Parts of a Baseball Glove – Web, Pocket, Lacing and Heel

All 7 parts on the diagram

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Fingers The fingers: four stalls for the first, middle, ring and little fingers.
Thumb The thumb, on the far side of the web from the fingers.
Web Leather filling the crotch between thumb and first finger. Many catches are made here. Also called webbing.
Lacing Leather thongs that tie the web to the glove. They tie it at each side and at the top and bottom.
Pocket The hollow at the base of the web. The ball is caught here.
Palm The palm: the middle of the catching side. Youth gloves often add a palm pad.
Heel The heel: the thick bottom edge of the glove, by the wrist.

How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-27. (1) Official Baseball Rules, 2024 edition, rule 3.06 Fielding Gloves, https://mktg.mlbstatic.com/mlb/official-information/2024-official-baseball-rules.pdf : a glove may measure no more than 13 inches from any of the four fingertips through the ball pocket to its bottom edge, the heel, and no more than 7¾ inches wide from the base of the first finger to the outside of the little finger; the space between the thumb and first finger, the crotch, may be filled with leather webbing; the webbing is secured at each side and at the top and bottom of the crotch with leather lacing. (2) Wikipedia, Baseball glove, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_glove : a web between the first finger and thumb creates a pocket; youth gloves tend to have palm pads and adjustable wrist straps; catcher’s and first baseman’s mitts lack individual fingers; infielders’ gloves have shallow pockets and outfielders’ deep ones; pitchers’ gloves usually have closed webbing to hide the grip. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site by script, 2026-09-27. Own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

These are the parts of a baseball glove on a fielder's glove for the left hand, seen from the side that catches the ball. Name all 7.

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Top of the glove

The four fingers run along the top, with the thumb off to one side. The web fills the gap between the thumb and the first finger, tied in with leather lacing at its sides, top and bottom.

Where the ball goes

The pocket is the hollow at the base of the web where the ball lands. Below it are the palm and the heel, the thick bottom edge by the wrist.

Infielders use shallow pockets to get the ball out fast; outfielders use longer gloves with deep pockets.

Questions and answers

What is the web of a baseball glove?

The leather that fills the gap between the thumb and first finger. It can be closed, as on most pitchers' gloves to hide the grip, or open, as on many infielders' gloves.

How big can a baseball glove be?

Under the official rules, a fielder's glove may measure at most 13 inches from the tip of a finger to the heel, and 7¾ inches across the base of the fingers.

What is the difference between a glove and a mitt?

A mitt has no separate fingers. Catchers and first basemen wear mitts; the other fielders wear gloves with fingers.