Have you bought a baseball glove for your Little Leaguer lately? Did you pay more than $100 for it?

How about a $250 bat? Or maybe $299.99? That's the online price of one model at Dick's Sporting Goods, Alpharetta-Milton Patch's Readers' Choice winner for Best Sporting Goods Store.

A New York Times story headlined "Big Price Tags Attached to Even the Littlest Leagues," looks at the big business of equipping youngsters for participation in youth baseball and softball leagues, quoting those costs and more.

"A batting helmet protects tiny heads for $39.99," the Times reports. "A pair of Nike Jordan Black Cat cleats will make your child fast and fashionable at $51.99 until he or she outgrows them."

Bats and fielding gloves can be much more. According to prices on the Dick's Sporting Goods website, De Marini, Easton, Louisville and Nike all make bats priced around $300. The high-end fielding glove was $129.99.

Of course, there are many items much more affordable.

But what do you think? Has the cost of bats and gloves taken our kids too far from the simpler days of sandlot and playground ballgames? Or have you had better luck finding more modestly-priced equipment for them?