page_title: Batting helmet
section_title: Recent developments (Since 2000)
hierarchical_section_title: Batting helmet / Recent developments (Since 2000)
caption_attribution_description: English: Professional baseball player Jason Heyward wearing a helmet with a protective guard during a September 2014 game.
context_page_description: A batting helmet is worn by batters in the game of baseball or softball. It is meant to protect the batter's head from errant pitches thrown by the pitcher. A batter who is "hit by pitch," due to an inadvertent wild pitch or a pitcher's purposeful attempt to hit him, may be seriously, even fatally, injured.
context_section_description: In 2005, Major League Baseball tested a new batting helmet for the first time in nearly three decades. At the All-Star Game in Detroit, players were seen wearing a new "molded crown" helmet that featured side vents, back vents and larger ear holes. The majority of players now wear these new helmets but some including Ryan Howard stayed with the older style.
  The no-flap helmet is still utilized in baseball. Catchers often wear a flapless helmet along with a facemask to protect the head when receiving pitches. Occasionally, players other than catchers will wear a batting helmet without earflaps while playing a defensive position in the field. This is usually done by a player who has a higher-than-normal risk of head injury. One example is former major-league player John Olerud, who started doing so after undergoing emergency surgery for a cerebral aneurysm while attending Washington State University. An earlier example was Richie Allen, who decided to wear a helmet in the field after at least one incident of being hit by objects thrown by fans.
  Major League bat-boys/bat-girls and ball boys/ball girls are required to wear a helmet rather than a cap while performing their duties while on the field of play. They are allowed to use the no-flap helmet for this purpose, and many do.
  Following the 2007 death of Tulsa Drillers first base coach Mike Coolbaugh after being hit by a batted ball, there has been debate as to whether base coaches should wear helmets. Following the incident, the Oakland Athletics' Rene Lachemann decided to wear a helmet out to his third base coaching position.
  After the 2007 season, Major League Baseball made it mandatory for coaches to wear helmets beginning with the 2008 season, although some coaches, such as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Larry Bowa, have disagreed with the decision.
  In 2009, Major League Baseball decided to take action and protect players from the increasing number of concussions and head injuries. Rawlings came out with the S100 baseball helmet, named for its impact capabilities. It was able to withstand the impact of a baseball traveling at 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) from 2 feet (0.6 m) away. The other baseball helmets used are only required to withstand a 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) impact from 2 feet (0.6 m) away. The first Major League Player to wear this helmet during a game was Canadian-born Ryan Dempster, a pitcher with the Chicago Cubs. The new helmet did not catch on because the players said it made them look like bobbleheads. Some players, including Mets third baseman David Wright, did decide to use the helmet while batting.
  In 2013, per the new MLB-MLBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, MLB players were required to wear the new Rawlings S100 Pro Comp.
  In 2018, several Major League Baseball players including Mike Trout and Bryce Harper began wearing the C-flap, an attachment to the earflap covering the jaw, invented by Markwort. The C-flap has caught on quickly throughout Major League Baseball and now batting helmet manufacturers such as Rawlings and Easton have begun producing helmets with a built-in earflap extension emulating the C-flap.
caption: Jason Heyward wears a helmet with a protective guard during a 2014 game. Heyward started wearing the guard after being hit by a pitch in his face, which caused him to suffer a broken jaw.
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