<P> Many early baseball gloves were simple leather gloves with the fingertips cut off, supposedly to allow for the same control of a bare hand but with extra padding . First baseman Albert Spalding, originally skeptical of glove use, influenced more infielders to begin using gloves . Spalding later founded the sporting goods company Spalding, which still manufactures baseball gloves along with other sports equipment . By the mid-1890s, it was the norm for players to wear gloves in the field . </P> <P> In 1920, Bill Doak, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, suggested that a web be placed between the first finger and the thumb in order to create a pocket . This design soon became the standard for baseball gloves . Doak patented his design and sold it to Rawlings . His design became the precursor to modern gloves, and enabled Rawlings to become the preferred glove of professional players . </P> <P> For many years it was customary for fielders to leave their gloves on the field when their team went in to bat . This practice was prohibited by the major leagues in 1954 . </P> <P> Baseball gloves have grown progressively larger since their inception . While catching in baseball had always been two handed, eventually, gloves grew to a size that made it easier to catch the ball in the webbing of the glove, and use the off - hand to keep it from falling out . A glove is typically worn on the non-dominant hand, leaving the dominant hand for throwing the ball; for example, a right - handed player would wear a glove on the left hand . </P>

When did baseball players stop leaving their gloves on the field