Concussions in Baseball

One does not typically think of baseball as an at-risk sport, save for the occasional collision in the outfield or on the base path. However, there has been significant attention in USA Today, the NY Times, The Washington Post, ESPN News, and online news providers, (both recent and older articles) regarding concussions in baseball:

David Wright is hit in the head by a pitch (ESPN video)

Hikiro Kuroda is hit by a line drive in the head (NBC article, YouTube video)

Scott Rolen is hit in the head by a pitch (Tornoto Star article)

(from 2005) Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron collide in the outfield (NY Mets article with video link)

Interestingly, there is a new batting helmet designed to prevent concussions in baseball (NY Times Article), but players do not necessarily like the look/feel:

“No, I am absolutely not wearing that,” Mets right fielder Jeff Francoeur said with a laugh after seeing a prototype, as if he were being asked to put a pumpkin on his head. “I could care less what they say, I’m not wearing it. There’s got to be a way to have a more protective helmet without all that padding. It’s brutal. We’re going to look like a bunch of clowns out there.”

Before making any judgments, it's not like we all wear crash helmets when we drive...

Back from another hiatus...

Not sure why I take such long breaks at times, but I am back from my self-imposed break. I do not get many e-mails about this blog, but do occasionally receive suggestions for posts.

Recent comments pointed to a YouTube clip on the use of mouthguards to prevent concussions, as well as recognition of the benefits of mouthguards at the recent Concussion Summit meeting.

With respect to that recent meeting, the 3rd Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sports was published, with the disclaimer (I paraphrase):

Readers are encouraged to copy and distribute freely the Zurich Consensus Statement… (it) is not subject to any copyright restriction. The authors request, however, that the Zurich Consensus Statement be distributed in full and complete format.

So, I provide a link to the pdf file of the 3rd Consensus Statement.