Base coaches will wear helmets in 2008

Andy Van Slyke and Gene Lamont will wear helmets next year as will all other first and third base coaches. I can't find a link to this, but ESPN has this on the bottom line.

Good!

Vin Scully will be very happy!

Aren't most coaches hard-headed to begin with?

After the Cardinals player was severely hurt, and a third base coach died (can't remember the team), it's about time. Skull bones are strong, but no match for a 95-mph baseball.

Safety First! About time they wear them!

I'm as traditionalist as it gets, but this is a good idea. I mean I like hockey with no helmets and football with leather helmets, but sometimes you have to sacrifice tradition for safety.

People have died as recently as this year from a foul ball. Ray Chapman was killed in 1920 when a pitch hit him in the head. They didn't wear helmets back then....

I like hockey players without them! But safety is important! amazing that goalies went without masks once!

gs78 wrote:

I like hockey players without them! But safety is important! amazing that goalies went without masks once!

Goalies weren't happy to get them either! They thought it'd interfere with their vision. Can you imagine not having a mask?!

Ouch!

Here's a link!

Base coaches to wear head protection
GMs decision comes four months after Coolbaugh's death

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Baseball wants to prevent another tragic accident like the one that killed Mike Coolbaugh. General managers decided Thursday that base coaches will wear some sort of head protection next season, a move that came four months after Coolbaugh was struck in the neck by a line drive during a Minor League game.

A former Major Leaguer, Coolbaugh was a coach for the Rockies' Double-A team in Tulsa when he died July 22. He had been hit by a liner as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a Texas League game at Arkansas.

Some Major League coaches responded by wearing helmets the rest of the season.

"There was a sentiment that as a concept this was a good idea," said Joe Garagiola Jr., senior vice president for baseball operations in the Commissioner's office.

GMs will decide on the exact form of protection when they meet next month at the Winter Meetings.

"We're going to come back in Nashville with some options: liners, hard caps, helmets without flaps, helmets with flaps," Garagiola said.

Larry Bowa, the Dodgers' new third-base coach, understands the decision and already has a preference for headgear.

"They're just trying to take safety measures," Bowa said. "I prefer to wear an insert. With an ear flap, I would definitely think it would be a hindrance, it would get in the way."

While no formal vote was taken, Garagiola said the thinking of the GMs was clear.

"Everybody just felt it was a situation that made sense," Tigers president Dave Dombrowski said.

Many batters started wearing helmets after Ray Chapman, a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians, was killed when he was hit by a pitch during a game in 1920. A rule requiring helmets for batters was adopted in 1971.

"If you think about the evolution of the batting helmet, unfortunately what ended up happening this year is essentially what happened with Ray Chapman," Oakland general manager Billy Beane said. "I think we need to come up with a recommendation."

Garagiola said the recommendation adopted by the GMs next month will not need additional approvals.

Coolbaugh's widow, Amanda, gave birth to his daughter, Anne Michael, on Friday in San Antonio, the Drillers said.

Rockies players voted Amanda Coolbaugh a full postseason share last month. The couple's two sons, 5-year-old Joseph and 3-year-old Jacob, threw out ceremonial first pitches before Game 3 of Colorado's NL Division Series against Philadelphia.

I'm glad they are doing something about this. I can't believe that they didn't do something sooner. Like when they mandated the batters to wear helmets.

thanks for the Mike Coolbaugh article. Damn, sometimes we have so much fun with this game we forget how dangerous it can be sometimes.

Should have done this much sooner!

gs78 wrote:

Should have done this much sooner!

I agree... I'm just glad they are FINALLY doing this!

Me, too!

Me Three!!

At least theirs will not be covered in pine tar, some of those yankee batters have more tar on their helmets than the trees had to start with!

I hate those dirty helmets covered with pine tar

SoulRat wrote:

gs78 wrote:

Should have done this much sooner!

I agree... I'm just glad they are FINALLY doing this!

it's seeping into their BRAINS!

gogetemtigers wrote:

At least theirs will not be covered in pine tar, some of those yankee batters have more tar on their helmets than the trees had to start with!

Nobody's helmet has more pine tar than the Predator!!

.....except for maybe Vladdy!!

Or Manny

SoulRat wrote:

Or Manny

.....Manny IS the Predator.

oh

SoulRat wrote:

oh

.....Goofball. :mwah:

SoulRat wrote:

awwww....

What happened to the "embarrassed" smiley?

It's shy?