Great Places to Shop for Baseball Equipment







When a glove is mentioned in conjunction with 1800's baseball, one must not think of the baseball glove as it exists today. The baseball glove started out as a leather work glove, with or without full fingers, and progressed to a more padded piece of equipment later on. Nobody knows exactly who the first player to wear a "glove" was, however, many people believe that catcher's starting using a form of baseball glove in the 1860's. It is logical that the catcher would be the first position player to wear them as they handled hundreds of pitches per game as well as foul tips. The first noticeable padding to a glove came in 1885, when Providence Grays shortstop Arthur Irwin, while attempting to protect two broken fingers, added "padding" to a buckskin glove. As the evolution of the glove progressed, the National League and American Association of Base Ball Clubs instituted a rule in 1895 which stated, "The catcher and the first baseman are permitted to wear a glove or mitt of any size, shape or weight. All other players are restricted to the use of a baseball glove or baseball mitt weighing not over ten ounces, and measuring in circumference around the palm of the hand not over fourteen inches." This would be the rule for the rest of the 19th century.