Ripken! Gwynn! Mays! Fans share stars on glove

CHICAGO -- When the weather broke here in Chicagoland recently, the Bastian family grabbed their gloves and headed to the backyard. The sunny, clear blue sky allowed for a round of catch to briefly break up the monotony of sheltering in place.

The glove I picked up from atop the white bucket of baseballs was my old red and black Rawlings. Carved into the leather in the palm is the signature of Cal Ripken Jr. It's the glove I used as a second baseman in high school, and it still fits and pops perfectly two decades later.

That got me thinking: Most baseball fans have their own glove story.

When I was a little kid, I used whatever leftover piece of leather my older siblings had in the garage. At about the age of nine, my brother threw a ball that ripped through the pocket of the glove I was using and hit me in the face. I was fine, but he felt terrible and took me to the sporting goods store to let me pick out my very own, brand-new glove.

So my first glove was a black and silver model with Ozzie Smith's name in the palm. That gorgeous glove lasted for many years -- up until I picked out a Ken Griffey Jr. for outfield and the Ripken for infield when I was older. The Ozzie glove is in tatters now. The Junior glove is stiff and needs new stitching. Fittingly, the Ripken model has been the Iron Glove, standing the test of time.

Last weekend on Twitter, I asked: Whose signature was in your glove as a kid?

That led to more than 500 responses, which included stories and photos and stirred plenty of memories within the thread. More than 100 ballplayers were named, with at least two saying they had the Ted Williams glove sold by Sears. Ryne Sandberg, Tony Gwynn, George Brett, Dale Murphy and Griffey seemed to be mentioned most often.

Here are some of my favorite responses from other baseball media:

Cubs broadcaster Jim Deshaies said he had a glove featuring Mickey Lolich's signature.

MLB.com's Anthony DiComo had a Gwynn glove.

So did MLB.com's Andrew Simon.

As well as MLB.com's Mark Sheldon.

MLB.com's Thomas Harding had a couple gloves.

Indians beat reporter Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon-Journal dug up a photo of him using his old Barry Larkin glove.

And here are a few more that were shared by fans: