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Coaches favor starting measures at young age
By Jonas Fortune
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Monday, Jun 02, 2008
On July 22, 2007, Tulsa Drillers first-base coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed when a baseball struck him in the head.
Since the freak accident, Major League Baseball has taken steps toward protecting its coaches. Should the players be protected as well?
''You look at major-league baseball games, though, and you see the coaches in the first- and third-base boxes wearing the old-style helmets with no earflaps. If they are wearing those, then maybe the fielders should wear those helmets, too,'' Canton Central Catholic baseball coach Doug Miller said.
Because of the severity of baseball-related injuries, researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital are recommending that ''helmets with face shields or at least mouth guards and eye protection be used by all pitchers,
infielders and batters at the high school level.''
Although the thought of players wearing protective head gear and face masks in the field might seem awkward to some baseball fans, many area coaches say that the recommendation could be a good one.
''I'm for anything that helps protect the players as long as it doesn't distract them while they are playing the game,'' Woodridge baseball coach Dennis Dever said.
North Canton Hoover softball coach Jerry Goodpasture also said protective headgear could be beneficial to student athletes, but it is something that should be gradually introduced from the younger ages up.
''If I say to my seniors, 'Put a mask on,' they are not going to like it,'' Goodpasture said. ''I'd say if they start it when they are young, it's not a bad idea.''
The protective headgear is an option, but other coaches attribute the injuries to another source.
''If you're that concerned with the safety of the kid, then maybe you get rid of the aluminum bats,'' Highland coach Jeff Rollyson said.
It is an accepted fact that balls come off aluminum bats much faster, propelled in a trampoline-like effect. Over the years, regulations, such as weight and length ratios, have been put on aluminum bats to minimize their potential and protect the athletes.
''I'm surprised they still allow aluminum bats in college,'' Miller said. ''It almost seems like the pitcher doesn't have a chance [on a ball coming back at the mound]. I think they should maybe give a certain timetable to make the switch.''
A switch has been discussed in the past. Walsh Jesuit coach Chris Kaczmar said the possibility of using wooden bats has been investigated in his league, but drew a split vote, with cost being one of the larger issues. Wooden bats have higher propensity to break, forcing teams to buy more bats.
''I don't know with high school budgets going to wood bats would be practical,'' Kaczmar said. ''I think that the movement to change the dimension of the bat, the weight-to-length ratio has been good — I don't know if there will ever be a time that high school, in our area at least, with the cost of everything rising, that it is feasible to go to wood bats.''
Yet Miller said the cost efficiency of using aluminum bats instead of wooden bats is a thing of the past.
''Now, a good aluminum bat will cost you around $200,'' he said. ''You can get about four or five wooden bats for that price. The reason to go to aluminum doesn't hold true today.''
Whether wearing protective headgear or switching to wooden bats is the answer, all the coaches seemed to be in agreement on one thing: As long as it is for the protection of the players, then it is a step in the right direction.
Jonas Fortune can be reached at jfortune@thebeaconjournal.com.
Beacon Journal sportswriters Tom Gaffney and Micheal Beaven contributed to this story.
On July 22, 2007, Tulsa Drillers first-base coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed when a baseball struck him in the head.
Get the full article here.
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