Nicasio broken neck

[UmpJM]

He was hit in the neck, not the head.

The helmets that are now mandatory would have done nothing to prevent or ameliorate the base coach's injury.

JM

[nopachunts]

Originally Posted by Achu

IBut, I was under the impression that a single-A coach was hit in the head by a foul a few years back. Is this why they now wear them in A - MLB?

Yes, Mike Coolbaugh, Double A Tulsa

[Larry1953]

Originally Posted by Achu

I was being a tad sarcastic, as a helmet would not have helped Lasorda either. Ha. But, I was under the impression that a single-A coach was hit in the head by a foul a few years back. Is this why they now wear them in A - MLB?

Coolbaugh, 35, dies after being struck by ball - Minor Leagues - ESPN

This was the incident involving a base coach.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3100278

As already noted, he was struck in the neck - the helmet probably would not have helped.

[Dave Reed]

Bob and JM,
"Neck" sounds like nowhere near the head, but the preliminary autopsy (which I can no longer find a copy of) said that he was struck about 1/2 inch behind and below the left ear, causing a rupture of a blood vessel near the brain. It is hard to say if a helmet would have helped or hurt, but very likely a helmet would have changed the nature of the impact.

From the AP report:
A preliminary autopsy report shows that a burst blood vessel in Mike Coolbaugh's neck, near his brain, killed the Tulsa Drillers hitting coach when he was hit by a batted ball on Sunday.

"It hit him in the back of the left side of his neck, kind of right below the ear," Pulaski County coroner Mark Malcolm said.

The ball compressed the left vertebral artery, which travels up the left side of the spinal column and provides blood to the brain. The artery compressed against the vertebra at the top of his spine, right at the base of the skull, and a hemorrhage was the result, Malcolm said.

Malcolm said the full autopsy report has not yet been completed. He would not address whether a helmet would have saved Coolbaugh or whether, in general, a helmet could provide protection from a similarly batted ball.

[UmpJM]

Dave,

Base coaches wear helmets that do not have ear protection and provide virtually zero protection below the temples.



JM

[MikeStrybel]

I may be mistaken but the Coach Helmet Rule adopted at the General Manager's Meeting a few years ago allows helmets with or without flap(s) to be worn. I don't see anything wrong with a coach protecting his plate side ear with a flap. If a runner is expected to be able to hear his coaches while wearing one then Bowa and the others who hate having to wear it have no reason to cry foul. I remember one coach saying that wearing his helmet was uncomfortable and he couldn't chew gum because it kept popping up when he did. Sheesh.