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Cricket Gloves Story

It is another story that cricket has been given the status of GOD in India. But we all are aware that the sport is a global passion. 

The evolution in the sport is increasing the craze day by day. Earlier it was just Test Cricket match and 50-50 one day cricket. But now the world plays Twenty20 Cricket along with these two formats and is very enthusiastic about this specific format. Even these days the common people can play cricket while watching a match through the online fantasy cricket games. 

As the sport has spread like fire, there are a few things the fans should know about its history to understand the game better. As one of the ardent fan of the new trend, fantasy sport India, along with the real sport, our today’s post is about the early days when cricket gloves were first used. Let’s explore: 

First to wear batting glove

According to some of the historians, the first sportsperson to wear a batting glove was Bobby Thomson of the Giants. He wore golf gloves in 1949 during spring training. Many others say that Ted Williams was the first man to wear a golf glove in the summer of 1953 during batting practice, after he came back to the Red Sox from Korea.  

The veteran sportswriter David Cataneo said that Williams’ manager, Fred Corcoran was with Williams one day while he was taking an added batting practice to return back in shape. Corcoran noticed the blisters on Williams’ hand and pulled out a golf glove from his bag and gave it to him to try out and keep his hands safe from further blisters. Soon, everyone started wearing a golf glove while batting. 

What other sources say?

There are many sources that suggest, the first person to wear a batting glove in cricket was Ken “Hawk” Harrelson. A few sources say Harrelson wore golf gloves at first in 1964 while playing for the Kansas City Athletics. Others cite a fictional tale, in which Harrelson was with the Red Sox in 1968 and, not expecting to play in a night game, spent the afternoon playing golf. Arriving at the ballpark with blistered hands after shooting 27 holes, he was amazed to discover himself in the beginning line up and chose wearing golf gloves to guard his tender hands. Rusty Staub was the first to wear the golf gloves on a daily basis. 

Batting gloves turn out to be an essential and ordinary part of MLB in the early 1980s with Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies leading attempts of Franklin Sports to be the option of the bulk of players. Over time Franklin Sports turn out to be, and still remains in our day, the official batting glove of Major League Baseball. 

So, this was the story of gloves! 

Happy reading and play fantasy cricket!