[ad_1]
First’s thumb guard won “Best in show” at the conference and he was later approached by someone from the Colorado Rockies organization to buy a bunch of thumb guards for their players.
CONCORD – Before the coronavirus pandemic halted sports in mid-March, Concord resident Craig First was watching a Minnesota Twins spring training game when he saw it.
“I yelled and told my kids to come down and watch the TV,” First recalled. “Seeing Nelson Cruz open up his hand, revealing that he was using a product that I had just been developing in my garage a few months ago was really exciting.”
The Twins designated hitter isn’t the only major leaguer using First’s “Thumb-per” baseball thumb guard. Red Sox infielder Michael Chavis uses the product and New York Mets catchers Wilson Ramos and Rene Rivera also bat while using the Thumb-per thumb guard.
At the minor league level, use of his product is even more prevalent as currently about 50 minor leaguers don it.
Knowledge of his product in the baseball industry has been done purely through social media and word of mouth.
“Guys would message me on Instagram asking for a shipment of Thumb-per after one of their teammates who was using our product told them about us or let them try the product out,” First said. “And that’s really how my product has spread since we launched our product in January at the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) conference in Nashville.”
First’s thumb guard won “Best in show” at the conference and he was later approached by someone from the Colorado Rockies organization to buy a bunch of thumb guards for their players.
“I asked him who he was with and he said that he was with the Rockies,” First said. “At that moment I was like, ‘Whoa, I may be on to something here.’”
Growing up, First never really played baseball and is an engineer by trade and an inventor. As a big fan of the game, he knew that hitters sometimes experience a stinging sensation after making contact with the ball and wanted to come up with a thumb guard product that helps reduce that sting while staying in place on the hand.
View this post on Instagram
I drove out to #ConcordMA on Friday for a story on @thmbpr_baseball thumb guards developed by Concord resident Craig First. Here he is doing a quick video tutorial on how the Thumb-per thumb guard works. @metrowestsports
“The product that I made is saddle-shaped so that it stays on the hand,” First said. “It ergonomically fits the hand where other products don’t.”
The idea to create this type of thumb guard for baseball evolved after First designed a violin aide called “Wonderthumb” that is currently available in retail at music stores across the country.
“I had originally invented something to help people who play the violin,” First said. “I realized that the same ergonomic design that went into the violin aide would help alleviate that a lot of the problems that baseball players have with bat sting and bat position in the hand.
“I re-engineered and redesigned the product to work for baseball.”
In an effort to grow his brand and product, First was hoping to introduce the Thumb-per thumb guard to local high school baseball teams and collegiate summer league baseball teams such as the Cape Cod Baseball League but of course, those seasons were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, local baseball players are being introduced to First’s product.
“I never really heard about it, someone just gave it to me and I started using it,” said Bellingham senior Jake Houston, who has been using the Thumb-per thumb guard this summer and fall. “I think it helps a lot. Before, if I made bad contact it would hurt my hands. It’s pretty comfortable because it’s molded to fit your hand.”
Other local baseball players use thumb guards as well. Franklin senior catcher Jake Fitzgibbons has been using the “Pro-Hitter” thumb guard ever since he broke his thumb while catching.
“To me, it just help reassures me that I won’t hurt it again,” Fitzgibbons said.
Franklin baseball coach Zach Brown said that his 10-year-old son started using a thumb guard over the summer.
“Early on he was getting rattled by his mis-hits,” Brown said. “The one thing that I remember from the short window that he used it is that it helped give him confidence. It’s a feel thing for most guys.”
In relation to the Thumb-per specifically, Brown isn’t surprised by the new innovation that has been introduced by First’s product.
“I’m not surprised that someone has created a thumb guard that is molded to provide better flexibility,” Brown said. “It’s an ever-evolving game, just look at the technology with the aluminum bats nowadays.”
Lincoln-Sudbury baseball coach Matt Wentworth thinks that players will use anything that could potentially help them and give them an edge.
“If they are proven to work and are proven to help people’s performance then there is no way that people aren’t going to use them,” Wentworth said. “Anything that can give people an edge are going to be utilized.”
Thumb-per baseball thumb guards are only currently available on his website, www.baseballthumbguard.com. First hopes to have his product in retail stores by next baseball season.
Ethan Winter is a senior multimedia sports journalist at the Daily News. He can be reached at ewinter@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @EWints.
[ad_2]
Source link