Last month, the ESPN series Outside the Lines reported on baseball pitchers suffering serious injuries from being struck in the head by line drives, and the efforts that Major League Baseball (MLB) is making toward having protective gear developed for pitchers.

You can view the report here if you’d like:

A couple of things jump out at me from the clip. First, the overwhelming majority of pitchers aren’t interested in wearing protective gear if it’s either visually obvious or noticeable to the pitcher himself, who fears it will affect his ability to pitch well.

Second, the standard set by MLB is that approved headgear must be able to protect against a ball travelling at 83 mph, the average speed in which line drives are travelling when they reach the pitcher’s mound.

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