Batting glove

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This article is about gloves worn by baseball batters. For the glove used by defensive players, see Baseball glove.
A close-up of a Baltimore Orioles player's batting gloves

Batting gloves are a component in bat-and-ball games sportswear. Typically consisting of a leather palm and back made of nylon or another synthetic fabric, the glove covers one or both hands of a batter, providing comfort, prevention of blisters, warmth, improved grip, and shock absorption when hitting the ball. Batting gloves are considered an essential part of cricket equipment, though they are not mandatory at any level of the game.

Purpose

Kyle Isbel of the Omaha Storm Chasers grips a bat using gloves during a 2021 game

The majority of professional and high-level amateur baseball players wear batting gloves. They are worn because they help increase the quality of the grip on the bat. Maintaining a tight and controlled grip is essential to successful hits. Even the slightest slip or variation in grip can cost the team greatly.[citation needed] They also act as a protector of the hand when one slides into a base. Another prime use for batting gloves, especially in amateur leagues that permit aluminum bats, is shock protection. On a cold day, a swing can fracture fingers.[citation needed]

History in baseball

During the 1932 Brooklyn Dodgers season, Lefty O'Doul and Johnny Frederick began experimenting with accessories as "shock absorbers" to combat hand injuries. O'Doul wore "an ordinary street glove" to the plate during games while Frederick bandaged his hands "with the same sort of material that is used to stuff shoulder pads worn by football players." The Sporting News reported, however, that O'Doul was expected to stop using the glove as soon as his hand was back to full health.[1]

Some claim the first player to wear a batting glove was

batting practice).[2]

In 2013, an hour-long documentary, called “Hawk: The Colorful life of Ken Harrelson,” began airing on the

Yankees, whereby he developed a blister on his left hand during batting practice. He goes on to say that he remembered he had his golf glove in the pocket of his jeans and that he went to bat wearing the "flaming red golf glove" in the 1st inning to face Whitey [Ford]. He claims that in that 1st-inning at bat, Whitey hung him curveball that he hit it "450 feet" for a home run over the left-center wall. He goes on to say that in about the 6th inning, Whitey hung him another curveball and he hit that one about "480 feet". He concludes the story by saying the next day, all of the Yankees came out of their clubhouse with flaming red golf gloves on, as Ken stated that Mickey [Mantle] had the "clubby (clubhouse attendant) go out and purchase them. Harrelson laughs and states, "and that's how the hitting glove got started.”[citation needed
]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-56663-677-3
    . Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  2. ^
    ISBN 0816017417
    .

External links

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