You learn how to break in a baseball glove as soon as your able to hold a baseball mitt with one hand. It was a time honored tradition in my family each winter. Come late October or early November, after the leaves had already fallen and been raked up and when the air smelled like smoking chimneys and snow, my dad would take me down into the garage.

With a secret batch of ingredients, a few old stained rags, and our elbow grease, we set to work breaking in a new glove so it would be ready to play catch come April.

Everybodys dad probably has their secret formula for what ointments, homespun compounds, and techniques used. Whatever the means, the ends justify the means. A broken in glove means that is has been softened up, adding flexibility and comfort. Besides the soft leather, a broken in glove also has a worked-in pocket.

Of course, experts out there will tell you that your dads baseball glove alchemy was all hokuspokus. Theyll tell you that there are no secrets on how to break in a baseball glove. The best and more commonsense way to do it is to simply apply oil thats specifically designed for this purpose. Make sure to rub the glove oil on every glove part, including the inside and the laces.

This oil helps the glove stay moisturized so it wont dry and crack. The glove webbing will also not come loose. Best of all, according to the experts, this oil wont damage the glove, whereas many other compounds will.

The other compounds include everything that only a dad could come up on how to break in a baseball glove. Theres foam shaving cream, Vaseline, saddle soap, mink oil, or tanners glove oil. Some secret glove recipes even call for you to put the glove in the over for a few minutes to bake in the foams and oils. Whatever you choose your dads family tradition or modern science hopefully youll find your glove soft and ready to play come springtime.