This question came to my mind while watching the baseball play-off games on TV:
Why do baseball players always wear caps?
Players of other team sports may wear helmets for safety, but none that I know of wear caps. Players of individual sports, such as golfers and racewalkers often wear caps, but it’s not uniform throughout the profession. Is there a utilitarian reason or is it just some custom left from the time when most men wore caps or hats?
Another question about baseball even the great Cecil won’t know the answer to:
When will the Chicago Cubs next play in the World Series?
There’s a utilitarian reason for it. Baseball was originally always played in daylight during the summer, so an eyeshade and sun protection was necessary. Even now a cap provides protection against the glare of the lights used during night games. In any case, it’s become ingrained as part of the uniform.
Football requires a helmet, and in any case is played in the fall when the sun is not as high in the sky. Hockey and basketball are played indoors.
Caps could conceivably be of use in soccer, but the sport is so active that players would constantly be losing their caps, and in any case they can use their heads to handle the ball.
As has been mentioned, cricket players may wear caps.
If you were trying to catch a fly ball in the bright sun, you would understand. It blocks the direct sun if you turn your head to the right position and you can still follow the ball.
Batters do wear helmets (it’s mandatory now), as do catchers. Some players (e.g., John Olerud*) also wore batting helmets in the field and runners also wear them. However, batting helmets are designed to look like caps, and players often wear their cap underneath.
Most fielders don’t wear them because they are always watching the play and can protect themselves with their glove. Runners may not know where the ball is coming from, while batters and catchers are standing in front of 90 mph baseballs.
*He had suffered a brain aneurysm in college and was at serious risk if hit by a ball.
And everyone knows the Rickey Henderson story that goes along with this, right? If not, allow me to share. Rickey and Olerud both went from the Mets to the Mariners sometime back in the 90s. Rickey notices Olerud wearing the helmet in the field in spring training and says, “I played with a guy in New York who did that, too.”
Olerud replies, “That was me.”
The two were also teammates in Toronto before New York.
Don’t ask me if it’s true or not, but I distinctly remember seeing that little story on ESPN Sports Center at the time.
As for the hats, yeah I’m sure they started out as sun blockers and eventually MLB figured they might as well define them as part of the official uniform just to keep things neat and organized.
Oh, yeah. I’ve never been to Cooperstown but I know Henderson’s in it, and I hope to God that along with his plaque is at least a wall mounted poster board detailing some of Henderson’s famous “Rickey being Rickey” quotes illustrating his self-absorption
There’s nothing in the official rules about caps. The uniforms of all players on a team must be the same, and batters, runners, catchers, and base coaches must wear helmets. But a team is not required to include a cap as part of the uniform. However, if one player wears one, all must.
Theoretically, yes. Though, I believe that all uniform “designs” (and variations, such as special uniforms worn for special occasions) have to be approved by the Commissioner’s Office. I rather doubt they’d approve that.
The rules have very little to say about the details of uniforms. (They mention sleeve length, and advertising logos and patterns that look like baseballs are prohibited.) But theoretically a team could play in tank tops, speedos, and cowboy hats, as long as they wore helmets while batting. (Of course, in practice outlandish uniforms would certainly not be approved by MLB, although the Chicago White Sox played one game in shorts in 1976.)
