Helmets for Base Coaches

Apparently it's a go for next year.

With all respect to the memory of Mike Coolbaugh and his family, this seems unnecessary. One of the reasons Coolbaugh's death was so shocking was because nothing like that had ever happened before. At least not since Ray Chapman anyway. Is it a danger? Sure, but walking out of one's house each morning presents a danger too. What's more, there's a pretty strong reason to believe that a helmet would not have saved Coolbaugh's life -- the ball hit him in the back of his neck below his ear -- so this isn't even a case of closing the barn door after the horses have already escaped. It's like blocking the storm drains.

In the final analysis, however, it doesn't cost much of anything to put the coaches in helmets so it's not as if doing so should cause anyone to lose any sleep. Still, I never cease to be fascinated at the human propensity to not only respond after the fact, but to respond in curiously wrongheaded, albeit well-intended ways.