Saw This Image at Boston Globe.

It seems that at least they should have pitchers wearing the plastic insert under their cap like Bob Montgomery did at the plate. That seems like it would help some if not in all cases.

That Globe thing is not going to get worn. Teams and new Era are not going to want something over the logo.

You could get those painted to the same color as the hat, and add the logo on it as well. From afar, you wouldn't even know they're wearing one.

There's a guy in my slow-pitch softball league who wears a hockey goalie helmet when pitching. While we all understand, we still laugh at him.

Saw This Image at Boston Globe.

That STILL* looks unwieldy.

*My feeling is that pitchers greatest complaints will be anything that seems distracting to them or adds extra weight to their heads. And as I said before, even Hockey let helmets be grandfathered in.

Slightly on-topic: Why are *any* soccer goals still allowed to be made of square-offed metal?

There's a guy in my slow-pitch softball league who wears a hockey goalie helmet when pitching. While we all understand, we still laugh at him.

This is pretty common at higher levels of competitive men's softball. We play in the least competitive level and have had quite a few brushes with a really bad beaning.

old school as i am, the idea doesn't appeal, but i acknowledge the need and the change in the culture. i just wish the commissioner would impose a dress code that makes the players pull up the bottoms of their stupid pants. but i've been on this rant for years.

i just wish the commissioner would impose a dress code that makes the players pull up the bottoms of their stupid pants. but i've been on this rant for years.

On this alone I nominate phredbird for Commissioner of MLB.

You mean the high socks? I really don't want to see Big Papi wear high socks. That should be another grandfather clause.

From the annals of "almost good ideas", this brought to mind a strange video I saw a while back of an "invisible bike helmet". Skip to 2:30 to see how it works. Cool enough, but if you want to protect your head, maybe you should just wear an actual helmet?

Saw This Image at Boston Globe.

Does that cover the area where Brandon McCarthy got hit? I thought he got hit more on the back of the neck.

On this alone I nominate phredbird for Commissioner of MLB.

seconded.

Does that cover the area where Brandon McCarthy got hit? I thought he got hit more on the back of the neck.

After Mike Coolbaugh, base coaches started wearing helmets even though Coolbaugh got hit in the neck.

These days we could easily have a cool technological fix. What about a system that tracks the ball and the pitcher's head and shoots down the ball if they are on a collision course, preferably with a laser*? No need for helmets!

*) Well, it's probably more practical to knock it off course with another ball.

i just wish the commissioner would impose a dress code that makes the players pull up the bottoms of their stupid pants. but i've been on this rant for years.


On this alone I nominate phredbird for Commissioner of MLB.

seconded.

i accept, and after my edict on the socks, i hereby grant a franchise to brooklyn and a franchise to, um, portland (pending advice from my kitchen cabinet of BTF regulars who can give me a better idea of who should get a franchise west of the mississippi), and hereby divide MLB into 8 4-team divisions and completely realign the sport into one giant league with 3 rounds of playoffs between division WINNERS so we don't have a bunch of stupid wild cards and one-game-and-out silliness.

thank you.

I've always figured baseball players should have the right to wear propeller beanies!

Or schoolboy uniforms, not unlike Angus Young.

i'm not getting how wearing a helmet protects pitchers from getting hit in the face or neck - or taking a ball to the jaw like mccarthy

i thought the ball hit him in the head. why else would he have had a concussion that built up the pressure that necessitated the surgery?

"With runners on 1st and 3rd and only a three run lead, Joe Girardi is not taking any chances and has David Robertson warming up in the bubble."

i accept, and after my edict on the socks, i hereby grant a franchise to brooklyn and a franchise to, um, portland (pending advice from my kitchen cabinet of BTF regulars who can give me a better idea of who should get a franchise west of the mississippi), and hereby divide MLB into 8 4-team divisions and completely realign the sport into one giant league with 3 rounds of playoffs between division WINNERS so we don't have a bunch of stupid wild cards and one-game-and-out silliness.

Just lost my support. Go to 4 8-team divisions and you can have it back.

i'm not getting how wearing a helmet protects pitchers from getting hit in the face or neck - or taking a ball to the jaw like mccarthy

Or the awful hits Mike Mussina and Bryce Florie took.

accept, and after my edict on the socks, i hereby grant a franchise to brooklyn and a franchise to, um, portland (pending advice from my kitchen cabinet of BTF regulars who can give me a better idea of who should get a franchise west of the mississippi), and hereby divide MLB into 8 4-team divisions and completely realign the sport into one giant league with 3 rounds of playoffs between division WINNERS so we don't have a bunch of stupid wild cards and one-game-and-out silliness.

So your next move is to:

1. Expand in a league that has too many teams already. (Or at least needs to move a couple)

2. Do away with the tradition of the national league vs. american in the world series.

3. Reward even more medicore division winners getting a playoff spot by the vagaries of geographical location and punish those who actually...well..win games?

You are the William Henry Harrison of commisioners.

i'm not getting how wearing a helmet protects pitchers from getting hit in the face or neck - or taking a ball to the jaw like mccarthy

McCarthy got hit in the back of the head, I think a helmet would have been quite likely to save him.

Regardless, while a helmet won't protect everything it will certainly help. I hate the argument that since a solution only fixes 50% of a problem it's not worth doing. Obviously we should weigh costs and benefits and in this case I'm inclined to see an insert on a soft cap rather than what looks like an unwieldy helmet. Still, just because the helmet/insert doesn't fix everything doesn't mean it's not worth pursuing something on those lines.

1. Expand in a league that has too many teams already. (Or at least needs to move a couple)

patently untrue. there is more than enough money and talent in this country to add two more teams. present ownership is resisting expansion because of the temporary hit they would take in profits.

2. Do away with the tradition of the national league vs. american in the world series.

yawn. this has been happening in steps for years now. we're in a new century. let's move on. as much as i'm a national league fan from 50 yrs back, i would rather see the game healthy than hang on to tradition for tradition's sake.

3. Reward even more medicore division winners getting a playoff spot by the vagaries of geographical location and punish those who actually...well..win games

there will always be weak divisions and weak winners. no system can get rid of it. now opportunity is spread around geographically and so fans everywhere have a chance to see their team get in.

by the way, i'd also get rid of the DH, so i imagine i'll alienate some potential support. them's the breaks. i'm all about the game.

I know it's not cool to say, but I think I'd have a real hard time watching baseball if pitchers were wearing the type of headgear pictured in the link in #1. Sometimes things are just dangerous - as far as I can tell, no MLB pitchers have been killed by line drives back to the mound and even some of the grislier incidents I can remember -McCarthy, Bryce Florie- would not have been helped by having that type of headgear. Should they develop a facemask for pitchers too? They sure could. Do not like, visceral revulsion.

From the annals of "almost good ideas", this brought to mind a strange video I saw a while back of an "invisible bike helmet". Skip to 2:30 to see how it works. Cool enough, but if you want to protect your head, maybe you should just wear an actual helmet?

I could see there being a full-body version of that thing. At least in a Jackass movie or something.

and completely realign the sport into one giant league

One without the DH, right?

(Bear in mind that you hold your life in your hands with this answer.)

patently untrue. there is more than enough money and talent in this country to add two more teams. present ownership is resisting expansion because of the temporary hit they would take in profits.

Didn't...ownership...expand last time to pay off the collusion fine they were hit with?

yawn. this has been happening in steps for years now. we're in a new century. let's move on. as much as i'm a national league fan from 50 yrs back, i would rather see the game healthy than hang on to tradition for tradition's sake.

So the game isn't healthy now? You're one of those guys that want to sweep out the old just so you can put your stamp on things right? Well Landis how do you feel about steroid users?

edit: 'and talent'? Are we watching the same game? My gut tells me you're wrong, but it would take Deep Blue to figure it out.

I agree with [22]. Just because it doesn't stop all incidents of pitchers getting injured, doesn't mean it should be abandoned.

Batting helmets don't stop all incidents of hitters getting injured (Puckett, for example) but that doesn't mean they weren't a good idea and should be thrown away.

This is pretty common at higher levels of competitive men's softball. We play in the least competitive level and have had quite a few brushes with a really bad beaning.

Yep. I started wearing a face mask for infield on certain (terrible) SF fields.
A couple of my teammates gave me a hard time about it, but I figure, one bad hop can change your life (and there are no good hops on SF fields).
If they don't like it, let THEM play SS or 3B against some of these guys.

Didn't...ownership...expand last time to pay off the collusion fine they were hit with?

Wasn't that second to last time? Given what franchises are selling for, selling two brand-new ones for half a billion a piece shouldn't be too hard. I can see how free money would be tempting for owners.

What is this helmet nonsense? Just limit every pitcher to 160 innings, and you're golden.

phredbird was good in the beginning but then he went too far.

Eh. Over 100 years and nobody's died yet. There's some danger there, but you could slip and fall getting out of the bathtub too. And, as others have noted, Coolbaugh got hit in the neck. The only reason MLB's response to that one doesn't make me mad is that I enjoy the old school souvenir nacho helmet look.

Eh. Over 100 years and nobody's died yet. There's some danger there, but you could slip and fall getting out of the bathtub too. And, as others have noted, Coolbaugh got hit in the neck. The only reason MLB's response to that one doesn't make me mad is that I enjoy the old school souvenir nacho helmet look.

That's why every major league clubhouse should be equipped with shower and hot tub helmets too.

Didn't...ownership...expand last time to pay off the collusion fine they were hit with?

that's as may be, but it only goes to show that they aren't consistent in their positions. i'll bet you anything that if expansion comes up in talks, the established owners will want money from the new owners before they can join the club. one of the reasons they'll give is that somehow expanding will cost them.

So the game isn't healthy now? You're one of those guys that want to sweep out the old just so you can put your stamp on things right? Well Landis how do you feel about steroid users?

okay, well, that's two questions. my idea of a healthy game is not the same as the model we have now where the owners rake it in by trying to turn baseball into football as a sporting experience. i'm suggesting bringing back a couple of old things like balanced schedules and no DH. thanks to interleague play, i'm not as militant about two separate leagues because realignment has its own charms which we'll all be happy with eventually.

as for steroid users, meh. sure, test 'em and all that stuff. suspensions for cheaters, just like if they corked their bats or threw spitters. stupid sportswriters have lost their collective minds over this. as commissioner, i'd put pressure on the HOF to expand the voting pool to include SABR members, bloggers, stuff like that to return some sanity.

edit: 'and talent'? Are we watching the same game? My gut tells me you're wrong, but it would take Deep Blue to figure it out.

you're kidding, right? they played better BITGOD? bah. they are bigger, faster, stronger than ever. and please don't give me a rant about how they don't play right or some such. jeez, old codgers have been saying that about players since day one. you do realize the population of the US has continued to grow? that there is a surfeit of athletes? that MLB is also signing more international talent than ever? there's no shortage, bub.

phredbird was good in the beginning but then he went too far.

okay, i'll take it all back if i can just have the damn socks showing.

One without the DH, right?

(Bear in mind that you hold your life in your hands with this answer.)

you did not read my previous posts carefully, so you've forfeited the right to sit in the special BTF front row section at the world series.

you did not read my previous posts carefully, so you've forfeited the right to sit in the special BTF front row section at the world series.

Will we have to wear helmets if we sit in the front row?

I could see there being a full-body version of that thing.

I don't see that technology ever replacing the bike helmet, but I'd love to have it on my iPhone case.

you did not read my previous posts carefully, so you've forfeited the right to sit in the special BTF front row section at the world series.

Will we have to wear helmets if we sit in the front row?

you're out too, smart guy.

you're kidding, right? they played better BITGOD? bah. they are bigger, faster, stronger than ever. and please don't give me a rant about how they don't play right or some such.

A surfeit of athletes? Well why the **** can't the Red Sox get any? Ellsbury, a midget...and then a bunch of meh. As I speak Padilla is throwing.

I'm being facetious, but the Sox really arn't the most athletic bunch.

A surfeit of athletes? Well why the **** can't the Red Sox get any? Ellsbury, a midget...and then a bunch of meh. As I speak Padilla is throwing.

I'm being facetious, but the Sox really arn't the most athletic bunch.

maybe if one of their talent evaluators would spend more time evaluating talent and less time defending pete rose and joe posnanski.

I KID.

Doubt this would have helped Herb Score, but I guess this isn't a bad idea generally.