What's that crap on top of major league batting helmets?

[Marley23]

@Colibri

I’ve only started noticing this in the past few years, especially with the Red Sox in the playoffs last year.

I think Craig Biggio has done it for a long time. I don’t know when it started getting popular.

@Q.E.D.

At least one Major League player keeps pine tar on his helmet deliberately:

Ah, the idea being that you can get the pine tar on your glove and then not need to spread it on the bat. That would make sense.

@MLS

I always thought the pine tar was on the bat (however it gets there), the hands were on the bat, thus getting p.t. on them, then batter occasionally adjusts his helmet, thus getting a dab o’ tar on there.

Just about everybody who does this has the pine tar over the logo on his batting hemlet. I think you’d find it on the bill if it was moving from the bat to the hands to the hemlet.