Frederick Thayer

Frederick Winthrop Thayer

• School Harvard University

• Born August 14, 1854 in Boston, MA USA
• Died September 17, 1913 in Cohasset, MA USA

Biographical Information

Frederick Thayer is credited with inventing the catcher's mask. A former player at Harvard University where he was the varsity team's captain, he modified a fencing mask in 1877 to create his contraption, which allowed the catcher to move closer to the batter. He was not a catcher himself, but designed the mask to protect his catcher, Jim Tyng, from the fast throws of pitcher Harold Ernst.

He received a patent for his invention, which was improved by adding padding to absorb the impact of the ball, on February 12, 1878. Later that year, the Spalding Brothers Company began to sell his catcher's mask for $3 as part of their sporting goods business. On August 11, 1883, Thayer and Harry Wright jointly sued the Spalding brothers for copyright infringement, and they would eventually win the case, forcing the Spaldings to pay some royalties.

Thayer played baseball in Omaha, NE in 1879 as part of the first professional team organized in the city where he was working as a clerk for B & M, a large retailer in the city. He later became an attorney.

He died on September 1, 1913.

Further Reading

• Stephen Eschenbach: "Home-plate Security", Harvard Magazine, July-August 2004. [1]
• John Hanlon: "Baseball's First Masked Man", Sports Illustrated, July 19, 1971. [2]

Related Sites

• History Nebraska article
• Find-a-Grave page