— Aug. 17, 1920: Indians shortstop Ray Chapman dies after being hit in the head by a pitch from Yankee Carl Mays, prompting Major League Baseball to ban the spitball, require umpires to replace dirty balls.
— 1950s/60s: Players use plastic inserts for protection.
 JOEY IVANSCO/Cox Newspapers Baseball helmets and other paraphenalia shot from Asheville, N.C., Tourists ballclub dugout. For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
— 1971: MLB makes batting helmets mandatory.
— 1983: MLB makes helmets with at least one earflap mandatory.
— July 11, 2006: Rawlings introduces the CoolFlo helmet with vents.
— July 22, 2007: Rockies minor league first base coach Mike Coolbaugh is killed by a batted ball to the head.
— Nov. 8, 2007: MLB mandates all base coaches wear batting helmets.
— August, 2009: Rawlings introduces the S100 helmet, built to withstand pitches of up to 100 mph.
— Aug. 31, 2009: MLB announces that it will mandate minor league players wear the S100 in 2010.
Carroll Rogers writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: crogers(at)ajc.com.
