An update on Brandon McCarthy, who tells Susan Slusser that, compared to a lot of things, getting his skull fractured by a line drive was not particularly painful. Viva adrenaline I guess.
He also talks about pitching helmets, which we’ve discussed here before. He tells Slusser that he’d maybe try one, but that he doesn’t think such a thing should be forced on anyone:
Seems sensible given that, unlike say seat belts in cars and even batting helmets for hitters, protecting a pitcher’s head is not something that addresses a large-scale threat. It is undeniably dangerous to get smacked with a comebacker, but it’s not a common thing either.
Like we’ve noted before, however, even if it’s not mandated -- and I don’t think it should be -- it’s probably something that will happen eventually just because of technology improving and certain players just choosing to do it and having the habit just become more and more acceptable.
