Rockies first base coach Hill elects to wear helmet
July 25th, 2007In the wake of Mike Coolbaugh’s death, Colorado Rockies first base coach Glenallen Hill has decided to wear a helmet while he is on the field.
A wise move. Let’s hope other coaches follow his example.
Why not make it mandatory?
What the heck, baseball is one of the only sports I can think of in which the coaches and manager dress “in uniform,” just like the players. Why not go ahead and be that much safer by wearing a helmet on the field? Many times, the base coaches aren’t even looking toward the batter. (I’m not going to go as far as saying the guys in the dugout should wear helmets, too, but I have seen some screaming line drives hit into the dugout.)
Didn’t Glenallen Hill fall down a flight of stairs because a spider was on him? Maybe he should wear a helmet all the time.
Actually, Hill hurt himself while DREAMING he was covered in spiders.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/columns/top10/baseball_injuries.html#2
Also today’s autopsy showed that Coolbaugh was struck in the neck and died from a ruptured artery, so in this case a helmet would not have prevented this tragedy.