[Sea Ray]

Admittedly he wasn't a major leaguer but I didn't think it warranted its own thread either, but Mr Franklin, the guy who made batting gloves died last week at age 93. His obit is interesting:

He did not invent them. On Sept. 4, 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.

But Mr. Franklin, who died at 93 on Thursday in Falmouth, Mass., was perhaps the father of the modern batting glove. He teamed with Mike Schmidt, the great Philadelphia Phillies third baseman, to design it and spread it through big-league clubhouses — and on to all levels of baseball.

Made by Franklin Sports, the company that Mr. Franklin and his brother, Sydney, started and led, the glove has been the official batting glove of Major League Baseball since the late 1980s. Miguel Cabrera, the major league batting champion in 2011, and Jose Batista, the home run leader, used Franklin gloves.

Of course ever the businessman, this line found in the last paragraph caught my eye:

Irving Franklin was particularly pleased about his batting gloves because the name of his company was so easy to see when television cameras closed in on a hitter. His other official major league products, cups and supporters, were not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/sp...ref=obituaries