Today in Baseball: The Birth of the Baseball Glove

Today, 135 years ago, the baseball glove was born. By no means it looked like the ones we use today, but it was the start of something that would develop through the following century.

On September 8, 1885 George H. Rawlings patented a close-fitting baseball glove that contained padding made of felt and rubber in the fingers, thumb, and palm. The owner of a  a St. Louis sporting goods store invented the padded piece of equipment to prevent players from bruising their hands when catching a ball.

As you can see, it looks like a modern day batting glove but it was the start of something that made the live of ball players easier.

In the early 1900s, the baseball glove already started to look like what we use now. 

In fact ball players already used gloves that resembles today’s cricket gloves before 1885. But the padding on the fingers, introduced by Rawlings was new and set the tone for the development of future baseball mits. 

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