In professional baseball and in youth leagues, players are exposed to an increased risk of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Batters and catchers are generally protected by helmets and protective masks, respectively. Youth leagues require batters to wear helmets with facemasks for added protection.
Traumatic Brain Injury and Baseball
However, traumatic brain injury doesn’t always result from direct blows from the ball. Concussions can be sustained in collisions between outfielders, a fielder hitting a wall, collisions between a runner and a catcher, or a runner sliding into a baseman.
A concussion is a type of traumatic bran injury also referred to as a closed head injury. Concussions are the most common type of sports-related brain injury and can vary from mild to very severe. However, even a mild concussion can be dangerous. Not only can a mild concussion put an athlete at a higher risk for sustaining a second one or more, multiple concussions can have cumulative and long-term effects.
Line Drives raise Traumatic Brain Injury Concerns among MLB Pitchers
This past season, at least five pitchers were hit in the head by line drives. A 90 mph fastball can be hit back at an initial velocity of 1.5 times that speed. The batter can send the ball straight back to the pitcher, who is often leaning forward and somewhat unprotected after just having released his throw. Last June, Rays’ right-hander Alex Cobb was hit on the right side of his head by such a line drive at Tropicana Field.
Gary Green, the MLB’s medical director, explained how the league has been actively working with several innovative companies on developing and testing protective headgear to potentially be worn by pitchers. The designs are mainly focused on the lining inside the current traditional ball caps. So far, efforts have demonstrated some “good progress,” but nothing has met the balance of being lightweight, comfortable, yet “able to have someone take a 90mph line drive and walk away from it,” Green noted.
Tampa Bay Rays lefty Matt Moore explained how it’s “the scariest part about this game,” though he acknowledges how being struck by a line drive is just an inherent risk every pitcher takes each time he steps on the mound. Moore, the Rays’ player rep, has found that an overwhelming number of pitchers would be actually be receptive to wearing some sort of protective headgear, suggesting how a padded cap similar to the “Elmer Fudd” hats worn during colder weather could be welcomed by current players. Instead of a hard, protective shell, designs are focused on absorbent materials that attempt to diffuse a ball’s momentum to safe levels before it can reach the pitcher’s skull – like throwing a ball into a soft pillow.
“Being a person who has had line drives very close to my head and taken line drives off the body, I don’t want to be laying there on my back wondering what if I would have worn something,” Moore said, “or what if I could have worn something.”
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