Partly due to the recent tragic death of Mike Coolbaugh and partly because he's wanted to do it for some time, Rockies 1B coach Glenallen Hill wore a helmet throughout tonight's game against the Padres."It just makes sense," he said Tuesday night.
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As a player, Hill hit some balls that whizzed past the pitcher's heads so fast they didn't have time to react. "I was thankful they didn't hit them because they didn't move," Hill said. "They didn't move their glove."
Still, it wasn't until Coolbaugh's death that he decided to don a helmet.
"I had thought about it but didn't want to put it into play," Hill said. "Then, I heard about Mike and it brought a lot of emotions, for his family, his children, safety, how many close calls I've had. It just makes sense."
Hill said he always appreciates it when batters reach first base and hand over their body armor: "I strap the stuff on."
I understand the sentiment here. Really, I do. This certainly isn't a bad idea. But if we're going to start throwing this logic around -- Joe Torre says later in the article that every base coach should be wearing a helmet now -- this should certainly extend to pitchers. They are much closer to the hitter and thus are at a higher risk for injury -- even with gloves.
But until someone dies on the mound from a line drive, I sincerely doubt we're going to be seeing a pitcher in a helmet anytime soon.
