Evening star., 1960-09-30

Tie through the years. AS q
game. it has been played in
the United States for lis
years, but 1t attained little
popularity until after the
Civil War. Albert G. Spalding
pitched for the Braves and
the Cubs in the days of Re-
construction and some Of his
recollections are published in
Paul Angles The American
Reader:
THE FIRST GLOVE I
ever saw on the hand of a
ball player was worn by
Charles C. Waite in Boston,
in 1875. He had come from
New Haven and was playing
at first base. The glove was
Of flesh color with a large,
round opening at the back
of the hand.
For several years I had
pitched in every game played
by the Boston team and had
developed severe bruises on
the inside of my left hand.
AS a pitcher, I knew that
every pitched ball had to be
returned, and that every
swift one coming my way,
from infielders, outfielders,
or hot from the bat, must be
caught or stopped.
II asked Waite about his
glove. He confessed that he
was ashamed to wear it, but
had to save his hand. He said
that the purpose of the OPEN
ing in the back was for
ventilation. In 1877, I over
came my scruples and
donned a glove. I got a black
one, as inconspicuous as pos
sible, and cut out the back
to let the air in.
In my case, the presence
OF the glove did not elicit the
ridicule that greeted Waite.
I had been playing so long,
and had become so well
known, that the innovation
seemed to evoke more SYM
pathy than hilarity. The
glove, thin as it was, helped.
I inserted one pad after an
other until a good deal of
relief was afforded. If any
one wore a padded glove be-
fore this date, I do not know
of it.
About 1876, James Tying,
catcher for the Harvard Base
ball Club, appeared on the
Boston grounds one day and
donned the first wire mask.
1t had been invented by Fred
w. Thayer. a Harvard play
er. Our catcher, James
White. was urged to try it
and. after some coaxing, con-
sented.
II pitched few balls, some
OF which he missed. Becoming
disgusted at not being able to
see the ball, he tore the mask
off and hurled it toward the
bench.
Recently Q9O0 1910
Rodger Bresnahan, manager
of the st. Louis Cardinals,
introduced shinguardS for the
catcher. This too is one Of
the rare innovations in the
game Of baseball.
I'm 1866, Robert Addy Of
the Forest City team in Illinois
started the players by div
ing for second base. None Of
us had ever witnessed this
play before. Certainly we were
Il should say-nonplussed.
Since then, many players
have devised ways Of getting
there
THE BUNT sacrifice hit is
the only other innovation
which comes to mind. Before
that. the batsmen tried to
place hits in exposed portions
of the field, and some had
considerable proficiency in
this. A few made a speciality
Of the long high drive to ad-
vance a runner. They hoped
that the high fly would be
missed, or at least to advance
the runner after the catch, if
only one man was out.
But dropping the ball in
close infield, with the expec-
tation Of giving an advantage
to the base runner, and with
the forlorn hope Of. beating
the ball to first base, was not
adopted Systematically until
much later.
From the time of the
adoption of regular playing
rules by the old Knicker-
bockers. changes in the game