glove regs.
 

Some friends and I are trying to get an answer to the following question...

OBR 1.14 reads in part......The glove shall not measure more than 12" from the tip of any one of the 4 fingers, through the ball pocket to the bottom edge or heel of glove. The glove shall not measure more than 73/4" wide, measured from the inside seam at base of first finger, along base of other fingers, to the outside edge of little finger edge of glove.
There is even a diagram (referred to as Diagram #4) Watch any major league game and it will be easy to spot player wearing a glove in excess on 12". Wilson advertises that it's Y. Puig's glove measures 12.75".
Is this simply a case of a rule that is no longer followed?

To be followed, the opposing manager must request that the glove be measured. They never do because then on of their own team's gloves would be measured.

Makes sense, kind of like pine tar.

The glove manufacturers claim the measurement is the pattern size - the size of the leather before it gets sewn into a glove.

In reality only outfielders use large gloves. Infielders use smaller gloves to make handling easier and faster. 2B usually uses the smallest - sometimes as small as 10.5"

If the pattern size was the restriction wouldn't the glove end up being smaller?

The pattern size is not the restriction, the finished size is.

And yes, athe finished size is smaller than the pattern.

From the days when a baseball glove was really a glove:

Babe Ruth's glove, Disney's Mickey Mouse ears among items auctioned in Biddeford - The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

They are changing it to 13" this year:

2016 MLB rule changes | MLB.com