Baseball, plastic, safety and testosterone

If you build a better helmet, will Major League Baseball beat a path to your door? Maybe not, according to this story from The New York Times about a new baseball helmet from Rawlings that the company touts as the safest on the market. According to the company, the S100 helmet can withstand the impact of a 100-mph fastball. Compare that to other helmets on the market that can't stand up to direct hit from a 70 mph heater. Most Little League kids aren't throwing 100 mph, so obviously the S100 is aimed at advanced players. But according to the story, most of the big league players who the Times reporters interviewed thought the new helmet was too heavy, too bulky, and wasn't attractive enough for them to wear. Huh? Yes. But don't be surprised. According to the report, most Major Leaguers are already using batting helmets that are not certified by independent testing organizations -- because most of these guys use helmets that don't have enough interior padding and don't have two earflaps. What makes the S100 so tough? According to the story, it "has a layer of expanded polypropylene, the hard, foamlike material used in bicycle helmets," plus "a composite insert strip built into the frame that helps the helmet retain its protective oval shape upon impact."