Coaches' helmets struggling to fit in
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Glenn Hubbard trotted on the field Wednesday wearing a helmet -- and feeling downright ridiculous.
"You know what it feels like?" he asked before a spring training game. "Look at that kid over there."
Hubbard pointed toward a young batboy standing at the edge of the Atlanta Braves dugout, his head dutifully covered by a helmet.
"That's what I feel like," Hubbard said, not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice. "A batboy."
Actually, Hubbard is the first base coach of the Braves, a job he's always done with nothing more than a cap on his head. But last year's tragic death of minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh -- the victim of a line drive to the neck -- prompted the major leagues to take action.
Now, the coaches standing along each foul line in the majors must wear some sort of protective headgear. So Hubbard and Atlanta's third base coach, Brian Snitker, carried out their duties during an exhibition game against the University of Georgia wearing "skullcaps" -- baseball slang for the flapless helmets that catchers wear along with their masks.
"It's like the one I used to wear in high school and college," said Snitker, a former catcher. "It seems a little tight. It doesn't feel like it's shaped to my head anymore. But it's one of those things if we've got to do it, we've got to do it."
Hubbard wasn't so magnanimous about the mandate from higher up. He even threatened to adorn his helmet with advertising, like a NASCAR racer.
"We should have a choice in these things," he said. "My choice would be not to wear it. I'm only wearing it because it's a Major League rule."
Around baseball, coaches seemed to be a bit wary of how the helmets feel and make them look, but certainly understanding that something had to be done after Coolbaugh's death, even if flapless helmets still leave the ears and neck exposed.
There are parallels to the 1920 death of Ray Chapman. He was struck in the head by a pitch and is still the only big leaguer to be killed in a game, leading to the development of batting helmets. Baseball is now trying to come up with some sort of headgear, specifically designed for coaches, that would hang down lower in the back to provide more protection for the neck.
Coolbaugh, who was coaching first for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, died last July after being hit with a line drive right below the left ear, causing a key blood vessel to burst.
The issue is especially sensitive for the defending NL champion Colorado Rockies, since the Drillers are one of their minor league affiliates.
"How can you not appreciate Major League Baseball being concerned with our safety?" said Mike Gallego, a former infielder and now third base coach of the Rockies. "I mean, it's a safety precaution. And I know my wife and kids are happier that I have it on. There's no doubt, it's very dangerous out there."
Indeed, coaches who take the field when their team is batting are as vulnerable as anyone in the stadium. Positioned along the first and third base lines, they try to keep one eye on the hitter while also passing along signals, instructing baserunners and monitoring the defense.
Third base coaches are especially at risk, since they tend to move even closer to home plate when there are runners on base, perhaps no more than 50 or 60 feet away from the hitter. Snitker, for instance, likes to ease down the line so he can pick up balls hit to the outfield and have the runners in his line of sight if he needs to wave them home. He usually stands with his back to the plate until right before the pitch is thrown.
"You try to slow things down," he said. "You go over it first in your mind, then just kind of let your instincts take over. Sometimes I'm right. Sometimes I'm wrong."
AP Sports Writers Janie McCauley in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Arnie Stapleton in Tucson, Ariz.; Howard Ulman in Fort Myers, Fla.; and Chris Duncan in Kissimmee, Fla., contributed to this report.
This article was reprinted with permission from the Wichita Eagle.
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