Abstract: The hands of a baseball batter which are exposed to the greatest risk of injury from impact by a baseball are protected by specially configured gloves. The gloves are retained in position by selective finger hole placement in a stretchable sleeve. A shock absorbing material in a pad overlies the areas of greatest injury risk. The material absorbs and distributes energy from the blow of the baseball thereby avoiding or at least significantly minimizing the prospect of serious injury to the bones and tissue of the hand caused by striking thereof by a baseball or the like.