The Complete History of the Baseball Glove 🧤 

"Members of our species" - classic phrase. Tons of information that could only be found after lots and lots of research. Great job.

I recently bought a 1950's era 3 finger glove. I always thought they were so cool looking but I have no idea how you can catch anything with it. The pocket is smaller than a baseball. Great vid Hatbilly.

A couple of fun facts: The last player to play without a glove was Bid McPhee, a longtime second baseman with the Cincinnati Reds who was inducted into the Hall of Fame about 100 years after he retired. He played until 1897, only giving in and wearing one the last couple years of his career. Also, here's something that really doesn't get talked about anymore, but has always fascinated me. Up until the early 1950s, it was customary for players to not take their gloves back to the dugout, but to leave them on the field at their position. This little detail is seldom depicted in video games or movies ("Eight Men Out" had a scene where Charlie Sheen did.) There are some fun stories about players filling their opponents gloves with dirt (among other things, like dead mice) as a joke, though it didn't happen too often because retaliation was easy. I remember reading that when the practice was banned, many players complained. Richie Ashburn said that he reaches base about 200 time a year and scores about 100 runs, so that's 100 times a year where he has to make an extra trip back to the dugout to get his glove rather than just going straight out to centerfield.

How about the oversized glove Orioles catcher Gus Triandos used to attempt to catch Hoyt Wilhelm’s knuckleball? It kicked up a lot of media discussion in its time.

Glad you gave a shoutout to Mizuno. Always caught some shit for being a Mizuno guy, but, for me, catching anything felt effortless.

loved the video! it’s wild to think they used to not wear a glove of any kind. could you imagine doing that in modern baseball? lol

Enjoyed watching this. You do a remarkable job with your research.

Nice.

Immaculate and interesting research as always) Idk if they still do it, but on an old baseball field near an old army fort on governors island in new york, there was a group of men who traveled out and played barehand baseball in old uniforms and near-original rules. Alas, one of the old rules was that a ball caught on one bounce could be considered an out. Though still no service to catchers, this is why gloves were initially seen as effeminate in the era of the baltimore chop and hoss radbourn.

seems like the 60s is when a 1 hand catching glove became standard. Before that they seemed like you needed to use your glove as a shock absorber then trap with your barehand

Well, this is something. Quite telling.

Make a vídeo about the black sox scandal in 1919