ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -Major league general managers decided Thursday that first- and third-base coaches will wear helmets during games next season, an action taken four months after Colorado’s Mike Coolbaugh was killed when he was struck on the head by a line drive.
Coolbaugh, a coach for the Rockies’ minor league team in Tulsa, died July 22 when he was hit as he stood in the first-base coach’s box during a Texas League game at Arkansas.
A former major league infielder, Coolbaugh couldn’t get out of the way. Some major league coaches started wearing helmets during the rest of the season.
Joe Garagiola Jr., a senior vice president in the commissioner’s office, said no formal vote was taken but the consensus was in favor of some type of protection.
GMs will decide on the exact form of helmet when they meet next month in Nashville, Tenn. Options under consideration include hard liners under caps, helmets with ear flaps and helmet without ear flaps.
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