Joe Gunson and the invention of a catcher's mitt, 1888

[mikesglove]

This is a story of three individuals intertwined in the world of nineteenth century baseball. it is a story of catcher Joe Gunson, a stand-up guy, pitcher Ted Kennedy , an interloper, and a brilliant but ultimately deranged catcher, Harry Decker. The story involves the specific invention of a mitt to protect catchers from foul tips splitting open fingertips, bruised and breaking fingers, and also speaks to the niche nineteenth century catchers inhabited where multiple concussions to the head, blindness and death by blunt force trauma occurred and was part of life in the early years of baseball when protective equipment was minimal.
Joe Gunson of the Kansas City Blues was asked to catch on a day he had a crippled finger on his left hand. He quickly sewed together the fingers of a left hand glove, thus practically making a mitt and he caught two games. It worked out so well, Joe took an old paint can wire handle and placed it at the top of the fingers of his glove. He bound the wire to the glove with a roll of flannel belting, placed sheepskin padding around the palm of the glove and placed the glove securely inside a buckskin sleeve he had sewn together.

Gunson mitt from Hall of Fame exhibit. thanks, William

Gunson1.jpg (56.82 KiB) Viewed 16956 times

Joe's mitt was used by other catchers and proved to be quite a success. Joe asked his manager James Manning to initiate the patent for half interest in the mitt but Manning was to leave on a world tour with the Spalding baseball team. Joe out of loyalty decided to wait for his return. During a game against the Omaha club, Joe foolishly explains his invention to the Omaha pitcher, Ted Kennedy. Sometime after, Ted Kennedy applies for a patent for a wire protected mitt

The "Kennedy Patented Mitt" was featured in a circa 1892 Frederick A. Field Co. advertisement for a whopping $10. A lot of money at the time. The construction of the mitt was intricate and time consuming. The ad boasts of the Kennedy mitt Being the only glove made with a fingers and thumb protection guard

The fatal flaw in the Kennedy design was the patent was only for the wire reinforcement, not the mitt itself. Harry Decker, catcher for the Chicago team sensed Kennedy's mistake and immediately patented his version without the wire. Harry Decker's invention was called the "Decker Safety Mitt" and featured a heavily padded front with a thick leather back and seam along the top edge. Joe Gunson had also eliminated the wire reinforcement in his mitt long before and grudgingly recognized the Decker mitt as the better design

The Decker mitts were instantly popular and commonly refered to as "Deckers" by the ball players. The $5 advertised price was half the cost of the Kennedy mitts.

catcher with the Decker mitt and throwing glove circa 1890

As brilliant and resourceful as he was, Harry Decker's life eventually took a turn for the worst as he slowly descended into a life of deranged and criminal behavior. He was well known in the Chicago press for delusional antics and hallucinations. Decker eventually served time in San Quentin prison. He had been written off as always having criminal tendencies but in August 2010, a medical article re-evaluated that niche of nineteenth century catchers and the continual blows to the head causing a medical condition called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy which resulted in madness, addiction and criminal behavior.
Joe Gunson's fortunes turned for the better when his mitt along with verification from seven witnesses was accepted by the Hall of Fame as the original invention of a catchers mitt.

[mikesglove]

Joe Gunson wrote that the Decker mitt inspired many imitations and variations as evidenced in these advertisements from "The Sporting Life " of 1890. Notice how these mitts still adhere to Joe Gunson's original design of a glove surrounded by a sleeve of leather. This was the style of the 1880's.

By the beginning of the 1890's the design and construction of a mitt changed to a visible glove with finger stalls sewn onto the back of a pad. Another patent by Harry Decker 1n 1891 shows the start of the modern style of catchers mitts. This was a vast improvement because the surface area of the mitt could be increased and the padding could be adjusted to form a deeper pocket.

A. J. Reach catchers mitt

note the catchers mitt at bottom center

[mikesglove]

Another 1897 baseball team. Notice the increase in size of the catchers mitt within the decade of the 1890's.

[mikesglove]

The idea of a wire reinforced mitt did not die out with Joe Gunson's mitt and Ted Kennedy's patent. In 1899 Jason Draper of Draper & Maynard Sporting Goods patented a version of a reinforced catchers mitt. Instead of wire he used a 1/2 inch laminated band of fabric vulcanized with rubber. This band was fastened with rivets to the leather perimeter as illustrated in the patent drawing.

Many examples still exist among collectors. This mitt below has the riveted strap joining the thumb to the body of the mitt in addition to the riveted perimeter reinforcement band.

circa 1900 catchers mitt

These two later 1905-10 versions below feature the newer invention of the adjustable grommet web in addition to the reinforcing band

note the rivets at the top of the mitt holding the laminated band in place

[mikesglove]

Harry Decker's original invention of the "Decker Safety Mitt" featuring the leather finger guard on the back continued on and was popular into the 1920-30's. The button back and laced back feature of the early "Deckers" had long since been replaced by the buckle and strap. The Spalding mitt below is circa 1906

original patent date of 1889 still stamped on the finger guard

This Spalding mitt below is circa 1915-20

[mikesglove]

While I was looking online for information on Joe Gunson, I ran across a book, "The Way Baseball Works" by Dan Gutman. It was produced in cooperation with the Hall of Fame. There was a section on Joe Gunson and beside the text there was a picture that was blanked out for copyright reasons. I thought, "Yes, there it is, a picture of Joe Gunson's mitt from the Hall of Fame". I found the book in my local library the next day and the picture next to the text was not even close to the right era let alone design. It made me wonder if there is any fact checking in these publishing houses. I would have loved to find the picture of the mitt Joe Gunson sent to the Hall of Fame but it was not meant to be.

[Number9]

I've seen the Gunson mitt. It's nothing like what you would expect from looking at the patent drawings. Looks more 1890's in it's appearance, and obviously hand made.

[ohiofraun]

I thought I would send along pics of my Reach Professional Model 5/A Patented Jan 2nd 1908.
It is so tight, I can't imagine how a catcher could control the pitch. He would have to catch it in the pocket and simultaneously cover it with bent fingers.

[ohiofraun]

See pic of palm side of Reach 5/A

[ohiofraun]

Palm side was send twice, inadvertantly. Here is the wrist side

[mikesglove]

Your Reach 5/A mitt is a nice one. Lucky to have the markings so evident on the front. Top of the line mitts like yours were made with stout leather meant to last. I owned one just like yours and it was as stiff as you mentioned. The picture beside the Joe Gunson article in "The Way Baseball Works" looked a little like yours except smaller. I was disappointed the picture in the article was not correct. I was hoping to see a real homemade mitt as William pointed out. The Hall of Fame traveling exhibit from several years ago also had the Gunson mitt on view. I don't think cameras were allowed unfortunately.

[Number9]

You're right Mike, the mitt in the Baseball As America exhibit is the Gunson Mitt. I may have a photo.....

[Number9]

Here it is...

[mikesglove]

William, what great pictures! thanks so much. I didn't expect it to be crafted so well. There is a lot of care and attention to detail and looks to be of solid construction. The seams and sewing are impressive for a homemade mitt. I can tell by looking at it that it was meant to last a good while. The glove that Joe Gunson used as a starting point is still somewhat visible inside the dark leather sleeve of the back view photo.
Mike

[Number9]

That mitt is a crazy mish mash of re-purposed leather and parts. So much so, that none of the lines really work from a practical standpoint. Actually, the opening on the back of the hand is so large that it barely covers the fingers. Pretty wild.