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| Something's gotta be done |
Cobb, the latest victim of this unnerving epidemic, had to be taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion and is now looking at an extended absence. Flashback to 5 weeks prior: Blue Jays pitcher JA Happ was struck by a screaming comebacker and suffered a head contusion and lacerations as blood immediately began to run down his head. Happ hasn't pitched since. And just last September, Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon McCarthy (then with the Oakland A's) had to undergo surgery after a line drive off the bat of Angels shortstop Erick Aybar caused a hemorrhage, skull fracture, and brain contusion. Just a couple of weeks ago, McCarthy, who looked to be past any ill effects of the injury, was dining with his wife when all of a sudden, he suffered a seizure as a complication of his injury. Scary stuff indeed. A couple of other incidents I can recall off the top of my head where a pitcher took a comebacker off his head include the Bryce Florie incident and the Rafael Soriano incident (the latter of which I had the misfortune of watching unfold on live TV; I remember seeing Vladimir Guerrero yelling at Soriano in a futile attempt to try and get him to get out of the way).
We need changes and we need them now. Base coaches wear helmets now because of what happened to Mike Coolbaugh in 2007. RIP. It should not have to come to that. Make pitchers wear helmets, create some sort of protective padding for pitchers to wear inside their hats, do something. Yeah sure, pitchers have never worn any protective gear since the sport was invented in the 19th century. But change is good. Change is what got the NFL to start making their players wear helmets and more recently to outlaw spearing and horse-collaring. Change is what got masks for goalies and helmets for all players implemented in the NHL. And yes, I get that pitchers have their routines: they see pitching as an art form and any slight change/disturbance to their pitching routine can throw off their rhythm and mechanics completely. Heck, some pitchers will even cut their hair if they believe it will help them pitch better (see: Tim Lincecum, CJ Wilson, etc.). I get that. So maybe we should just give them the option of wearing a helmet or other type of protection when they pitch. That way, pitchers aren't forced to wear something that might throw off their mechanics but the option for protection is still there should they want it.
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| The great John Olerud: a man who knew how to protect his noggin at all times |
We might also have to consider some rule changes in order to protect pitchers. (sidenote: I played in an intramural softball league this year and they had a rule that a batter that hit a comebacker at a pitcher was automatically ruled out. It was intended to protect pitchers but I found it to be incredibly flawed. First off, nobody really tries to hit a comebacker. Everybody's either trying to shoot a single into left field, a double in the alley, or, if your priorities are in the wrong place, trying to hit it over the fence every time. So it's not like the rule would dissuade batters from hitting comebackers. Secondly, if a comebacker strikes a pitcher and the batter is ruled out, what good does that do the pitcher? He's already been struck!) I don't know if pushing the mound back would be an effective option but in an issue of safety, especially one where you have a 100+ mile per hour bullet coming back at a pitcher's head that could kill him if it hit in the wrong place, no stone should be left unturned.
Hopefully, Alex Cobb's injury is the final straw and hopefully it will spur Major League Baseball to action. Because the time to step in and make changes has come and something needs to be done before it's too late.
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| "As Captain Jean-Luc Picard once said, 'The line must be drawn here! THIS FAR, NO FARTHER!'” |
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