With the holidays fast approaching, parents of young baseball players are turning their attention to finding that perfect baseball gift. Many of us have fond memories of receiving our first new baseball glove for Christmas. The feeling of opening the package and seeing that unblemished, shiny new glove with our favorite pro's signature on it is one that we never will forget.

Once the glove was unwrapped, all other gifts were put on hold. We wanted to go outside - even if it was 30 degrees with snow on the ground - to try it out. We thought that somehow magically the glove was going to transform us into better baseball players - until the first throw clanked off the stiff piece of leather and fell to the ground.

I thought that this month it might be a good idea to recycle some of our old material. In the past we have written about what to look for when choosing a glove and how to break in a glove. So, with the gift-giving season upon us I thought that we could combine some of the information from both articles into one as a service to all of you holiday shoppers. On one hand, there is no better present than a new baseball glove. On the other hand, there is no bigger disappointment than getting excited about a gift that ends up being the wrong size or model. And there is no bigger frustration than having a brand new, cutting edge baseball glove and not being able to break it in properly. Hopefully this article can help you make the right choice and really brighten someone's holiday season.