New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1912-07-03
early BASEBALL.
The Game IN the Days When It
Was Played With Bare Hands.

Was Played With Bare Hands.
MASKS WERE NOT USED THEN.
AZ 4 Result Fractured Noses, Spill,
Palms and Broken Fingers Wers
Everyday Incidents Advent and
Development Of Protective Devices.
Gan you imagine modern baseball
team playing the game barehandedF
asked a gray haired fan while discuss
Ing diamond doings Of long ago. There
would be plenty Of business for the
bone settlers and so many errors In the
f1eld that the sport would develop into
burlesque. Yet l can remember the
days when ball players never wore
gloves and when catchers had neither
masks nor mitts. 1t required great
courage to face q swift pitcher and lots
of nerve to get in front Of hot
grounder."
Many Of our citizens who played
baseball more than thirty-dve years
ago will tell you that broken fingers.
bone bruises, split palms and torn fin
ger nails were everyday accidents and
that a player who showed the white
feather was tabooed. Before gloves
and masks were invented catchers had
endless troubles. The old timers who
dared to stand close behind the bats
fractured by the foul tips tt.at could
not be avoided. Soon came a habit Of
putting piece of solid rubb4r in the
mouth made in such a manner that 1t
covered the lips and provided protec-
ton for the teeth. 1t proved SO eff
cient that all the leading catchers
adopted it. But even then it was dan
gerous to catch close up until James
Tying, the former Harvard player, in
vented the mask, cumbersome affair
with broad strips Of dattened iron that
covered the face, but also partially OBJ
scured the backstop's vision. ~
Then came the catcher's gloves, one
for each hand. These gloves were of
light kid, with no fingers and little or
no padding. Catchers who handled
swift deliveries, therefore, soon found
that the gloves did not come up to the
requirements, so it was a common
thing to see backstops stuf6ng grass
into the gloves to protect the palms of
the hands.
One Of the first National league
catchers to use left hand glove with
fingers was Meyers Of Indianapolis,
more than twenty-five years ago.
Somebody made a glove for him that
caused a general laugh. The fingers
were so long and the surface of the
glove was so broad that Meyers found
it difficult at first to hold pitched
ball He was catching the great Hen
ry Boyle in those days, and Boyle had
binding speed Meyers had broken
all of his fingers, also both thumbs, in
handling Boyle with the fingerless
gloves. so that he readily tried the
new one, and after much perseverance
he proved that it had merit. After
that all the catchers adopted finger
glove for the left hand The glove was
improved upon when the manufacture
er put solid leather tips on the ends of
the fingers to protect the nails.
Buck Ewing, Silver Flint and Char
ley Bennett, three Of the greatest
backstops the game ever produced.
were among the first to adopt the mitt.
which was comparatively light af-
fair, but made it impossible to injure
the fingers of the left hand. As the
gradually increased the
size and weight of the catcher's mitt
the mania for gloves became general.
The in and out fielders adopted them,
some using the mitt until the baseball
rule makers were forced to legislate
against the practice.
When the rule STIMULATING the size OF
the glove to be worn was passed the
catcher was allowed to wear the same
heavy mitt, while a lighter one was
assigned to the first baseman. But
all the other fielders were compelled
to use a finger glove weighing not
more than half q dozen ounces. Before
the in and out delders began to wear
gloves, however, many stars made re-
records. Adrian O. Arson
played first base for the Chicagos for
many years barehanded. The old man
was mark for such swift throw
ing inf1elders as Ed Williamson and
Fred Prefer, who tried in vain to
make him vince. Many times Arson
went home from the ball field with
swollen fingers and very painful bone
bruises, but never used a mitt or a
glove until near the end Of his dia-
nond career.
With the popularity Of the glove
'ame an improved style of mask. The
wires were made smaller and stronger,
With the padding firmer. Later on the
mask had visor Of leather to keep
ha SIN ont Of tho catchar's evos TO-