re: Explain the runners “mitts” please

It's super gay. Lou Gehrig would laugh at these pussy kids.

The extra inches.............if just the tip of the glove slides in and touches the base or plate, I assume the runner is said to have touched the base, not that in reality his hand was 2-3 inches away.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned that sports equipment manufacturers like to sell stuff. Aluminum bats with rubberized handles to protect the hands, not one but two batting gloves, wristbands, elbow protectors, shoulder and arm padding, foot and toe guards, helmets with face protectors etc. Big money there. It's a sign of the times. No risk baseball. Starters not allowed to go past five innings. Feel something ache and straight to the 15-day disabled list. Remember Paul Shenes was pulled from a game with no-hitter in the ninth because he had reached his limit of 99 pitches. I understand Nolan Ryan threw 245 pitches in a long extra-inning game he won. Interesting fact: when helmets were first mandated in the 1960s, veterans were allowed to go without the protection if they chose to do so. The last Major League player to bat without a helmet was catcher Bob Montgomery of the Boston Red Sox in 1979.