Great Places to Shop for Baseball Equipment
A minimum of baseball equipment was employed in 19th century baseball, and changes in its regulation were not so common. No baseball player wore a helmet during the 1800's and baseball gloves did not become common until the late 1880s. In fact, defensive players on both teams actually shared baseball gloves from inning to inning in the early years. The baseball itself has retained the same dimensions, weight and leather pattern since 1872. Only one attempt to regulate uniforms was made by the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs in 1882. This was due to the emergence of the American Association of Base Ball Clubs, which began play that same year and attempted to differentiate themselves from the six-year old National League.
Baseball Gloves
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.
Baseball Bats
19th century baseball bats looked and felt different than today's baseball bats. They were generally heavier and considerably thicker in the handle and had more of a gradual taper from the handle to the barrel. They were made with or without knobs on the handle and on various parts of the bat would be painted "rings" that would reflect the team color. Many players made their own baseball bats from wood, without any specific shape or size. This allowed for a lot of experimentation, thus they created long, short, flat, and heavy baseball bats, and they eventually built a baseball bat with a round barrel.
At the first baseball convention in 1857, the dimensions agreed upon were described as round, not to be more than two and one-half inches around in its thickest part and was to "be of any length, to suit the striker." In 1860, Beadle's Dime Base Ball Player published their opinion as to the best baseball bat standards. They suggested between thirty and forty inches and weighing about 48 ounces. Beadle's described the baseball bats as usually being made of ash but that maple, white and pitch pine and hickory were also used. A light baseball bat enabled the striker to have a quick bat and helped offset the "rapid pitching" that was popular. Beadle's did not recommend a baseball bat be less than 36 ounces.
The Putnam Club's rules, in 1865, specified that the baseball bat was to be made of hickory or ash and was "about" 3 feet long, round, tapered and was to be between 1½ inches to three inches at the lower end. Although generally known as an "unwritten rule," the baseball bats length was not addressed until the rules for the 1868 season were agreed upon, which officially stated that the baseball bat could not be longer than 42 inches. The maximum length allowed today is still 42", though you probably won't see too many baseball players using it. Even though there was no rule regarding the shape of the baseball bats, most of the players used baseball bats with flat surfaces. In 1890, another rule suggested the round shape of the baseball bat and fixed the diameter to 2.75 inches at the end. In 1893, the second season of the National League and American Association of Base Ball Clubs, the baseball bat was no longer allowed to be flat on one side but was required to be round. The length was still limited to 42 inches and the thickness of the thickest part was still two and one-half inches. The thickness of the baseball bat was increased to two and three-quarters inches in 1895 and remains the same today.
Baseball came to a new phase with the introduction of metal belts in 1970.
Baseball bats made of aluminum became an instant success because they are lightweight, durable, and much faster than wooden baseball bats. This actually created harder hit balls. Many players, especially at the hot spot third base, and the pitchers mound can be seriously injured from hard batted balls from these types of baseball bats. Various types of aluminum baseball bats were introduced during the 1990s. Baseball bats made of scandium aluminum are still the most popular today.
A great deal of research and money has gone into improving the trampoline effect of the baseball bat and to increase the size of the sweet spot (the place on the bat for hitting the ball). A double-walled baseball bat, a new design introduced in the 1990s, consists of an outer wall of scandium-aluminum and an inner wall of a composite material (often graphite), and a thick fluid or rubber between these two walls. Today, traditional wooden bats are made of maple, white ash, and bamboo. Nearly all of these wood baseball bat models are used in the professional baseball today.
The Catcher's Mask
The catcher's mask may have been first worn by Jim Tyng of the Harvard University Base Ball Club in an exhibition game loss against the Boston Red Stockings in May of 1876, 7-6. Tyng's roommate and team Captain, Fred Thayer, is said to have "invented" the mask in 1875. Thayer modified a fencing mask which enabled Tyng to move closer to home base and receive the ball without fear of being struck in the face. Tyng also wore a small padded glove in the game.
The Baseball Uniform
The Knickerbocker Base Ball Club introduced the first "uniform" on April 24, 1849. The uniforms consisted of long blue woolen trousers, leather belts, white flannel shirts with a full collar and straw hats. At the end of the 1850's, many teams adopted the flannel shirt with the button on shield style, which contained the team's emblem, name or both. The full length "pantaloon" pants were in vogue throughout the 1860s but presented a problem of having players getting their feet caught on the legs of the pants when running. Players used to wrap them tight to their shins and use tape or a small belt to hold them flush. The 1868 Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first team to wear knickers. These "cricket-style" pants were less restrictive, and as a result their stockings or socks were now visible. Their red stockings became their trademark..
With the emergence of the American Association, the National League made a league wide uniform decision at its annual meeting in Chicago on December 9, 1881. They did not want to be outdone by the new league who instituted a uniform code. Each team was to have multi-hued silk uniforms, with each shirt color representing a position on the field. The National League mandated that all players were to wear white pants, white belts and white ties. The shirts and hats represented the position they played. The teams were only identified by their socks. This style was extremely confusing to players and patrons and was abandoned in mid-season.
Many teams in the 1880s used the laced-front, full collar shirt, with the name of their city sewn on the front and wore some form of a tie. Pinstripes were introduced in 1888 by three teams, the Washington Nationals and Detroit Wolverines of the National League and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of the American Association were the pioneers of this style.
Baseball Shoes
Spiked baseball shoes were used by many players in the 1860s and the shoe plate (cleat), worn under the heel and toe was introduced in the late 1870s. The shoes were usually black, but could be white or white with tan accents. Today there are many forms of baseball shoes with many styles of form and color.
The Baseball
Pre-1872, the baseball was considered the original dead ball design. The core was rubber and string wrapped, while the cover was made of horsehide. It's size ranged from anywhere from golf ball size to softball size and played like it was stuffed with feathers.
In 1872, standards came about. 9.25 inches in circumference was to be the size, and the weight had to be between 5 and 5.25 oz. Needless to say, that there were very few home runs in baseball at this time.
1910, baseballs begin using a cork as the core. The baseball became much more alive when this happened and players begin to hit .300 or better, and homeruns began to rule. In 1911, the cork became the standard in Major League Baseball, and has been since.
In 1931, the baseball became more balance, as thin rubber was wrapped around the cork core. The seems were raised, and this allowed for pitchers to now throw "curveballs".
Flash forward to 1974, cowhide replaces horsehide for economic reasons.
