Helmet Discussions (Formerly: David Wright, hit in head, maybe out for the year)

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Big Klu

Are you thinking of Doc Powers? He was a catcher for the Athletics who died as a result of an on-field collision with the wall in foul territory at Shibe Park in 1909. He suffered internal injuries, and died as a result of complications from the resulting intestinal surgeries. He was the first MLB player to die as a result of an on-field incident.

The second (and more famous/infamous) fatality as a result of an on-field incident was when Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch from Yankees pitcher Carl Mays in 1920.

To my knowledge, they are the only two MLB players to die as a result of something that happened on the field.

He was in the ML when he died, he HAD played in MLB prior.

[Big Klu]

Originally Posted by westofyou

He was in the ML when he died, he HAD played in MLB prior.

Sorry, I misread your earlier post.

[Eric_the_Red]

I think MLB would be well within their rights to require players to wear the new helmet. Even if the risk of death is very low, it is a risk. Besides, look at the number of concussions and other related injuries that it may reduce.

Didn't Earnhardt's death lead to new safety equipment becoming mandatory in NASCAR? IIRC, some drivers didn't like the additional restraints, but they had to wear them. Why wait for a player to die to before making them mandatory?

[M2]

The new helmet doesn't seem any geekier than the current one. In fact, it might even be more stylish.

The real question is whether it's comfortable to wear. I suspect that after a short adjustment period it would be.

[NJReds]

Originally Posted by M2

The new helmet doesn't seem any geekier than the current one. In fact, it might even be more stylish.

The real question is whether it's comfortable to wear. I suspect that after a short adjustment period it would be.

More comfortable than post-concussion syndrome.

I was watching the game when Wright got hit. I wasn't sure he was going to get up at first. He was down, motionless, for a while.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Eric_the_Red

I think MLB would be well within their rights to require players to wear the new helmet. Even if the risk of death is very low, it is a risk. Besides, look at the number of concussions and other related injuries that it may reduce.

Didn't Earnhardt's death lead to new safety equipment becoming mandatory in NASCAR? IIRC, some drivers didn't like the additional restraints, but they had to wear them. Why wait for a player to die to before making them mandatory?

It would have to be negotiated with the MLBPA.

[jojo]

If I'm paying a guy$40M and I tell him he's going to wear a puffy suit that would make the Michelin man gush with envy, he's gonna wear it.

[westofyou]

Good Read...

Searching for the History of the Batting Helmet


http://www.wezen-ball.com/2010-artic...ng-helmet.html

When David Wright donned the "new batting helmet" late last season - and was mocked mercilessly by just about everyone - I thought it would be a good idea to go back through some old magazines and newspapers and find how people reacted to the introduction to the original helmet. I was certain that I could find ballplayers and writers saying the same thing then that ballplayers were saying now about the Wright helmet. I never wrote that piece, though, because I ran into a problem: there was never really a big, league-wide rollout of batting helmets to mark the new era. In fact, the answer to the question "who was the first baseball player to wear a batting helmet?" is pretty nebulous.

I put the notes to the side and told myself that I would come back to it, but I never did. But then I found myself drawn back to Paul Lukas' wonderful blog, Uniwatch, which I, for some reason, had strayed away from recently. Well, for those who don't know, Paul has had a keen interest in the development of the batting helmet (and the batting helmet w/earflaps) for a while. Every now and then he posts an interesting photo or whatnot that he or a reader has stumbled across, and it gets us all just a tad bit closer to solving the whole puzzle. Last week, he unveiled another piece to the puzzle: a reader had recently stumbled across the Popular Science archives and found this image from the November 1940 issue. Paul loved it, and was able to determine that the helmet shown there was probably the same one that Jackie Hayes had worn in the summer of 1940.

Well, the image looked incredibly familiar to me, so I pulled up my notes from last fall. I had found the same image in Popular Science too, but in the October 1940 issue. I emailed that photo, and many more that I found in that initial research phase to Paul, and, with his encouragement, I decided to investigate the issue some more. I spent some more time in the Google News and Proquest archives this weekend, and I even went to the library to pull up some books. I can't say that I've solved the puzzle, but I do feel like I connected and filled in a lot of areas that were incomplete or hanging loose. Keep reading for a timeline on the invention and evolution of the batting helmet in baseball.

[edabbs44]

Messed up that this was bumped.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by edabbs44

Messed up that this was bumped.

It's subject specific, the date is the indicator that it's an old thread.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by westofyou

It's subject specific, the date is the indicator that it's an old thread.

I know and it is relevant, but seeing the headline made me do a doubletake.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by edabbs44

I know and it is relevant, but seeing the headline made me do a doubletake.

Same here.

[Blitz Dorsey]

Wow, I was thinking this just happened. You crazy thread bumpers!