How to Buy the Best Baseball Pants
Baseball pants are the unsung heroes of baseball gear. This seemingly simple part of your uniform sees you through both baseball practices and games, supporting and protecting you through every swing, slide, and catch. From selecting the right fit to understanding the crucial features that make them stand out, this comprehensive guide will equip you with the knowledge and insight you need to find the best baseball pants.
The Benefits of Wearing Baseball Pants
All teams and leagues require players to wear baseball pants as part of their uniforms. There’s a good reason for this: baseball pants are built to protect your legs and hips when you’re sliding into a base or diving for a ball in the field.
Most infields are made of a mix of dirt, clay, and sand. Sliding on this material with exposed legs can cause abrasions (commonly known as “road rash”), scrapes, and burns. Baseball pants are designed to give your legs a protective barrier against these elements.
Important Features to Look For
In addition to protecting your legs, baseball pants have many other important benefits and features.
Reinforced Areas
Baseball pants can take a beating in practices and games. Since they’re protecting you, you’ll want to make sure they’re tough enough to last. For maximum durability, look for pants with dual-layer reinforced panels in areas that get the most wear and tear: the knees, the sides of the legs and thighs, and the rear end.
Pockets
Some baseball pants have pockets. Back pockets are a convenient place to tuck away your batting gloves after you’ve made it to base or while waiting for your turn at bat. Some players prefer pants without back pockets, so check the manufacturer’s product notes to ensure you get what you want.
Flexible Elastic Waistbands
Most baseball pants have a wide, flexible elastic waistband. You want a waistband that moves with you without pinching or gapping as you move through your swing. In games, baseball players are required to tuck in their baseball jerseys, so it helps to have a stretchy waistband to allow for the extra material. Some waistbands have a sticky or silicone strip on the inside of the band that helps hold a tucked-in jersey in place.
Belt Loops & Belts
Most baseball pants have belt loops, so a baseball belt is essential. Look for pants with thick loops so the belt stays put and the pants don’t gather or bunch around your waist. Baseball belts are typically made of thick, stretchy elastic and durable leather to keep your pants in place without restricting your movements.
Baseball Slider Shorts & Compression Sliders
Slider shorts, or compression sliders, are essential undergarments for baseball. They come in short, ¾, and full length. Look for those made with moisture-wicking fabrics to help you stay dry, typically including a pocket for a cup. Some baseball sliders come with padding on the sides of the thighs and hips to provide additional protection when sliding. White baseball slider shorts or compression sliders also protect from undergarment show-through when you wear them under white baseball pants.
Baseball Pant Length
The length of baseball pants has evolved since baseball began. The first baseball uniforms were worn in the 1840s and had full-length pants made of wool. Over the next several years, teams tried to improve and streamline the pants to keep them from interfering with play. The first club to move from full-length to knicker-style baseball pants was the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1867. They got the idea for the style from cricket. Knicker-style pants remained dominant until around the 1980s, when players began experimenting with a lower pant leg. Since the late 1990s, most players have preferred full-length baseball pants, but knickers are still available.
Here’s what you need to know about each:
Full-Length Baseball Pants
Full-length pants cover the entire leg down to the ankle. There are two hem options for full-length pants: a closed elastic hem that gathers around the ankle, and an open hem that sits on top of the cleats, similar to the bottoms of regular trousers. One of the benefits of full-length pants is that they cover your legs completely, giving you better protection. They can also provide extra warmth on cold game days.
Knicker-Style Baseball Pants
Knicker-style pants are shorter than full-length pants, with an elastic hem that sits at or just below the knee. They’re a bit more versatile, and players can adjust their length by pulling them up or pushing them further down the calf. You may notice a trend of players rolling their knicker-style pants above the knee. Some players or teams choose knicker-style pants because they prefer a traditional look. If you wear them, wear over-the-calf or over-the-knee baseball socks to protect your legs when you slide.
Style
Both lengths of baseball pants come in three basic styles. You should check with your league and coach to ensure you get pants matching your uniform requirements.
Solid Color: These pants are one solid color throughout. The most common colors are white, gray, and black.
Piping: Some baseball pants come with a thin band of color called piping down the outside of the legs. Some teams coordinate this color stripe to match their uniforms.
Pinstriped: These pants have a vertical pinstripe pattern woven into their fabric. Even though the New York Yankees are probably the best-known MLB team that wears pinstripes, pinstriped pants were first worn by the Chicago Cubs in the early 1900s. They caught on with fans and remain popular to this day. Pinstriped pants are typically a part of a team-issued uniform worn in games, and are rarely required for practice.
Baseball Pant Materials
Most baseball pants are made from 100% polyester. This material is flexible, breathable, and durable. You’ll want to look for fabric that wicks sweat and dries quickly. Baseball is generally outside in the elements, and you don’t want to be weighed down by pants wet with sweat or rain.
How Baseball Pants Should Fit
Baseball pants should generally be form-fitting, but not skintight. You want to be able to move and run without the extra material from your pants getting in the way. They should be as streamlined as possible without feeling restrictive or tight, and they should give you a full range of motion. That said, baseball pants have different fits, from loose to more fitted. This is a personal preference, so you should try different fits to see what you like. Most full-length fitted pants also taper, becoming thinner toward the ankle.
Sizing
As mentioned, your baseball pants' length, style, and fit are personal preferences depending on the league or team rules. Regardless of the types of baseball pants you choose, the right size is key, and baseball pants typically come in sizes from XS to XXL.
You’ll need to understand your waist measurement to find the right size. You can measure at home using a tape measure. Measure around your waist, just above your hips, where you usually wear your belt.
Kids’ Baseball Pants
Kids also have choices of full-length or knicker-style pants. Check with your league and team to make sure you understand the regulations around the style or color of pants.
Kids’ Sizing
Kids’ baseball pants come in youth sizes from extra small (YXS) to extra large (YXL). Most medium-size full-length kids’ baseball pants have a 25” inseam, and go up or down 1.5 inches with each size category. As with adult baseball pants, the most important measurements are the waist and the inseam. You can take these measurements at home the same way you could for an adult.
How to Clean Baseball Pants
Baseball pants are tough enough to withstand the game, but they still get dirty on the diamond. The most popular color for baseball pants is white, but without proper cleaning, they won’t stay that way for long. To keep the material strong and the fit right, machine wash your pants in cold water with like colors and without fabric softener. If you have a particularly stubborn stain on your white baseball pants, you can use non-chlorine bleach. Tumble dry your baseball pants on low heat, but don’t iron them. They shouldn’t be dry-cleaned, either. The key to easy cleaning is to wash your pants as soon as possible after each game. The longer you wait, the more time grass and dirt stains will have to set.