These days just about every major league player wears batting gloves. When did they become common in the game? Is there a rule about them?
Another question: how many players today don’t use them? In watching some of the playoff games lately I’ve noticed Jorge Posada of the Yankees and Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels do not use them. Who else?
Credit for the batting glove is often given to Ken Harrelson (yeah, the annoying White Sox TV guy). He played a lot of golf and he thought that the golf glove would help keep his hands from getting blisters. That was back in the 1960s. However, I wouldn’t discount the possibility that somebody used them earlier.
Have you ever swung a baseball bat repeatedly without a glove? The first time you do it and if the skin on your hands isn’t ready, then you will have some nasty blisters and/or missing skin.
Some guys don’t like gloves. They have to go through a few weeks of unpleasantness to get their hands ready.
Moises Alou of the Giants doesn’t use gloves and he says he toughens up his hands prior to the season by peeing on them.
The first major leaguer to wear batting gloves was Hawk Harrelson (the current irritating White Sox announcer) in the mid-1960s when he was with Kansas City. As the 60s wore on, more and more batters took up the example until they were pretty common in the 1970s and by the '80s they were pretty much standard.
Other players who don’t use them today are Moises Alou and Jason Kendall.
In cricket, batsmen have been wearing gloves since the mid-1800’s but for the purpose of protecting their knuckles rather than their palms. In fact, early batting gloves had no material at the palm at all.