Barehanded Baseball

It's always been kinda hard for me to imagine what 19th Century Baseball was like when they played Barehanded. Check out this video, I'm not saying 19th century baseball players were the same type athletes as these guys but it is eyeopening on what is possible with barehands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILmSAL7WTKA&feature=related

Like you said Jerry, the early baseball players probably weren't making those athletic diving plays like the cricket players in that clip. They were likely quite a bit more stationary I would think.

Some of the earliest glove models came in the 1870's, and as you know they weren't anything close to what players use today. They were a thin leather material that provided only a little extra padding. And players were ridiculed and called "sissies" for using them

Here's a neat Rawlings glove patent from 1885:

The other thing to remember is that in 19c the ball was more like a softball than what is used today. Making a barehanded stop wouldn't hurt nearly as much and as the game wore on, the ball got softer and softer.

Jay

Here's a closeup of some catchers circa 1887 from the N172 Old Judge set. These guys were badass!