03/22/2026
It is almost impossible to play youth baseball at this point without buying from Dick’s.
Here’s what it takes to survive another year of Little League these days. There are sleek composite bats that cost up to $450. There are training bats, wood bats, torpedo bats and backpacks to carry them.
Plus, gloves, helmets, elbow guards, leg protectors, arm sleeves, sliding mitts, cleats, turf shoes, the coolest sunglasses, Bruce Bolt batting gloves, fluorescent batting grips, socks, pants, belts and garments known simply as “ice-cream shorts.”
Also, headbands. Do kids really need a headband if they are always wearing a hat or helmet? Don’t be ridiculous. Of course they do.
Baseball hasn’t looked the same since a minor tweak in Major League Baseball’s rulebook before the 2019 season loosened the color restrictions on player cleats. The effects of that deregulation have now trickled all the way down to Little Leaguers, who race to get their hands on the latest, hottest equipment.
When a sick bat comes out, it sells out almost instantly. There is so much demand for these hunks of carbon fiber that bats have entered the stratosphere of products known in the retail industry as “high heat.”
And all that heat isn’t cheap. Parents have never spent more time and money on youth sports—or at this sports juggernaut.
⚾️ Read more: https://on.wsj.com/40z9dUM
