Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1909-05-24
HARVARD CAPTAIN
DESIGNED FIRST
CATCHER'S MASK
FIRST USED IN BOSTON
THIRTY-THREE YEARS AGO
Man Who Played Behind Bat
When Game Was New Gives
Interesting History of Useful
Invention,
(By Warren II. Briggs.)

rho story Of h ntfouuctloh "
any one Of the many features when
now make up the ball-players' battle
%regalia makes interesting reading at
any time, and therefore, | write TINS
in the hope that it viii be appreciated
bv your readers as an authentic piece
of baseball history.
In the year 1896. in Il story in the
New york sun, Howard X. Thatcher
a practiclng physician of Dexter, Me,
| wrote as follows;
Il entered Harvard university in
1875. and in that year played on the
ball team. always catching. Hem
Hooper, now a successful merchant of
Boston. used to pitch for me, and he
always delivered the ball overland. He
was very swift. and always stood as
near the bat as the catchers do now,
though / had no protection for the
face. | could dodge pretty well, ana
as curves were unknown. coulo
judge the ban to a nicely.
In the winter of 1875, Ernst, a
student at the university, thought he
would try a new wrinkle, and started
in practicing the u%nderhand throw,
and discovered that the ball would
curve. L ldu W tdlth hiihf WIZ
and | set about thinking how | could
protect my face. | used to wear a
rubber band over my mouth, but |
decided that this was not enough pro-
| lection for me. When we played our
first game in the spring of 1876, l
put on a mask which | had made from
heavy wire. The edges We're wound
with leather, and | had a strap on
the chin and another at the forehead.
NY chum, Fred Thaycr, helped me to
make it, and I confess it was a queer
looking thing. | was ridiculed for
| wearing il, because people thought
hat a catcher did not need any pro-
lection for his face. Consequently l
, put it aside, but Thayer stood by it,
had it patented, and won many law
suits against sporting houses who
realized the value of the device, and
sought to obtain control of it
About a month after this article ap-
peared, the following was sent in by
James a. Tying, who was at the time a
resident of Ban Harbor, Me.
AS regards the story of the first
mask, your correspondent was not so
far off in his date. The first appear
ance was in the spring of 1877, not
1876, as ne places IL.
II was at that time a member of
the Harvard nine, and Thayer, who
was captain of the team, wanted me
to fill the position of catcher. To this
my family were opposed, on account
of the danger, and suggested to him
the idea of having a mask made that
would protect my face. He followed
my suggestion, and a wire-maker in
Boston made me a mask which, al
though heavy and clumsy compared
with those in use at the present day,
answered the purpose for which it
was intended, and this mask was
worn by me in the three remaining
years that | played and caught on
the nine.
"Thayer took out n patent on the
invention, and, according to rumor
made quite a sum of money on 1t
though cannot say this as a fact"
Here are the facts as | know them.
In the spring of 1875 | returned
from my studies in Europe and re-
sumed my position as catcher for the
Beacon team of Boston, at that time
catching Beals, Hooper and some-
times Ernst. During the early sum
mer of that year, the BcacOns played
several games with the Harvards,
ana / heard rumOrs at Cambridge of
a face protector. or mask, that Fred
Thaycr, captain and third baseman Of
the Harvard team was getting up. ana
which Thatcher, who was catching
for Harvard at hat time, was to use.
Naturally I was Interested in the now
tangled protector, and went to
rhayer's room sometime during the
hummer or fall of 1875. saw n work.
model of the device, n if | remem-
Der rightly, made some suggestions
concerning it. soon after this, either
late in the fall Of 1875. or in the
spring of 1876. / procured n of
these masks. of whom | cannot re-
member. but ! think through Thayer,
and | used il a little during the early
game of 1875. | left Boston on the
fifth OF July. 1876, and came to
Bridgeport. Conn, and nave ince re-
sided here. / brought with me at that
time the mask to which | have refer
red, and have il in my possession to-
day, a relic OF the past, and | believe
one of the first face protectors ever
used. Later ] saw Tying using the
same thing, but as | left Boston a
year before the date NJ mentions and
as | saw a model OF the device some
months before that time. In Thayer's
room. | do not think there can be any
lonbt about the accuracy of my
statement.
/ had always supposed that the in
vention was wholly Thayer's, and am
still firm in the belief that 10 him
should be given all the credit for IT,
However. be this as II may, l know
hat | had and used a mask that is
low in my possession in Boston In the
pring Of the year 1876
This old relic. while IL would look
very peculiar il placed side by side