Joseph Brook Gunson (March 23, 1863 – November 15, 1942) was a
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...
between and .
Biography
Born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Gunson played for the
Cleveland Spiders
The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followe ...
,
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...
,
Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys:
*Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a major league baseball team in the Union Association in 1884
*Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a major league baseball team in ...
,
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
, and
St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...
from 1884 to 1893. He is sometimes credited with creating the first catcher's mitt when he was trying to play through an 1888 finger injury. Though Gunson was young and did not need the money,
Jim Manning was going to help him patent it once Manning returned from a summer baseball tour. Gunson said that he told some other players about the glove and that many other players began using such a mitt before Manning came home.
Gunson died at his Philadelphia home in 1942.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunson, Joe
1863 births
1942 deaths
Major League Baseball catchers
Cleveland Spiders players
Kansas City Cowboys (AA) players
Washington Nationals (UA) players
Baltimore Orioles (NL) players
St. Louis Browns (AA) players
19th-century baseball players
19th-century American sportsmen
Meriden Maroons players
Rochester Maroons players
Atlanta Atlantas players
Hartford Dark Blues (minor league) players
Topeka Golden Giants players
Kansas City Blues (baseball) players
Erie Blackbirds players
Springfield Maroons players
Springfield Ponies players
Scranton Miners players
Scranton Red Sox players
Rochester Patriots players
Ottawa Wanderers players
Newark Colts players
Philadelphia Athletics (minor league) players
Harrisburg Ponies players
Baseball players from Philadelphia