There
are countless amounts of people who are in love with the game of baseball. The
sight of fresh cut grass, crisp uniforms, and the little white ball with red stitches
has always entranced many. When you fall in love with something, you also fall
in love with the people involved in that obsession. As a baseball fan, you
never want to see one of your players injured, especially not an injury that
could threaten their lives.
Over the past few seasons, it seems as if
more and more Major League Baseball pitchers are being hit in the head by
comebackers. This is due to the fact that pitchers do not wear any protective
headgear, only their standard baseball caps. Being hit in the head with a
comebacker can result in the need for brain and head surgery, and puts the
pitcher’s life at extreme risk. Something needs to be done to protect
baseball’s pitchers, or this epidemic will continue to worsen. Pitchers being
hit in the head is a huge issue, due to the fact that the impact can end up
resulting in injury or death, the pitcher’s family must deal with the hardships
of the injury, and the team/fans suffer without that pitcher’s talents.
As an avid Oakland Athletics fan, I
can vividly remember the day three years ago when pitcher, Brandon McCarthy was
hit in the head by a comebacker off of the bat of Angels infielder, Erick
Aybar. I immediately feared for McCarthy due to his facial expressions, which
seemed to be very abnormal. He kept touching his hair, which he later described
as “trying to feel for blood.” He was able to walk off the field on his own
power, but was rushed to the hospital where it was determined that he needed
emergency brain surgery. This resulted in him being out for the rest of the
season, including the A’s playoff run. Since this incident, it seems that more
and more pitchers are being hit in the head/face with line drives. Just this
week, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher, Archie Bradley was hit in the face and
taken to the hospital. Having brain surgery is one of the most dangerous
procedures in the medical field. After a pitcher is healed and gets back on the
playing field, they are in even more danger. “Repeated blows, even minor ones,
can lead to cumulative brain damage and long-term impairment of brain
functioning” (Flegel, 103). MLB pitchers have been lucky so far in terms of
surviving these instances, but I fear that it is just a matter of time before a
pitcher’s life is taken on the mound. According to research, baseball’s
“estimated frequency of head injury” is 14.6% (Flegel, 103). This forces
pitchers to require a very complex and dangerous surgery that they should not
have needed in the first place. 
Not only does a pitcher’s injury
affect them personally, it also affects their family and loved ones. While the
pitcher is asleep and recovering from surgery, their family is the ones who are
dealing with the aftermath. After his injury, Brandon McCarthy wrote an article
for Sports Illustrated describing his direct encounter with a head injury. In
one part of his recounting, he talked about how his injury affected his family.
“The situation was hardest on my wife, Amanda, and my family, and I wanted them
to know I was prepared” (McCarthy). This quote shows that he understood that
his situation was ultimately harder for them to deal with than it was for him. A
wife or child should never have to worry about if their husband or dad will
come home at night if they are a Major League Baseball player. To see an injury
that was preventable be turned into a life or death situation is not what a
family deserves to go through. Amanda McCarthy never should have had to see the
events transpire on the field while she was sitting helplessly in the stands. If
you put yourself into the family’s shoes, you begin to understand the hardships
and struggles with grasping how to deal with this event.
A group that suffers terribly from a
pitcher head injury is the player’s team and fans. I know from personal
experience that worrying about one of your player’s safety, knowing they are
fighting for their life is extremely hard. While a pitcher recovers for likely
the rest of the season or beyond, their team is down a pitcher. In the A’s case
in 2012, they were a Cinderella story during the regular season, but lost to the the Detroit Tigers in the first round of the playoffs. It is hard not
to think about how the playoffs would have played out if Brandon McCarthy were
able to pitch in those crucial games. It can also mess up a team’s momentum and
chemistry if their focus is on one of their “brother’s” lives and not the game
of baseball. Concussions and head
injuries can happen in any sport, but if possible, we must take action to
prevent these traumas.
Pitchers brain and head injuries are
becoming an epidemic in America’s pastime. Something needs to be done to
protect these players before it is too late. I propose that pitchers be
required to wear helmets to protect them from comebackers. Many groups have
proposed that baseball implement padded hats for pitchers, yet pitchers have
complained that they look too odd. In the past, batters were not required to
wear helmets, but were introduced for obvious safety reasons. Why are pitchers
not required to wear helmets as well? Batting helmets have saved hundreds of
player’s lives, which is why pitchers should wear them too. After Sammy Sosa
was hit in the head by a pitch, he said, “I'd hate to think what it would be
like if you didn't have a helmet. This is the helmet that saved my life I'm
going to carry that around with me like a baby” (Miles). Wearing a helmet does
not prevent from any injury at all, but I can guarantee that a person would
rather have a massive headache as opposed to brain surgery. Helmets on pitchers
would look a bit different at first, but we would all get used to it as time
goes on. The sooner a change is made to protect players, the better it will be
for their health.
Introducing helmets for pitchers in
baseball will help to protect them from brain surgery or in some circumstances,
death. The best solution is to create a helmet that would protect the player’s
head and include an optional facemask that attaches to the helmet that would
help protect the face as well. “For instance, wearing a metal or plastic face
guard can reduce risk of facial injury by up to 35 percent” (Andrews, 57). Making
these changes could make all the difference in preventing head impact injuries
in pitchers. Pitchers who require epidural hemorrhage surgery not only face the
immediate injury, but are also prone to seizures and other post-injury
hardships. If pitchers wear helmets, it will become evident that they are able
to save hundreds of lives.
One of the biggest questions about
implementing helmets into Major League Baseball is if pitchers would be
accepting of the new look. Some of them will be stubborn considering wearing
just a baseball cap is all they have known in their lives. If it was required
of every MLB team to explain the pros and cons of helmets to showcase how
beneficial they would be, many pitchers would become more open minded to the
idea. Making pitchers who have previously been hit by comebackers and line
drives spokespeople for the helmets could help convince others as well. Many
padded hats have been proposed, but only one player in the MLB currently wears
one while pitching. Many players say they would like to see and try one on, but
claim they are not available in the clubhouse. Some of the players say MLB is
just using these “isoBLOX padded hats” as a “gimmick” to show they are at least
trying to work on something. The biggest complaint is that they are too heavy
and hinder pitching performance. This is where it is shown that helmets would
be the more effective choice for pitchers to wear. Pitchers are showing
interest in wanting to protect their heads from fractures, but feel they are
not readily available to them. Reliever, Sam LeCure said, "I'd at least
like to have the opportunity to make a fair decision. If it felt uncomfortable,
I wouldn't wear it. But if I got hit in the head, I'd feel like a dumbass for
not. Give me the option" (Nightengale). Players, fans, coaches, MLB
officials, and all medical experts need to come together as a collective unit
to help implement a solution to protect our pitchers.
Many people are not sold on the idea
that current MLB pitchers will be open to a change like wearing helmets while
pitching. Readers may challenge my view due to the fact that many players will
be stubborn and stuck in their ways. If this was to become too big of an issue,
then I propose that we start enforcing the use of helmets for pitchers in
Little League games. Once those generations become MLB players, they will be
used to pitching with protective headgear and will find the situation to be
normal. “Even isoBLOX officials admitted pitchers' headgear will be
evolutionary from the youth leagues up rather than a sudden change at the major
league level” (White). Children who play baseball are one of the main concerns
when it comes to this topic. Would you want your children to wear helmets when
on the mound? I would hate to see a child have to go through a head injury
because of an extracurricular activity. A child should not have to have
emergency brain surgery while their brains are still developing. Companies and
Major League Baseball know what needs to be done, yet are not making any
changes. The time is now to start getting pitchers to wear protective helmets.
Helmets need to be made readily available for all MLB pitchers and need to be a
mandatory requirement for Little Leaguers. We must make a change soon, before
the situation gets worse.
In order to encourage the safety of
athletes, we must adapt to and understand when changes need to be made. Some
may say that this issue only affects sports fans, but that is untrue. Athletes
are people too who have families and lives outside of their sport. They are a
part of our society who needs protection and safety in their careers, just like
everyone else. The game of baseball is supposed to be entertaining and
exhilarating, not worrisome and troubling. The amount of money that players
make in today’s world does not excuse the fact that an increasing number of
players are suffering from injuries that will impact them for the remainder of
their lives. A pitcher’s career should not be cut short due to a preventable
injury. A pitcher should be focused on the way their curve is moving around the
plate, not worrying about if they will make it out of the game alive.
As a dedicated fan and absolute
lover of the game of baseball, I find it to be absolutely necessary for helmets
for pitchers to be implemented into the game sooner rather than later. I cannot
imagine having to watch another one of my favorite pitchers go down like
Brandon McCarthy did. It has been three years, and yet it still makes me feel
sick to my stomach when I see the video of his horrendous injury. I fear it is
only a matter of time before a player is killed on the mound if a change is not
made immediately. Players who have been hit by comebackers like Brandon
McCarthy, Alex Cobb, Aroldis Chapman, J.A. Happ, Archie Bradley, and Dan
Jennings have all survived and got back into the game, but will never be the
same. The mindset during the game is changed when you have gone through the
kind of misery they have. If these pitchers would have been wearing helmets at
the time of their injuries, I may not have had to even write this essay. Helmets
for MLB pitchers need to be created and offered now, or we will continue to
fear for the lives of the players in America’s favorite sport.
Works Cited
Andrews, James. Any Given Monday.
Scribner, 2013. Print.
Flegel, Melinda J. Sport First Aid.
Updated ed. Champaign, Ill.: Human Kinetics, 1997. Print.
McCarthy, Brandon. "The Playoffs
Ain't Brain Surgery." Sports Illustrated 15 Oct. 2012. Print.
Miles, Bruce. "How's That FEEL...to
Get Plunked...in the Head." Sporting News. 1 June 2003. Web. 1 May
2015.
Nightengale, Bob. "MLB's Lack of
Action on Caps Inexcusable." USA Today. 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 1 May
2015.
White,
Paul. "Not All Pitchers Sold on Protective Caps." USA Today.
29 Jan. 2014. Web. 1 May 2015.
Photos: Total Pro Sports
IGN
Bleacher Report
USA Today
Sports on Earth
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