Hector Noesi, five other pitchers have been wearing kevlar padding inside their caps

We first heard about these kevlar domes that can be place inside pitchers’ caps a few years back. They’re made by a company called Unequal Technologies. At the time, Major League Baseball was looking into the product and it was said that they were trying to accelerate the timetable of their production. They have yet to be approved, however, as the product has undergone changes in the past couple of years. In the meantime, MLB has introduced a padded cap made by another company that, at present, no player is wearing.

Over the weekend, CSNChicago.com mentioned that White Sox pitcher Hector Noesi was wearing the Unequal Technologies padding in his cap. Today Willie Weinbaum of ESPN.com reports that six different pitchers were using it:

An MLB executive told “Outside the Lines” on Sunday that it was looking into the use of the Dome inserts and was reserving comment. Pitchers are free to wear protective headgear of their choice, as long as it doesn’t interfere with competition or with MLB licensing agreements.

Interesting stuff. And not just because “Unequal Technologies” sounds like the name of a company from a lost Ayn Rand novel or, like, a G.I. Joe cartoon.