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NCAA blogger Josh Centor posted the following July 24 on the Double-A Zone (http://www.doubleazone.com), the official blog of the NCAA.
Every Wednesday and Thursday during the fall baseball season at Brandeis, we would scrimmage for most of our time at practice. It provided a perfect opportunity for the upperclassmen to convince the younger guys that they needed helmets to coach first base. Each time, the inexperienced players would jog out to first wearing a helmet, realizing a few minutes later that at the college level, base coaches who wear helmets are geeks.
In high school, players can’t get close to the coaching box without wearing a helmet. Yet in college, helmets are reserved solely for those in the batter’s box. Those watching the game from just outside the baseline no longer have to cover up their domes, instead wearing their caps and looking cool for the fans.
In the professional game, coaches never wear helmets while on the field, but after the tragic death of Mike Coolbaugh July 22, I have to wonder why. Coolbaugh was struck in the head by a line drive while coaching first base for the Tulsa Drillers and died soon after. He was the father of two boys and his wife Amanda is pregnant with their third child.
Could a helmet have saved Mike Coolbaugh? Perhaps. Why don’t our base coaches at the college and professional levels don the safety caps? I have seen fielders struck in the head during games and they have gloves on their hands. Why don’t coaches have helmets and gloves? What is the rationale for standing on the sideline, a prime target for a ball traveling 100-plus miles per hour?
I am deeply saddened by the loss of Mike Coolbaugh and would like to propose that helmets be worn by base coaches from this point forward. I will send this post to my college coach, not to alert him of the game he already knows happens each fall, but to ask him to protect our players. I will also send it to others in the baseball community. Maybe Coolbaugh’s passing can save a life or two in the future.
Every Wednesday and Thursday during the fall baseball season at Brandeis, we would scrimmage for most of our time at practice. It provided a perfect opportunity for the upperclassmen to convince the younger guys that they needed helmets to coach first base. Each time, the inexperienced players would jog out to first wearing a helmet, realizing a few minutes later that at the college level, base coaches who wear helmets are geeks.
In high school, players can’t get close to the coaching box without wearing a helmet. Yet in college, helmets are reserved solely for those in the batter’s box. Those watching the game from just outside the baseline no longer have to cover up their domes, instead wearing their caps and looking cool for the fans.
In the professional game, coaches never wear helmets while on the field, but after the tragic death of Mike Coolbaugh July 22, I have to wonder why. Coolbaugh was struck in the head by a line drive while coaching first base for the Tulsa Drillers and died soon after. He was the father of two boys and his wife Amanda is pregnant with their third child.
Could a helmet have saved Mike Coolbaugh? Perhaps. Why don’t our base coaches at the college and professional levels don the safety caps? I have seen fielders struck in the head during games and they have gloves on their hands. Why don’t coaches have helmets and gloves? What is the rationale for standing on the sideline, a prime target for a ball traveling 100-plus miles per hour?
I am deeply saddened by the loss of Mike Coolbaugh and would like to propose that helmets be worn by base coaches from this point forward. I will send this post to my college coach, not to alert him of the game he already knows happens each fall, but to ask him to protect our players. I will also send it to others in the baseball community. Maybe Coolbaugh’s passing can save a life or two in the future.
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