Player preference plays a large role in the preparation of a glove to play, because the glove is a personal item.
"You do not put your hand in someone else's glove. It is like wearing underwear of someone else," said Jerry Hardin, a hitting coach with Anchorage Glacier Pilots.
Hardin, 58, broke his hand gloves over the years and said lanolin in shaving cream is the best to soften the leather, but there are players who avoid the foam.
Anchorage Bucs shortstop Logan Davis said the appearance of his glove is a top priority and shaving cream leather too dark. One of the first things he did when he receives a new glove flare on the sides, bending the tip of the pinky-finger and thumb to the outside, even if it adds no function in the field.