Abstract: A two-sided pocketed hand shield (10, 12, or 16) for protecting a hand from germs includes a sheet (18) of flexible material and a piece (28 or 48) of flexible material. The piece (28 or 48) of flexible material is shorter than the sheet (18) and attached to the front surface of the sheet (18) in a manner to form a pocket adapted to fit a hand and in a manner that (a) leaves an opening (60, 64, or 72) for the insertion of a hand and (b) allows the sheet (18) to extend beyond the opening (60, 64, or 72). The opening (60, 64, or 72) has two ends and is preferably angled from one end to the other end. The sheet (18) may be rectangular and the piece (28 or 48) may be mitten-shaped or trapezoidal, and either may be formed of absorbent material or plastic. The piece (28 or 48) is preferably attached to the sheet in a way which renders the pocket in the shape of a mitten. Another embodiment is an array (80) of pocketed sanitary hand shields (81).

Abstract: A headwear piece has a crown defining a receptacle for the head of a wearer. The crown has an exposed external surface and an exposed internal surface with there being a circumferential portion of the exposed internal surface to engage the head of a wearer. The crown is defined by a plurality of joined fabric gores. Each of the fabric gores in a first plurality of the fabric gores has a single sheet of material that defines a part of the external surface of the crown and extends continuously to a folded portion which defines a part of the circumferential portion of the exposed internal surface of the crown.

Abstract: A batting glove is provided incorporating a leather palm portion, a leather wrist portion including a hook and loop fastener, a leather finger portion including separate finger members having spaces therebetween and a leather thumb portion. Disposed along the palm portion is a leather sheath housing an elongated raised rubber pad having lower and upper surfaces bounding a concave outer surface therebetween configured to cradle a bat handle. The pad preferably has a hardness greater than that of cellular polystyrene, more commonly known as Styrofoam.RTM.. When the glove is worn by the batter, the raised pad outer surface is configured to be substantially aligned with the distal ends of the metacarpals of the gloved hand.

Abstract: A guard device is provided an outer surface of a sports guard. The guard device includes a substrate, a first resilient arcuate plate projecting from the substrate and having a first distal end with an inner end edge which faces the substrate, arid a second resilient arcuate plate projecting from the substrate toward the first arcuate plate and having a second distal end which contacts the inner end edge of the first distal end of the first arcuate plate. The curvature of the second arcuate plate has a vertex which has a distance to the substrate longer than a distance between the first distal end of the first arcuate plate of the substrate.