For Love of Leather Finally, the baseball glove gets the recognition it deserves

GLOVE AFFAIRS
by Noah Liberman (Triumph Books, 150 pages, $19.95)

"My dad scrimped and saved and bought me a Marty Marion Rawlings
in Little League," five-time Gold Glove winner Doug Rader tells
the author. "I used it until my second full year in the majors,
when it rotted off my hand." Such devotion is echoed by scores of
big leaguers as Liberman traces the evolution of the glove and
its impact on the game. Sections on buying, breaking in and
repairing gloves are sprinkled with tidbits from history's great
glovers: Bill Mazeroski dug an outhouse to buy his first glove;
Brooks Robinson kept his glove fingers firm with tongue
depressors; Ozzie Smith broke his in with shaving cream. Here's a
fascinating and funny paean to the glove; stick it on your shelf,
right next to that old Marty Marion Rawlings. --Mark Mravic

COLOR PHOTO: TRIUMPH (LIBERMAN BOOK)

COLOR PHOTO: MASTRONET INC. (4) Kirk Gibson

COLOR PHOTO: MASTRONET INC. (4) Pedro Martinez

COLOR PHOTO: MASTRONET INC. (4) Joe Hutcheson

COLOR PHOTO: MASTRONET INC. (4) Mike Piazza