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Franklin, a sporting goods company
founded by Sydney, and Irving H.
Franklin was established in 1946.
Irving Franklin was first employed at a
shoe factory in Brockton, MA, and later
joined his grandfather in the scrap
leather business, which he took over
when his grandfather passed away. When
the Korean War began, Mr. Franklin
obtained a variety of government
contracts, and produced gloves, trigger
finger mittens, and a variety of other
products. The company moved on to make
footballs and other sports equipment,
toys and sports medicine products.
In 1962, Irving Franklin went to Japan and began to import baseball
gloves. Franklin created the first
leather batting glove, which were
produce with a unique tri-curve design
for superior fit and feel. In 1964 Ken
Harrelson of the Kansas City Athletics
was credited with starting the custom
by wearing a golf glove to protect a
blistered hand in a game against the
Yankees. He hit two home runs.
In 1983, Franklin teamed with Mike Schmidt, of the Philadelphia Phillies,
to design a batting glove, and spread
it through big-league clubhouses — and
on to all levels of baseball. Franklin
became the official batting glove of
Major League Baseball since the late
1980s.
The Franklin digital leather design provides a better grip on the bat
handle. The front of the package
pictures Mike Schmidt with a facsimile
of his signature. The back of the
package lists Major League Baseball
players that used a Franklin batting
glove, and are members of Franklin's
Professional All-Star Batter's Club.
The gloves were offered in both adult,
and youth sizes. (S-small, M-medium,
L-large)
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