The Adair County news. [volume] (Columbia, Ky.) 1897-1987, 1912-11-06
EARLY BASEBALL.
The Game In the Days When 1t
Was Played With Bare Hands.
MASKS WERE NOT USED THEN.
As a Result Fractured Noses. Split
Palms and Broken Fingers Were
Everyday ineidents-The Advent and
Qevelopment of Protactiue Qauires

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
field that the sport would develop into
burlesque. Yet can remember the
! days when ball players never wore
gloves and when caichers had neither
masks nor mitts. 1t required great
courage to face swift pitcher and lots
of nerve to get in front OF hot
gronnder."
Many of our citizens who played
baseball more than thirty-6ve years
ago will tell you that broken fingers,
, bone bruises. split palms and torn fin
ger nails were everyday accidents and
that Il 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 a habit of
putting a pie,-' of solid rubber in the
mouth made ia such a manner that It
covered the lis and provided protec-
ton for the teeth. 1t proved so eff
Client that MI the leading catchers
adopted it. iiut even then it was dan
gerons to latch close up until James
Tyng, the former Harvard player, ill.,
vented The mask, cumbersome affair
with broad strips of f1attened iron that
covered the face. bur 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 common
thing to see backstOps stutfing 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 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 fngerless
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 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 INIT.
which was comparatively light af-
fair, bit 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 feeders 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 70 wear the same
heavy mitt. while a lighter one was
assigned to the first baseman. But
all the other fielders were compelled
to use finger glove weighing not
more than half a dozen ounces. Before
the in and out tielders began to wear
gloves, however. many stars made re
markable records. Adrian e. 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 Pfeffer. 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 mitt or a
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 II 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
game into use in the eighties. nut al
first it was rot Inflated. IL was fiat
affair with bamboo frame over which
was buckskin covering. This did
not prevent caichprs from being par
tally knocked ont by sharp fou, tips
the bread basket. so the pneumatic
chest protector was hailed With de-
light and is now Indispensable.
Roger BreSnahan was the first major |
'eague catcher tn wear shin guards |
such as crickerers use He was ridi- |
culed at first. but when special make !
was put on the market Roger was vim |
dicated The guards now worn by |
many backstOps have a joint at the !
knees so that they do not impede |
catchers in their hurry after foul flies |