I saw this in the newspaper and wondered if you knew about it....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19908311/
That's a link to an article about the minor league coach who was struck and killed by a batted ball.
Yeah, I read about that the day after it happened. And while I'm saddened by the incident, I'm not really surprised by it. There is a certain level of danger in baseball (or any other sport that revolves around hitting a very solid ball in random directions as hard as you can) and things like this occasionally and tragically happen. That's not to say baseball has a high price. This isn't auto racing. Little leaguers aren't putting their lives in danger by stepping out onto the field. Death by baseball is a very rare thing, but enough baseball is played all over the world for the possibility to still exist.
Actually, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. In any given game at least half a dozen screaming line drives are shot into the stands. Splintered bat shards can go anywhere. Shoot, every few games or so an entire bat will fly out of the hitter's hands and land behind the dugout. Sometimes people get plunked, but it's not often somebody gets killed.
I'm not demanding on-field coaches wear protective gear. The danger is there, but it's not imminent. I don't remember the last time a coach was critically injured by a batted ball. But if they want to wear a helmet or something for their own well-being, I'm all for that. If John Olerud can play first base under a helmet with minimal discomfort then first base coach Glenallen Hill and anybody else should be applauded for doing the same.There was a time when even batters didn't wear helmets, so who knows? Maybe the helmetted coach will become a trend that catches on. But again, I don't think non-batters/catchers should be required to don protective head gear, no more than I think the fans should be shielded from the field by a large all-encompassing net.
