The best leathers are taken from specially bred bovines, taken from a specific region of the animal’s body. Those leathers are then inspected for imperfections, then treated and worked to make them ideal for baseball gloves.

Rawlings’ Heart of the Hide is one of those leathers.

The durability and feel make the HoH a favorite among professional players and amateurs alike. And now, you can get Heart of the Hide leather in more than just gloves.

Rawlings Heart of the Hide Leather Wallet ($54.99)

Looking for a wallet that will last forever? Look no further. Includes 6 credit card pockets, two interior pockets and one big ol’ pocket for your cash.

These wallets are on pre-order until June 8. Shop now.

Rawlings Heart of the Hide Leather Travel Kit ($99.99)

A travel kit for players to take their game on the go. Includes two interior pockets.

This one’s also on pre-order with an expected ship date of June 8. Get one now.

Rawlings Heart of the Hide Leather Duffel Bag ($499.99)

Take your gym bag to the next level. Premium heart of the hide leather exterior, with an exterior front zip, back pocket and interior zip pocket. Includes a padded leather strap.

These ship directly from Rawlings, and you can expect to see yours in 3-10 days. Shop now.

Rawlings Heart of the Hide Leather Travel Organizer ($149.99)

This is the way to travel in style. Includes a clear ID pocket, passport pocket, boarding pass pocket, 2 interior zip pockets, currency pocket, 2 open pocket slots and 12 credit card pocket slots.

When you order this one, you can expect to see it on your doorstep in 3-10 days. Shop now.

Rawlings Heart of the Hide Leather Briefcase ($529.99)

State of the art design combined with a true classic glove leather creates a perfect balance to keep you at the top of your business game. Now go out and pitch that new account.

Includes exterior front and back zip pockets with two large main zip pockets for laptop case and file space.

These ship directly from Rawlings, so expect another 3-10 day ship time. Shop now.

Rawlings Heart of the Hide Leather Glove Chair ($4,699.99)

We’ve reached the crown jewel of Rawlings’ Heart of the Hide accessories: The Glove Chair.

If you’re looking for the perfect throne for your man cave, this is it. The glove chair is handmade by Rawlings’ master glove craftsmen in the Rawlings Glove Factory for an incredible, quality look and superb durability.

It can be customized, just like your baseball glove (call for details).

You can be sitting in your new glove chair in 3-10 days. Shop now.

Related: Looking for an actual Heart of the Hide baseball glove? We have those too!

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Ever have this happen?

You’re feeling healthy — plenty of energy — but when it comes time to pitch or throw, you can’t get any snap on the ball. There might be pain, or there might not. It might feel like your shoulder is catching on something, or it might not.

The big thing is that you just can’t throw like normal.

(Blue Jays) starter Mark Buehrle said, “There are times where you haven’t thrown in five days but you feel like you’ve thrown for 12 days in a row. I guess that’s what I think of when I hear about dead arm.

(From MLB.com)

If that describes you, you might have dead arm.

Dead arm is common for pitchers, but anyone can get it. It usually crops up early in the season — because players spend months away from the field and suddenly start throwing during early-season conditioning.

Once you back off the conditioning and start playing games, that extra stress on your shoulder capsule can cause it to flare up.

For Seattle starter Ryan Rowland-Smith and many other Major League pitchers, it’s mostly a Spring Training thing.

“You’re coming off an offseason where you have your own throwing program,” Rowland-Smith says.

“All of a sudden you get to camp and you’re throwing to bases, doing extra stuff. You’re on your legs all day, and that’s when you get that dead arm. You’re in the heat, with day games after day games. You’re up early in the morning. All those things factor into it.”

If you come down with a case of the dead arm, there’s not much you can do besides rest, stretch and slowly start working back into it.

In this case, prevention is best. And our friends at Crossover Symmetry have passed along some extra info and three tips for beating Dead Arm. Those tips are:

• Stretch. Regularly stretch the muscles and connective tissues in your shoulder. Most importantly, stretch the ligaments in the back of your shoulder joint by pulling your arm across your chest, pulling your bicep near your neck. If you don’t like doing it in your warm-up (it can affect how some pitchers pitch), it can be done after your workout/game/practice. Just make sure you are still warm when you’re doing it.
• Strengthen. Another contributor to dead arm is muscle imbalances. If your rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers are too weak to counterbalance the pull on your shoulders from your chest — or if your posture is bad — you can be susceptible to impingements and Dead Arm. You can strengthen these muscles with weight training or by using Crossover Symmetry.
• Rest. Ice your shoulder when necessary, pay attention to your pitch count, get enough sleep and make the most of your rest time.

Related: Strengthen your shoulders with a pair of crossover cords.

Ever finish up a mid-day game or a doubleheader to find that you came down with a case of itchy, burning eyeballs?

It means your eyes got sunburned.

It’s true. You can get sunburn on your eyes, and if you spend a moderate amount of time outside in the sun (say, playing baseball) your eyes are susceptible to sun damage. While sunburn goes away, repeated sun damage can cause permanent problems. It can cause retinal damage, cataracts and even blindness.

That means there’s no reason not to protect your eyes, especially when you’re out between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. when the sun’s rays are the most direct.

When looking for sunglasses, it’s important to get a pair of shades with 99-100% UV protection. Anything less will actually make it worse — the curve on the lens will intensify the sun’s UV rays going into your eyes.

From there, it comes down to your personal style. We carry everything from simple Oakley M-Frames to MAXX HD sunglasses with MLB team logos on the sides.

Every pair of glasses we carry was chosen because they are fitted and designed for athletic wear, so you can be confident they won’t interfere with your play.

Related: Go for the full-Harper look with Rawlings Eye Black.

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The engineers at DeMarini are a little like mad scientists. They’re always pushing the limits, cooking up new ways to beef up their baseball bats — fine-tuning balances, constructions, stiffness and extras.

They’ve gone from the lab to the cage, over and over.

The result is a trio of monster BBCOR bats. It’s got some names you’ll recognize — with the Vexxum, CF5 and Voodoo Paradox — but what’s new is the extra tweaks they’ve put on each bat to deliver the most power possible on each swing.

Let’s start with the Voodoo Paradox

The 2014 BBCOR Voodoo Paradox now has a bigger sweet spot than ever. It’s more powerful than any other bat in DeMarini’s lineup, thanks to a monster X10 Alloy barrel fine-tuned with thinner walls for a hotter, more responsive sweet spot.

With a new Paradox Composite handle, this bad boy is stiffer than ever. And as always, the Voodoo Paradox has some of the best barrel graphics out there.

Get it for $299.99 at Baseball Express.

Next up, there’s the Vexxum

DeMarini’s engineers pulled out all the stops on the 2014 Vexxum BBCOR, implementing a new Velocity System barrel design and dropping the center of mass deep in the handle.

That gives batters the lightest swinging aluminum barrel bat in DeMarini’s lineup. That translates into more speed, and with your bat speed up, you generate power unlike ever before. For two-piece hybrids, the Vexxum NVS is at the top of its class, so step into the box and start your engine.

Get it for $199.99.

And finally, there’s the CF5

While the Vexxum is DeMarini’s lightest swinging aluminum-barrel bat, the CF5 is their lightest overall.

The two-piece, all-composite construction allowed them to pull a few tricks with the bat’s design. It uses what DeMarini calls TR3 F.L.O. Composite technology throughout the bat, which involves a proprietary fusing technique in the layers of carbon, allowing engineers to create a stronger baseball bat with less weight.

Get it for $399.99.

Related: Get FREE SHIPPING on all bat orders!

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Presidents Day weekend starts today, and we’re celebrating in style!

Now through Tuesday, you can take 15% off all orders at Team Express. There is NO minimum order.

Just use the promo code JSTXSP88 at checkout. Shop now.

Related: Browse our selection of closeout sports equipment.

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Our Cyber Specials end today, which means this is your last chance to take advantage of these unbeatable deals on baseball gloves. These are some of the best baseball gloves in the game — available for Cyber Monday prices today only.

Wilson Exclusive Yak Series Baseball Gloves
(Was: $149.99 NOW: $99.99)

Yak hide is three times stronger than cowhide, allowing Wilson to skive the hide thinner, providing players with the best possible feel without sacrificing durability. Get it for $99.99.

Easton Exclusive Rival Baseball Gloves
(Was: $89.99 NOW: $50.00)

Made from some of the strongest leather in the world — American steerhide. Back of hand strap is adjustable allowing for multiple fit range. Get it for $50.00.

Insignia All Out Series Baseball Gloves
(Was: $279.99 NOW: $50.00)

The premium glove in the Insignia line. Made with top-grade American steerhide. Get it for $50.00.

Insignia Range Series Baseball Gloves
(Was: $229.99 NOW: $50.00)

These two-tone lightweight high-performance gloves are made with two distinct leathers: Black Hills buffalo leather and Badlands brown American native steerhide. Get one for $50.00.

Mizuno MVP Prime Series 33 1/2″ Baseball Catchers Mitt
(Was: $99.99 NOW: $49.99)

All new MVP Prime Series features professional patterns, oil soft leather, and a perfect balance of oiled softness and firm control. Get it for $49.99.

Related: Shop our entire selection of Cyber Specials

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On this most sacred of shopping days, we’d like to call your attention to our unbeatable deals on baseball bats. These are some of the hottest bats on the market today, all available for limited-time Black Friday discounts.

Easton 2012 Exclusive Speed S2 -3 BBCOR Baseball Bat (Was: $299.99 NOW: $99.98)

With the lowest M.O.I. on the market, the Speed Series’ light swing weights generate more bat speed, allowing players to hit with more power in every at bat. THT100 Scandium alloy barrel with tapered IMX composite extra-stiff handle. Get it for $99.99.

Louisville 2012 Exogrid2 -3 BBCOR Baseball Bat
(Was: $299.99 NOW: $114.98)

The heart of the Exogrid2 is the internal carbon composite sleeve that provides the stiffest handle on the market. Barrel constructed with AC21 Scandium alloy. Get it for $114.98.

Rawlings 2011 5150 -3 BBCOR Baseball Bat
(Was: $199.99 NOW: $99.98)

One of the top bats in the game. Barrel design utilizes proprietary metal forming techniques to optimize balance and trampoline effect. Get it for $99.98.

Louisville 2012 Exogrid2 -3 BBCOR Baseball Bat
(Was: $299.99 NOW: $124.98)

The heart of the Exogrid is the internal carbon composite sleeve that provides the stiffest handle on the market. Features AC21 alloy and Exogrid2 technology. Get it for $124.98.

Related: Shop our entire selection of Cyber Specials

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If you’ve got a brand new glove and it’s feeling a little stiff, you’ll need to break it in.

And that brings up the age-old question. How?

There’s at least 101 different ways to break in baseball gloves. At times it seems more like witchcraft than science, trying to find the right combination of voodoo to give your glove the best feel.

The science is this: You want to make the leather more malleable, while limiting moisture loss and the amount of damage you do to it.

The are plenty of ways to do that, so we’ll start with things you should not do.

DON’T cook it in the microwave or the oven.
This will make your glove softer, but it will dry out your glove. You’ll notice this in the lacing, which will snap prematurely. Not to mention, if you have metal grommets on your glove, you’ll ruin your microwave.

DON’T dunk it in water.
This is another popular method for breaking in baseball gloves. It’ll soften the glove, but dunking can lead to dry rot and other nasty issues with your glove.

So what works? Wilson recommends these steps.

• Soak a cloth in the hottest possible tap water and thoroughly wipe down the glove.
• While still damp, form the pocket by playing catch with a friend — the more zing in his or her throw the better.
• Repeat this wet-and-catch process for five straight days.
• After it’s dry on the fifth day, oil the glove completely (get baseball glove oil here).

And that’s just one basic way you can do it.

Here’s a video with Aso, Wilson’s resident glove guru, helping break in Brandon Phillips’ glove. It goes into more depth about ways you can form the pocket by whacking it with a mallet, weighted ball or other heavy object.

Need more ideas? Here are some Rawlings athletes explaining how they break in their gloves.

Still need some inspiration? In this video, Mizuno’s ballplayers talk about how they do it.

If you’d rather not bother with it at all, we’ve got you covered too. We offer glove steaming service on new gloves purchased at teamexpress.com.

The process dramatically shortens break-in time. Here’s how it works:

• First, our experienced technicians apply a special glove conditioner to your glove to open the pores in the leather to help it soften. Next, the glove is placed into the steamer for several minutes. The heat loosens the glove, while the glove is infused with the water in the steam, making it softer and more malleable.
• After that, our technicians pound the glove with a wooden mallet on a leather pad to loosen the heel and other key breaking points. Finally, a coat of cream is applied to the leather to close its pores and seal in the hydration.
• When your glove arrives, all you’ll need to do is apply glove oil and play catch with it.

We have one last video to throw at you, and it’s one we filmed about glove steaming at our retail store in San Antonio.

Your glove is bound to get some wear and tear after a season (especially if you play multiple seasons in year). An easy way to extend its life is to give it a simple cleaning after the year:

• Use a light brush to remove dust and dirt from the leather.
• Use a damp cloth or a sponge to wipe the glove down. If you use a special glove soap, make sure to wipe off the soap with a clean cloth afterwards. Allow to air dry.
• Oil your glove and store it somewhere safe.

This is also a good time to check the laces on your glove to see if any are loose, damaged or broken. Replace any that need it, so you won’t have to bother with it during the season.

Related: Get the 411 on glove steaming.

So far this week, we’ve covered all the basics of buying a new baseball glove.

Size, position, preferred web and leather are the main things to keep in mind when buying a new baseball glove. Today’s entry will cover two minor things to keep in mind — backs and customization.

Backs

Rawlings’ Gold Glove Series 11 1/2″ Baseball Glove (left), designed for infielders, has an open back. The Heart of the Hide Dual Core 12 3/4″ Outfielders Glove (right) has a closed back.

The back refers to the area just above the wrist on the back of the glove. Gloves with open backs have better ventilation and provide more wrist mobility, allowing fielders to handle ground balls and make easier transfers.

For this reason, open backed gloves are popular with infielders, including pitchers.

Pitchers might also opt for gloves that offer a little leather holster on the back for the pitcher’s index finger. Wilson calls its a Pro Sleeve, and you can find it on some Wilson models.

The Pro Sleeve originally was developed in the 90s for Greg Maddux. The Professor was tipping his pitches, sticking his finger out the glove. The Pro Sleeve is a fix for pitchers who might do the same thing.

Outfielders could go either way, but many might opt for closed-back gloves. These gloves provide extra support and stability, which is handy for a position that primarily handles line drives and fly balls.

Customization
By now, you’ll likely have an ideal glove in mind. For a shortstop, it might be something like:

11 1/2″, I-Web, Pre-oiled leather, Open back

But what happens if you can’t find a glove that’s exactly how you want it? It might be time to customize.

Our Rawlings, Louisville Slugger and Wilson glove builders allow you to personalize every single aspect of your glove, down to the color, lacing, custom embroidery and even flags.

Tomorrow: We’ll conclude our 2012 Glove Guide by showing you how to break it in.

If you know your size, position and preferred webbing, you’re off to a great start finding the perfect baseball glove.

The next thing to consider is leather quality.

Leather quality can have a dramatic effect on the overall quality of the glove. It affects durability, softness, performance, break-in time and — most importantly — its price.

For this reason, different leather qualities can be better for different players. An inexpensive synthetic leather might be best for a youth player or a casual player who might not use a glove for longer than a season.

On the other hand, if a player is looking for a long-lasting glove and is willing to take the time to properly break it in, a higher quality glove might be a good choice.

Here’s an overview of the different types of baseball glove leather.

Oil-treated leather

Mizuno’s MVP Prime Series (left) and Louisville’s Omaha Pro Series (right) are both pre-oiled, so the gloves are soft and game-ready, right out of the box.
Pros: These gloves are game-ready fresh out the box — and they’re more durable than synthetic gloves — which makes them a good choice for young or casual players.
Cons: Oil-treated gloves often do not have the durability needed for a competitive player, especially one who uses it for multiple seasons.

Non-oiled leather

Rawlings’ Gold Glove Series (left) and Josh Hamilton’s Wilson A2000 Baseball Glove (right) are both made with non-oiled leather.
Pros: Because these gloves must be broken in, more seasoned players can break them in to their personal specifications. These gloves are also more durable.
Cons: Compared to synthetic gloves, these gloves often cost more. The break-in times might make them a poor choice for young players.

Premium/Pro Series leather

Rawlings’ Primo Series (left) is made with fine leather from select local tanneries, and Mizuno’s Pro Limited Edition Series (right) features Deguchi Kip Leather.
Pros: These gloves are the best of the best, chosen for their premium leather quality and used by the best players in the game. They must be extensively broken in, allowing players to shape and mold the glove for a custom fit. They can last for multiple seasons, and with proper care and occasional repairs, sometimes last indefinitely.
Cons: They can be costly. These gloves are typically very stiff out of the box, which might be a downside for players who do not prefer long break-in times.

Specialty leather

Wilson’s Pro Soft Yak Series (left) and Exclusive Yak Series (right) Baseball Gloves are made with yak hide, offering a faster break-in and lighter materials than cowhide.
Glove manufacturers have recently released baseball gloves made with specialty leathers, such as kangaroo hide and yak. Pros: These gloves are often made for exceptional softness or lightweight feel.
Cons: It can sometimes come at the expense of durability.

Next up: Tomorrow we’ll cover some of the smaller things you might want on your glove.