In the nearly 17 months since then-Oakland Athletics pitcher Brandon McCarthy was struck in the head by a line drive and suffered life-threatening brain injuries, Major League Baseball says it has received and tested numerous prototypes from different vendors for padded caps to provide some head protection against high-speed shots off the bat.
The newly approved caps, manufactured by 4Licensing Corporation subsidiary isoBlox, will be made available to pitchers for spring training next month. Their use is optional.
The company says the caps are a little more than a half-inch thicker in the front and an inch thicker on the sides -- near the temples -- than standard caps, and afford protection for frontal impact locations against line drives of up to 90 mph and for side impact locations at up to 85 mph. The soft padding, isoBlox says, is made of "plastic injection molded polymers combined with a foam substrate" and is designed to diffuse energy upon impact through a combination of dispersion and absorption techniques.
"What we've given [pitchers] is a product with protection they've never had before," said 4Licensing chief executive officer Bruce Foster. "It changes the game for them."
A protective cap for pitchers received approval Tuesday to be worn in major league games. The skull cap for youth is at center, caps on the right and left.
On Tuesday morning, MLB informed its 30 teams that it has approved such a product for the first time, after consultation with the players' association, according to Dan Halem, MLB executive vice president for labor relations."
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