The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1912-07-04
EARLY BASEBALL.
The Game IN the Days When It
Was Played With Bare Hands.
MASKS WERE NOT USED Them /,

MASKS were NOT USED THEN.
A. Result Fractured Noses. Split
Palms and Broken Fingers Were
Everyday lncidents-The Advent and
Development Of Protective Devices.
"Can you imagine modern baseball
team playing the game barehanded? p
asked 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
field that the sport would develop into
a burlesque. Yet can remember the
days when ball players never wore
| gloves and when catchers had neither
| masks nor mitts. 1t required great
| courage to face a swift pitcher and lots
of nerve to get in front of hot
| grounder." ... :.
Many Of our citizens who played
| baseball more than thirty-five 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
! men had teeth knocked out and noses
| fractured by the foul tips that could
| not be avoided. Soon came habit of
putting piece of solid rubber in the
| mouth made in such a manner that it
covered the lips and provided protec.
ton for the teeth. 1t proved so eff
Gent that all the leading catchers
adopted it. But even then it was dan
! gerous to catch close up until James
Tyng. the former Harvard player, in
vented the mask, a cumbersome affair
with broad strips Of fattened iron that
covered the face, but also partially OBJ
scured the backstops 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 stufing 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 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 a pitched
ball. He was catching the great Hen
~ Boyle in those days, and Boyle had
binding speed. Meyers had broken
all Of his fingers. also both thumbs. in
handling Boyle with the tingeress
gloves. so that be readily tried the
new one, and after much perseverance
he proved that it had merit After
that all the catchers adopted a 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
manufacturers gradually increased the
size and weight Of the catcher's mitt
the mania for gloves became general.
The in and out felders 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 lighter one was
assigned to the first baseman. But
all the other ielders were compelled
to use a finger glove weighing not
more than half dozen ounces. Before
the in and out felders began to wear
gloves. however. many stars made re-
! markable records. Adrian G. Arson
played first base for the Chicagos for
many years barehanded The old man
| was mark for such swift throw
| ing infelders as Ed Williamson and
Fred Pfefer. 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
glove until near the end Of his dia-
mond career.
With the popularity of the glove
came 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
the sun out of the catcher's eyes, to-
gether with steel protection for the
neck and throat The chest protector
came into use in the eighties. but at
first it was not inflated. 1t was fiat
affair with bamboo frame over which
was buckskin covering. This did