Jim Tyng

Who was Jim Tyng?

James Alexander Tyng is known as the first baseball player to wear a catcher's mask while playing for Harvard University in 1877. The team manager, Fred Thayer, received a patent for the mask in 1878.

In 1879, Tyng became the first Harvard player selected to play in the majors, when he was picked up by Harry Wright and the Boston Red Caps as an emergency pitcher. Tyng defeated the first-place Providence Grays to draw the Red Caps within two games of the Grays. It was the only victory in his major league career. Later, in 1888, he pitched in one game for the Philadelphia Phillies.