This invention by Edmond Wilson in 1895 sought to eliminate the hand being enclosed in the manner of the standard catching mitts of the day. He stated that since baseball was a summertime sport the build up of moisture and sweat on the hand would decrease the usefulness and playability of the leather and cause the player great discomfort. To improve the usefulness and efficiency of the catchers mitt, Wilson designed a mitt with leather retainers and straps to replace normal finger stalls. This would allow the fingers to stay open to the air.
I had to study this patent drawing quite a while to understand the construction. I thought it might be fun to make a mock-up of the mitt. The wedge shape yellow pieces are the "retainers" mentioned in the patent with the various brown buckle straps to hold the hand in place.
The design is very intriguing and I wondered how it would feel on the hand.
The earlier mock-up I made of the Redmond mitt was surprisingly solid feeling. I would have to give this one a thumbs down. The Wilson mitt patent design is a lot like building a house with six penny nails. A lot of work with nothing to gain.
