On Tommy Lasorda, Wood Bats and the Freak

This past week two pitchers were injured by wood bats, one benign and unlikely to be repeated but the other much more serious and inevitable to be repeated. In an attempt to hit a pitch in the dirt Chase Utley accidentally let go of his bat, sending it pinwheeling out to the mound. The end clipped Tim Lincecum on the knee, but it could have been much worse. In the other incident a line drive off the bat of Ian Desmond struck Juan Nicasio in the side of the head and either from that contact or his head hitting the ground Nicasio fractured a vertebrae in his neck. If you're a baseball fan you likely know of the stories of Tommy Lasorda avoiding a foul ball in the third base coaching box during the All-Star Game (humorous), Herb Score being hit in the face by a Rocky Colavito line drive (gruesome) and Mike Coolbaugh being struck by a foul ball while in the third base coaching box (lethal and tragic). Already we've seen base coaches required to wear batting helmets and the college game revising the regulations on metal bats (trampolining is decreased, greatly reducing power potential). I imagine we'll see further regulations on metal bats in the college game. But the rate at which athletes are advancing will put increasing danger on pitchers. Few viable alternatives exist as requiring safety equipment to be worn by pitchers, moving the mound back, or introducing regulations on wood bat type are all but out of the question. This will continue to be a pertinent issue, but let's hope it's not for tragic reasons.