Baseball glove

The baseball glove and baseball glove ( in English for the glove of the catcher and first baseman Mitt common ) is a sports equipment that is worn in the sport of baseball the team on the defensive. The glove is designed to be able to catch beats the batter, passports of the players and the pitcher throws easier. In addition, the glove protects against pain and injury that might arise when catching due to the hardness of a baseball.

History

In the history of baseball has not been acting right from the beginning with gloves on the defensive. Only at the end of the 19th century first player began to play with gloves. The ancestor of the baseball glove should be Doug Allison, who after an injury to his catcher's wearing a glove for the first time in 1870.

The first baseball gloves were simple leather gloves where the fingertips were cut off in order to have better control of the ball. The gloves were then spread mainly by the first baseman Albert Spalding, who showed significantly better performances with gloves, and so many imitators. In later years, Albert Spalding founded the company Spalding, a sporting goods company that manufactures today baseball gloves and sells.

The size of baseball gloves gradually increased over several decades; from about 1910 began the gloves to be larger than ordinary leather gloves, today's size has been reached until the middle of the 20th century. Around 1920, the " webbing ", a leather surface between the thumb and forefinger introduced.

Variants

Modern baseball gloves vary in shape and size and specialize in the respective position on the defensive. Among other things, different fingers to be cut out or special upholstery - especially when Catchers Mitt - added. They are each for left - or right-handed players. A right-handed wearing a glove on his left hand, his right hand free to throw the ball, this applies vice versa for a left-hander.

A "Mitt " ( German: mitten ) need not have individually formed fingers; with a "Glove " ( German: glove ), however, the individual fingers of the glove must be performed clearly separated. Only the catcher and the first baseman may use a "Mitt ".

A distinction is made between:

Players on the offensive

The team that is on the offensive, wearing no gloves in the sense of classical Baseball Gloves. The batter bear dendritic Batting Gloves, thin leather gloves that improve the grip of the baseball bat and intended to protect against blisters and pain. Batting Gloves are not made ​​mandatory in the regulations and are therefore not supported by all batsmen.