Baltimore Orioles History: Clint Courtney Debuts Oversized Mitt

Hitting a knuckleball is considered to be one of the hardest things in baseball, but catching one is just as difficult. On this day in 1960, Baltimore Orioles catcher Clint Courtney debuted a novel way of corralling the elusive pitch.

Of all the pitches in baseball, the knuckleball may be the hardest to hit. When thrown properly, not even the pitcher knows where, exactly, the ball will end up, making it difficult to hit. For a catcher, attempting to catch the pitch can cause nightmares and a great deal of embarrassment. After all, the ability to catch the knuckleball led to Doug Mirabelli getting a police escort to Fenway Park to be there in time to catch Tim Wakefield.

As one can see, catching a knuckler can lead to drastic measures. One of the more infamous of those came on this day in 1960, when Baltimore Orioles catcher Clint Courtney debuted an oversized mitt in his attempts to catch for future Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm.

While Wilhelm made his way into the Hall as a reliever, he also started 52 games in his career, 43 of them with the Orioles. One of them was on this day, and Courtney was looking for as much help as possible. Using the glove, which was designed by manager Paul Richards and 50% larger than a regular catcher’s mitt, Courtney was ready for Wilhelm.

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The star knuckleballer had a solid outing, pitching a complete game and allowing just two runs on six hits and three walks, striking out five. Even more importantly, the glove worked, as Courtney was able to smother every knuckler thrown his way, handling Wilhelm without issue. The oversized mitt worked exactly as Courtney and Richards had hoped.

Alas, for those catchers tasked with trying to catch for a knuckleballer, that innovation would be shortlived. While it survived through the 1963 season, the oversized mitt was eventually banned by MLB, The glove was still allowed for 1964, but was eliminated for the 1965 campaign.

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Innovation can be an interesting thing at times, especially when born of desperation. That led to the entertaining event on this day in 1960, when Baltimore Orioles catcher Clint Courtney debuted his oversized catching mitt.