# Why have baseball helmets for anyone other than the batter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-baseball-helmets-for-anyone-other-than-the-batter/503008 "2009-07-14T18:04:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-baseball-helmets-for-anyone-other-than-the-batter/503008/1 "2009-07-14T18:04:34Z")
Batters wear helmets - makes sense to me, as both the catcher and the umpire have protection against pitched balls, too. But then when a batter makes it on base, he’s given a different kind of helmet (for which play stops). Why not just leave on the batting helmet? For that matter, why wear a helmet at all as a baserunner? The infielders don’t have them. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-baseball-helmets-for-anyone-other-than-the-batter/503008/2 "2009-07-14T18:08:12Z")
Infielders can watch the ball approaching their head and move it accordingly. A baserunner is focused on the next base and not on whether or not they are about to be beaned by a thrown ball. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-baseball-helmets-for-anyone-other-than-the-batter/503008/3 "2009-07-14T18:21:35Z")
Why change helmets? The baserunning model does not have an ear flap, making it easier to hear the coaches’ instructions (and it’s more comfortable). Coaches often wear them too, since the death in 2007 of Mike Coolbaugh - they’re not always looking at the ball, either. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-baseball-helmets-for-anyone-other-than-the-batter/503008/4 "2009-07-14T20:42:17Z")
Am I missing something? I’ve never seen a player change helmets once reaching base. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-baseball-helmets-for-anyone-other-than-the-batter/503008/5 "2009-07-14T20:44:46Z")
I’ve never seen a baserunner change helmets. Where does this happen? Try as I might I cannot find a picture of a modern major league player wearing a helmet without ear flaps while running the bases. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-baseball-helmets-for-anyone-other-than-the-batter/503008/6 "2009-07-15T01:04:08Z")
Maybe it’s just in Little Leagues, which is where I’ve noticed it. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-baseball-helmets-for-anyone-other-than-the-batter/503008/7 "2009-07-15T01:15:44Z")
Yeah, this does not happen in MLB, AFAIK. A few players have worn a helmet in the field (John Olerud the most famous example). There have been discussions about having Pitchers wear a modified hat that includes some protection. And, of course, first and third base coaches now wear helmets on the field. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-baseball-helmets-for-anyone-other-than-the-batter/503008/8 "2009-07-15T01:52:23Z")
Olerud was a special case; he wore the helmet on the field because he had had a brain aneurysm in college and might have had one again from even a slight bump to the head. You don’t mess around with things like that.