Over the last 40 years, batting gloves have become a normal part of baseball. There are various reasons for wearing batting gloves– comfort, prevention of blisters, warmth, improved grip, and shock absorption are the most common reasons. Some players probably think they look cool too.
Kansas City A’s Ken “Hawk” Harrelson is often recognized as the first player to wear a batting glove in an actual game, as opposed to just using one during batting practice. After playing 27 holes of golf, and thinking he had the day off, Harrelson had blistered his hands. So, in a 1964 game against the Yankees he decided to wear a golf glove to protect his hand.
It is frequently said the first person to wear gloves for batting was the Giants’ Bobby Thomson while playing in a 1949 spring training game. He wanted better bat grip. Ted Williams also tried gloves in 1953 while taking batting practice to shield a blistered hand. Still, some scholars have suggested that Hughie Jennings may have used a batting glove as far back as 1901. Plus, it appears certain that Brooklyn Dodgers Lefty O’Doul and Johnny Frederick used gloves in 1932. Who wore batting gloves first will probably always be up for some debate.
However, wearing batting gloves didn’t become commonplace with professional players until the 1980s. The father of the modern batting glove was Irving H. Franklin. His Franklin Sports gloves have been the official batting glove of Major League Baseball since the late 1980s. In 1983 he worked with the Phillies Mike Schmidt to perfect a new batting glove. The Schmidt-designed glove is now commonly used and has changed little from the original model.
Harrelson’s best season was 1968 when he hit .275 with 35 homers, and a league-leading 109 RBI. During the “Year of the Pitcher,” his .275 average placed him ninth in the AL in hitting. (His teammate Carl Yastrzemski hit .301 to lead the league.) His 35 homers were third in the AL. It was a great season, worthy of finishing third in the MVP voting. The 11-5, 33-5, 66-1 power numbers on his APBA card would produce nicely any year. However, of his 131 lifetime round-trippers, 88 came in just three seasons. In fact, 27% of his career homers came in 1968.
Hawk Harrelson is best known as the longtime Chicago White Sox announcer. In 2020 he was selected as the Ford C. Frick Award winner for the Hall of Fame. As a game changer, the colorful Harrelson is most responsible for reintroducing and popularizing the batting glove in the 1960s. You can put it on the board…Yes!
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