Did you just sign up your child for Little League and then realize you don’t know the first thing about baseball? Or are you feeling a burning passion to get into the game of baseball even though you know your opportunity to get drafted into the major leagues has long since passed?

Well, you’ve got to start with a glove. It’s all good and well to want to throw and hit, but any ball player absolutely needs an implement with which to catch a baseball. Don’t believe me? Have someone throw a baseball at you full force and try to catch it with your bare hands. After you recover, you’ll find yourself in the sporting goods section looking at an array of baseball gloves that is down right confusing.

So there are four main types of gloves – catcher’s mitts, first base gloves, infielder’s gloves, and outfielder’s gloves. If you’re looking for a left-handed catcher’s mitt, you’re in for quite a challenge. Nearly 100 percent of catcher’s mitts are right-handed. No, this isn’t a right-handed bias; it actually makes good sense. Catchers need to throw right-handed because there are far fewer left-handed hitters than right. What does that mean for the catcher? They will have more space to throw if they throw right-handed with a right-handed batter up. Okay, that’s a little confusing, but picture this – a catcher is squatting behind home plate, and the batter is standing to the left of him/her. There is more room to throw to first base or second if they throw right-handed. (Here’s a fun little fact: A right-handed glove actually fits on the left hand. The right or left-hand actually refers to the arm the player throws with.)

First base gloves tend to have a deeper pocket, making it easier to pick balls out of the dirt or scoop up balls. Both the catcher’s mitt and first base glove will have more padding than the other gloves, as the balls thrown at this two positions tend to be harder and stronger throws.

Then there are the infielder’s and outfielder’s gloves. Infielder’s gloves had a smaller, wider pocket. This wider, shallow pocket makes it easier for quick ball retrieval. This glove is intended for second, shortstop, and third. The right, center, and left fielders will all use an outfielder’s glove, which is longer than any of the other gloves, 12 inches or more, to give the fielder greater chances of catching fly balls.

There are plenty of other factors that go into selecting a baseball glove. First, most people will worry about price. Don’t, there are plenty of price points for all budgets. Gloves will come in either synthetic or real leather. Prices will vary depending on the quality of leather and craftsmanship. If you’re just starting out, a cheaper, synthetic glove will be fine. Make the commitment to a pricier, leather glove when the player has made a real commitment to baseball. Nothing stinks more than having a $300 glove rot away on a shelf in the back of a garage.

The color of the glove doesn’t matter much. Traditional colors are black and brown. Don’t get a novice player the big, red glove right away. The flashy glove is for major leaguers and those that possess talent beyond the average bear. On the other hand, if you’re an individualist, will you really care what other people think?

You’ve probably heard about people sticking their gloves into the oven or running them over with cars. No, they aren’t trying to commit glove-icide. They were breaking in the glove, trying to soften the leather. However, gloves are much different than they were even 20 years ago. Twenty years ago you would have to employ these extreme tactics to make the glove playable. Now the gloves are higher quality. You’re just going to need to play with the glove to break it in. It is also a good idea to stick a baseball or two into the pocket and wrap your glove with a huge rubber band around it (when you’re not using it) to give it the right shape.

So some of you are thinking, thanks for all the info, but I don’t know what position I’m playing. Do I have to get 50 gloves just in case? No, you don’t. There are gloves that are in between the size of an infielders’ and outfielders’ glove that you can use at almost any position.

If you take good care of your glove (and it’s a leather one) and make sure you oil it once a year, you shouldn’t have to replace your glove. You only need to replace it when the glove tears in the pocket or other areas that are not natural seams. Now, go get a ball, go get a glove, and try not to panic every time a ball is hit in your direction.