If you were watching the Cleveland vs. Chicago game, I saw it also.
I was totally surprised the first time I saw that guy take off his helmet, to see a cap. He is the first MLB HSM wearer I have seen do that.
I have both sizes of the All-Start helmet he was wearing. I currently wear the Small size, now that it is available. I can get a 4 stitch cap to fit under both, but it is really uncomfortable. 6 stitch or larger is out of the question. If I HAD to do it, I would go back to wearing my Large size. But then the helmet would not fit properly, so I would be concerned about protection.
Wearing a cap really cuts down your visibility, because it causes the helmet to ride up, bringing the bottom bar into your field of view, and the brim of the cap sticks out of the cage, closing off the top part of your view. It's as bad as wearing a Mask and Cap. Tunnel vision all over again.
The other thing I noticed, and would expect, is how hot it got, just sitting in front of the TV. An HSM is designed with cooling vents, that get blocked off by a cap. Did you notice that the umpire was continually wiping sweat from below his eyes, during an evening game where his partners were wearing jackets ?
He also was using two hands to remove and put his HSM on. You only need one (left) hand normally, without a cap. I found it was not possible to use one hand with a cap.
HSM's are not designed to have a cap worn under them, so I wonder what implications that creates with respect to Product Warranty, and Protection Liability for the companies manufacturing them.
Here are the possible reasons for wearing a cap that I can think of;
- Under pressure from MLB or Mentor to wear it.
- Not ready to make the complete switch to new technology.
- Doesn't know your not supposed to wear a cap under an HSM.
- Didn't want everyone to see his Ponytail.