This is one of the most interesting questions often observed, but never understood.

Why do baseball players talk into their glove?

Baseball players have been using their gloves as a muzzle in front of their face for many years and for a multitude of reasons. Most youth players innocently keep the glove in front of their face to keep from showing their emotions.

Sometimes players deal with embarrassment and sticking your head in a hole (like an ostrich) doesn’t necessarily present itself as an option.

Other times it can be from laughing uncontrollable at someone else’s expense.

Then, the most widely used reason the glove becomes a pandemic face mask is to cuss the glove out like it stole your favorite snack. 

Controlling emotions has always been hard on the psyche, especially when all eyes are on you. Venting into the glove is not only healthy, but it can become a motivator and a way of calming your nerves. Bringing yourself back to a positive zen state by releasing some unwanted energy can be extremely satisfying. 

So the question remains, what are they saying in that glove?

For some younger players, it can be a loud roar like a lion after a kill which can be satisfying but really for no other purpose other than calming the nerves.

For professional players, it can become more strategic and much more of a motivational tool than anything. Sure, venting is still present but usually followed up by mental words of encouragement to help bring them back to what has brought them success in the past.

For example: saying something as simple as, “you’ve got this” can put you back in the right frame of mind. Slowly getting the heart to calm back down can always make you think about more important things than making a bad pitch or an error.

A glove in front of the face can also be used to shield the mouth from other teams reading into a verbal conversation between a coach and player or player and player. 

No matter what the reason the glove makes it in front of the face, it will always be an essential part of every baseball player's career.

Sometimes to use out of disgust, laughter, motivation, or simply just to vent. It’s always interesting to figure out what’s going on when you see that glove take a tongue lashing.