and explained to skeptics, "Cezanne painted apples. I make mitts."
The other senses are taken care of, too, from the resounding thwack of a Randy Johnson fastball meeting the leather of his catcher's mitt, to the loving care with which Ichiro ...