For years, baseball players have been wearing helmets when at the plate to protect their heads from wild pitches. However, pitchers too are at risk for serious head injuries. Standing only 60 feet away from home plate, a perfectly launched 100 mile per hour line drive can hit a pitcher hard and cause severe head trauma. Such was the case for Gunnar Sandberg, a 17-year old Marin Catholic High School (California) student, who suffered life-threatening head injuries when he was hit with a baseball.
Now recovered and back on the field, Sandberg joined today with Easton-Bell Sports to unveil a new prototype helmet specially designed for pitchers. Looking somewhat like a rigid, high-tech headband, the lightweight polystyrene polycarbonate helmet fits over a pitcher’s baseball cap and protects the sides, temples, and forehead. Little League Baseball is also supporting the development of the new helmet.
Press release: New Pitching Helmet Prototype Unveiled by Easton-Bell Sports…