About Catcher's Gloves

In the sport of baseball, the glove that a catcher uses is known as a catcher's mitt. This type of glove is different from other fielder's gloves in that it has no individual fingers, resembling a mitten, hence the name. Catcher's mitts have extra padding in the palms because of the speed of pitched balls it must catch and they possess a "hinge" that allows them to be flexible. Catcher's gloves are measured around their circumference, with typical mitts being within the range of 32 to 34 inches all the way around.

  1. History

    • Players did not use any type of glove when baseball was first played in the 1800s. It wasn't until 1870 that Doug Allison, a catcher with an injured hand, put on a pair of buckskin mittens to take the sting out of catching the pitched ball that gloves came into being. They were considered to be quite unmanly though, and it wasn't until Albert Spaulding designed and wore a fingerless glove in 1877 that they finally caught on.

    Types

    • The early versions of the catcher's mitt had no webbing and were more like small pillows with padding that were broken in as the catcher played. They lacked a pocket in those early days and the ball would often hit it and pop out. It wasn't until decades later that the gloves utilized by catchers were designed with deeper pockets and strong webbing. A hinge that enabled the mitt to close when the ball was caught was added in the 1960s. The Cubs' Randy Hundley in 1966 and the Reds' great future Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench two years later were the first to use this type.

    Function

    • Catchers that had to deal with elusive knuckleballs were helped in the late 1950s when Orioles manager Paul Richards designed an oversized catcher's glove that had a circumference of 45 inches. It made it easy to catch the unpredictable knuckleballs thrown by Baltimore pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm but the size was cut down by the rules in 1965 to no bigger than a 38-inch circumference. Modern advances in catcher's gloves include a series of grooves and diamonds etched into the leather pockets of mitts. The idea behind this is to stop a ball from spinning when it hits the mitt and give the catcher more control over the ball.

    Considerations

    • The catcher's mitt has many different jobs to perform. First it must be able to absorb the shock of pitches coming at more than 95 miles per hour. It also must be flexible enough to catch breaking balls and slower pitches. A catcher needs to block balls that wind up in the dirt and backhand occasional errant pitches and throws. Catchers are required to snag foul pop-ups with their glove and catch throws from other fielders to tag out runners trying to score.

    Expert Insight

    • The price of a professional model catcher's glove can be in the hundreds of dollars. Catcher's gloves of lesser quality are available for considerably less, with sporting goods stores and companies such as Rawlings, Louisville Slugger and Wilson selling many kinds of models online.