Back when I used to play the game, I burned through a fair number of baseball gloves. You see, gloves grow old. And regardless of how well you manage to care for it, one day it’s going to need a replacement. When that day comes, the glove that you call your favorite today will become all but obsolete.
Now, I’m the sentimental type and I get attached to things quickly. You may say that’s a bad habit, but it’s a habit nonetheless. I don’t like throwing away any baseball glove that manages to last an entire season with me. Needless to say, my attic was close to overflowing with old junk gloves at one point.
Finally, after my wife had yelled at me for the umpteenth time to get rid of them, I decided to do something about it. Instead of tossing them in a trash bag, I decided I wanted to display the gloves in all their glory. So, I took every one of them down to my basement workshop/man cave and went to work.
I was pretty happy with how everything turned out, and that made me want to share my experience with you, my readers. If you don’t want to get rid of your old gloves either, my guide on how to display baseball gloves can give you a better way to deal with them. So, let’s hop in.
Clever Ways to Display Your Baseball Gloves
There’s a story behind each baseball glove. Whether it’s the first high-end baseball glove that got you into the game, or the one that helped your team seal a win, there’s something worth showing off in every glove you own. And if the thought of displaying your glove has you intrigued, well, there are a couple of ways you can do that.
There’s an easy method that doesn’t take much effort on your end. And then there’s the one I like to call the “Fun” method, where you make everything yourself. I’ll walk through both approaches, but regardless of the one you go with, make sure to plan ahead.
I had a whole basement worth of space to work with when I set up my display area, so I had a bit of leeway in where I wanted things. If your space is limited, you’ll need to think carefully about how everything is going to line up.
But more on that later. For now, let’s look at the two methods I just mentioned.
1. The Easy Method: Get a Display Case
When I say the “Easy” method, what I mean is that this route doesn’t need any craftsmanship skill on your end. There are plenty of acrylic and glass display cases made specifically for baseball gloves, and you can find them at your nearby sporting goods stores or online if you know where to look.
They’re also pretty affordable, so picking up a couple of them shouldn’t burn a huge hole in your wallet. If you have two or three gloves, a couple of these cases will do the job. To spice things up, add some nice ambient lighting around them.
Display cases for baseball gloves usually have a glass or acrylic cover with a metal or wooden base. Some cases also feature UV-protected glass, which helps keep the leather from fading if the case sits anywhere near a sunny window. Others go with interesting design touches like grass carpeting or a wood varnish base to make the whole thing look more stylish.
What to Look for in a Glove Display Case
Not all cases are built the same, so here’s what I’d check before buying one:
- Material: Acrylic is lighter and more shatter-resistant than glass, which matters if the case is going on an open shelf where it could get bumped.
- UV protection: If your display area gets any natural light, look for a case with UV-filtering acrylic or glass so the leather doesn’t dry out or discolor over time.
- Mounting style: Wall-mounted cases save floor and shelf space, while freestanding or tabletop cases work better if you want to move the display around later.
- Riser height: A lot of cases come with an adjustable riser or stand so the glove sits at an angle instead of lying flat, which makes the pocket and webbing more visible.
Since this route requires investing a bit of money, albeit not much, I don’t favor it too much myself. I’ll admit I have two display cases where I show off the two all-time favorite gloves that got me through my high school years, but for the rest of my collection, I went with the other method I’ll get into next.
That said, my personal quirks don’t mean you shouldn’t go with this method if it works for you. It all comes down to taste, and if you think a display case is the right way to show off your old baseball gloves, then by all means go for it. It’s undoubtedly a great way to showcase a collection.
2. DIY Method: Let Your Creativity Run Free
The DIY method takes a bit more skill to pull off. Instead of buying a display case, you use your own creativity to come up with interesting ways to show off your glove collection. It requires a decent bit of effort, depending on what you’re trying to build.
Since the DIY approach depends entirely on your imagination, I can’t hand you one single roadmap here. But I can give you four easy, cool ideas that you might want to try, along with my two cents on each. Whether you use them is entirely up to you.
· Diamond Wall Shelf
The diamond is where the dreams are made for a baseball player. And once your glove’s glory days are behind it, it makes sense for it to head back to the diamond for its final rest, right?
You can build a DIY wall shelf shaped like a baseball diamond to store your old baseball gloves. If you’re decently skilled at woodworking and have a few power tools around the house, putting one together shouldn’t be too difficult.
Of course, you can also hire a woodworker if you don’t want to do the grunt work yourself, there’s no shame in that. You can also add a couple of glove holders if you want the gloves to stand upright on the shelf.
Since you’re building the shelf to your own specs, you get to decide how big it is based on how many gloves you have in your collection. It’s a great way to display a growing collection without running out of room.
· Glove Frames
We all love paintings on the wall, right? Well, what if instead of hanging wall art, you used your discarded old gloves to set up glove frames?
I have three glove frames on my basement wall, and I scratched my head for a good number of hours trying to figure out how to pull it off. For the frame, I went with a small bulletin board backed with black canvas. The tricky part was deciding how to fix the glove to the board.
In the end, I nailed it securely to the board through the inside of the glove. It took some careful maneuvering, but once it was done, it looked pretty sharp. This is another simple way to showcase a glove. If you have a bigger board, you can fit two or four gloves on it just as easily.
· Wall of Gloves
If you’re like me with a huge collection of discarded gloves, this is the coolest way to show it off. My wall of gloves is my pride and joy. And while it sounds intimidating, it’s actually pretty easy to set up.
Image Credit: pinterest.com/pin/42010209016282092/
First, I had to set up a wall frame to hang my gloves from. For that, I went with a couple of inexpensive wooden shelf boards, the kind you can pick up at IKEA or any home store. I attached the boards to the wall with screws, leaving about an inch of space between each one. That gave it a nice fence-like look I was pretty happy with.
From there, it was a simple matter of installing a couple of glove holders on the boards with nails and setting each glove on top. Once you populate a wall with a large collection of gloves, it looks pretty darn awesome.
· Shadow Box Frame
If you want to retire one specific glove, like the one from your last game or your kid’s first season, a shadow box is worth considering. It’s basically a deep frame with a glass front, built to hold an object with some depth instead of a flat photo.
You can find pre-made shadow boxes at most craft stores in sizes deep enough to fit a folded or lightly stuffed glove, or build your own if you want more control over the dimensions. Line the back with felt or fabric, mount the glove with a few discreet stitches or wire ties through the lacing, and you’ve got a display that works well next to a jersey, a ticket stub, or a team photo. It’s a nice option when you want to treat one glove as a keepsake rather than part of a bigger collection.
How to Make Your Baseball Glove Display Look Better (and Last Longer)
If your baseball glove display looks a bit dull even after careful planning, I know what you’re missing, it’s the lighting. Lighting is a critical element in any display.
So, if you want to spice up the look of your gloves, add a couple of ambient lights to the room and experiment with their placement. LED fixtures are a smarter pick than halogen or incandescent bulbs since they run cooler and won’t dry out the leather sitting close to them over time.
Also, make sure you clean your baseball glove properly before putting it on display. A dirty, unconditioned glove doesn’t look nearly as good to an observer, and dried-out leather is more prone to cracking over time. If you’re not sure how often that upkeep should happen once a glove is retired and on display rather than in regular use, my guide on how to take care of a baseball glove covers the basics.
One more thing worth keeping in mind: try to avoid displaying gloves in direct sunlight or right next to a heat vent. Both will dry the leather out faster and can fade the color over time, whether the glove is behind glass or out in the open.
Final Thoughts
Some might say going to such lengths just to display a glove is a pretty vain thing to do. But naysayers will be naysayers, and those of us who grow attached to our gloves know there’s more to it than that.
To me, throwing away a glove feels like getting rid of a part of myself. Turning them into an aesthetic part of the room lets me keep them around longer, and they double as a pretty great conversation piece.
I hope this guide on how to display baseball gloves gave you a few good ideas for what to do with your old gloves. Cheers!
With 4 years of Division II experience, a .272 career batting average, .410 on-base percentage, and 7 home runs, I’m now in my fifth season. I’ve played baseball since age 3, alongside future MLB Draft picks, and I aim to pursue a career in baseball professionally, be it playing, coaching, or scouting.