Baseball had been around awhile before the baseball glove was first introduced in 1875 and it was quite awhile longer after that that it became standard practice.

Early baseball gloves were very simple when you compare them to the baseball gloves of today. Early gloves weren't intended to help catch the ball but only to provide some padding. In fact early gloves were designed with the idea of knocking the ball down rather than catching it. Obviously the baseball of this time period was a far different game than the one we know today.

The first baseball gloves were made from pieces of leather that were sown together to fit over a player's hand. There was no padding to speak of.

Gloves evolved slowly over time adding more and more cushion and becoming bigger.

At first there were only a few players wearing gloves and these players were called "sissies" and taunted as being "too soft." If ever there was proof of Einstein's theory of relativity, my friends, this was it. Now of course gloves are a part of the game.

Ah, what's next, baseball helmets?