Lending a baseball glove to a friend is always risky business.
When it’s returned, the glove can be ripped, dirty, or broken in the wrong way.
Sometimes, though, lending a friend a glove can yield a reward worth thousands of dollars.
Red Sox reliever Joe Kelly offered his mitt Thursday to Tony La Russa, who serves as vice president and special assistant to Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. La Russa, who was catching the first pitch thrown by longtime executive and scout Roland Hemond, didn’t have a glove with him, so he figured Kelly’s would suffice.