Clipping:Evolution of the catcher's glove
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| Date | Sunday, April 27, 1890 |
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| Text | It is just two years since Buck Ewing created a sensation by wearing an immense glove on his left hand while taking Tim Keefe's hot shot behind the bat at the old Polo grounds. His first appearance with the glove, which looked for all the world like a big boxing glove crushed out flat by a road roller, caused a shout of laughter from the assemblage, but when the game was over Buck declared that his hand was not swollen a particle, and that thereafter nothing could tempt him to relinquish his new guard to this big left hand. All through the season Buck wore the glove, and soon it was recognized as indispensable in the paraphernalia of the big back stop. There have been numerous improvements in catchers' gloves since that time, but Buck has clung persistently to his first love. It was in 1875 that gloves were first recognized as necessary accessories to a catcher's kit. Manager McGunnigle of the Brooklyn National League team was then catching for the Fall River team, and a game had been scheduled with the Harvard nine. Mac's hands were very sore, but it was necessary that he should catch in that afternoon's game. He was puzzled for some time as to what course to pursue, but finally the idea of wearing gloves flitted across his brain. He visited a glove store, but after thinking the matter over a few minutes decided that kids were not strong enough to withstand the pummeling they would receive, and so he selected a pair of bricklayer's gloves, thick strong things, of hard leather. In the preliminary practice at the grounds that afternoon he found that while the palms of his hands were protected, there was not enough liberty for the fingers in throwing. A jackknife quickly removed the finger ends, and during the nine innings Mac experienced very little pain from the cannon-ball delivery of his pitcher. Tyng, the inventor of the catcher's mask, was the catcher of the Harvard team at that time, and in the third inning he was tempted to try the glove. It worked so well he immediately bought a pair for himself, and being of an inventive mind, had them lined with lead. For some time McGunnigle and Tyng used gloves of the kind described, but when another genius appeared upon the field they adopted his suggestion. This was Gunnasso of the Lowell team. He had used Mac's glove for some time, but thought there could be an improvement made on the lead lining. He happened to be in Boston one day and drifted into Kant's glove store. He had just bought a pair of walking gloves, and was preparing to depart, when the clerk called his attention to a pair of gloves that had been especially made for the foreman of a brick yard in a neighboring town. Gunnasso ordered a pair of the same kind, and, in a number of games that followed, wore them over his tight-fitting walking gloves. He removed the fingers of the right gloves, but left those for the left hand intact. Shortly after that the makers of base ball paraphernalia turned their attention to gloves. There were many and numerous experiments from that time up to within three years, all the manufacturers believing that the glove should be as light in weight as possible, while possessing the requisite strength and durability. But within the period mentioned the most prominent catchers demonstrated that the left hand had to bear the brunt of the shock consequent on the pitcher's delivery, and that the glove for that hand, in order to be successful, would have to be of a peculiar type far different from any thus far presented. Then Buck Ewing came to the front with his pillow amid roars of laughter, and it only required a few days to show conclusively that the much-needed protector had been discovered. One of the best gloves on the market to-day is that called a “perfect pillow.” it is made of the choicest Plymouth buckskin. A continuous roll or cushion, tightly packed with curled hair, is firmly stitched around the palm, forming a deep hollow, and the thumb of the glove is a sufficient bulwark to make it impossible for a foul tip, fly, or hard-thrown ball to put the human thumb out of joint. The “flexible glove” is made of the choicest buckskin, and is thoroughly padded with chinchilla. The padding extends from the wrist to the finger tips, but there is a break at the roots of the fingers forming a sort of hinge by which the fingers are practically separate from the hand. The right glove is of a lighter grade of buckskin, well padded or not, as the purchaser desires, and fingerless. Both gloves are hand sewed. Another left-hand glove that has met with considerable favor is made of the best buckskin, extra well-padded palm, and calf finger tips. However, it is admitted by the majority of catchers that the best left-hand glove must have a fingerless front in order to reduce the liability to finger bruises and sprains to a minimum. |
| Source | New York Sun |
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| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
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