Nightly News   |  November 15, 2011

Batting glove maker Irving Franklin dies

Batting glove innovator Irving Franklin died at home in Falmouth, Mass. He was 93. NBC’s Brian Williams reports

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This content comes from a Full-Text Transcript of the program.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: How many of the former Boys of Summer among us once had a Franklin batting glove? Irving Franklin has died at home in Falmouth, Mass . At first he ran his grandfather's scrap leather and glove business. They made the combat infantry mittens for World War II , with an opening for the trigger finger. But then he turned to sports and this revolutionary idea of a glove you would wear while at-bat. The great Mike Schmidt of the Phillies was an early believer and told Franklin to put his name on the back of the glove. And, of course, the rest is history . It became the official batting glove of Major League Baseball . Irving Franklin was 93 years old.