Catcher's mitt and related methods of use

Abstract

In various aspects, the catcher's mitt disclosed herein may include a catching side and a rear side opposed in spaced relation to the catching side with opposing edges of the catching side and rear side interconnected to form a thumb edge, a finger edge, a heel, and a tip. A hand cavity is formed between the catching side and the rear side. The catcher's mitt includes a target formed into the leather on the catching side. The target is formed of one or more colors that contrast with a background color of the non-target portion of the catching side to visually attract a pitcher's eye.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A catcher's mitt, comprising:
 a catching side defining a thumb edge and a finger edge, the catching side comprised of a leather piece formed of leather with mechanics of the leather piece being unaltered throughout;   a rear side opposed in spaced relation to the catching side, opposing edges of the catching side and rear side interconnected to form a thumb edge, a finger edge, a heel, and a tip;   a webbing extending between portions of the thumb edge and the finger edge proximate the tip;   a hand cavity disposed between the catching side and the rear side, the hand cavity comprising a palm cavity, a thumb cavity, and a finger cavity, the thumb cavity extends generally along the thumb edge and the finger cavity extends along the finger edge, the hand cavity opens at the heel for insertion of at least portions of a hand therein;   a pocket formed in the catching side and extending from adjacent the heel toward the tip and overlying at least the palm cavity;   a target formed at least in part into a portion of the leather piece on the catching side, the target having a target color; and   a non-target portion comprising a remainder of the leather piece on the catching side exclusive of the target, the non-target portion having a background color that differs from the target color.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the target color comprises a color selected from a group consisting of red, yellow, safety green, white, and pink. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the background color comprises a color is selected from a group consisting of tan and black. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the target area A 1  of the target is between 10% and 20% of the surface area A of the catching side. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , the target comprising:
 a circle having a circle color; and   an annulus surrounding the circle the annulus having an annulus color that differs from the circle color.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , the diameter of the circle D 2  being half of the annulus diameter D 1 .