BRADENTON, Fla. -- It might be a cliché to say Thursday was like Christmas Day for Jameson Taillon and some of his Pirates teammates. But, well…
"It is Christmas," Taillon said.
More specifically, it was Glove Day for the handful of Pirates players who use gloves made by Wilson Sporting Goods. That group includes Taillon, the second-year starter who picked up his gear after the pitchers' and catchers' workout at Pirate City.
For Taillon, the event represents more than just the arrival of some new equipment. It's both the end of a long creative process -- quite literally a day's work, in his case -- and also the start of something new.
"I spend probably more time than others creating my glove. It's fun to go behind the scenes on the website and create a glove," Taillon said. "Whenever you get it, today, you kind of see everything come together. That's the glove you're going to be stuck with for a year, so you build a relationship with it."
Taillon wasn't alone in his enthusiasm for Glove Day. Second baseman Josh Harrison stopped by the long row of equipment bags packed with gloves and picked up his new leather, including a snazzy black-and-gold glove that matches the Pirates' uniforms.

Chris Bostick, Andrew Hutchison, John Jaso, Max Moroff, Trevor Williams and Josh Lindblom were also set to pick up their gear from Ryan Smith, Wilson's product line manager who set up shop outside the Pirate City clubhouse on Thursday morning.
Taillon is a fan of the modified trapeze webbing but typically sticks to a traditional look when designing his glove: black and gold, black and silver. He got one black-and-silver glove for this season, but he said he "went crazy" with the other -- most likely the glove he'll use when he starts -- and ordered a tan D33 model.
"Just mixing it up," Taillon said. "New year, new me. … It's a busy process. There's a lot of moving parts. It's fun to see it come together."
How much time did Taillon put into the project beforehand, sorting through customizable options?
"Probably too much," Taillon joked.