As you may have heard by now, Marlins batsman Giancarlo Stanton, whose 2014 season ended prematurely with a quick ball that he has been wearing a face
This spring, he wore a mask on his batting helmet.
It looks a lot like a football mask, but there is an important difference: it is personalized with "G ---
Stanton's first opening remarks
As far as Uni Watch knows, Stanton is the first MLB player to have personalized elements on the mask.
But he's not the first person to wear a face.
He has guards on his helmet, he is not even the first person to wear footballstyle mask.
With that in mind, let's travel along the memory lane and relive some of the players who mix rugby and diamonds by playing football
Fashion masks on their batting helmet: Dave Parker, pirate, 1978: any discussion about a professional baseball helmet must start with Cobra.
In May 30, 1978, after a home clash with Metropolitan catcher John sden, his jaw and cheekbones broke, he returned to the lineup a few weeks later and quickly went through a series of strange
To protect the injured face, Parker began wearing a hockey goalkeeper mask, which was cut off at the top so he could still wear a batting helmet.
He wore only one plate and ended up walking around on purpose. (
Who can blame each other for not wanting to sell to someone who looks like a masked threat? )
Then he put on a mask while running.
Parker found out that his vision was affected by the hockey mask, so the pirate's equipment manager consulted the Steelers and came up with a two-
Bar football mask with chin strap. The two-
The bar mask still slightly interferes with Parker's vision, so the mask is replaced with another model, which Parker only wears when running the base, not when hitting the ball. (
You can see more photos of Parker masks here, and you can also read more about them here. )
Ellis Valentine, Expos, 1980: Valentine, right outfielder in Montreal, with a cannon in one arm, his cheekbones were six when he was bowled in May 30, 1980
He came back into action wearing one or two clothes.
The bar football mask, similar to the one Parker tried, but was cut off to cover one side of his face.
The look is so unique, now it's T-shirt.
Gary Roenicke, Orioles, 1980: Roenicke wore a Part 2-after being hit in the face by the pitch-
The bar football mask is similar to Valentine's and only Roenicke's face is wrapped a little more and painted black to match the local color scheme.
Charlie Hayes, the Rocky Mountains, 1994: David Hayes, Colorado's third-baseman, has opened new ground with two different transparent masks.
Kind of reminds you of Otto Graham's old Lucite mask, right?
Chris Wallace, a member of the small league, wore a similar mask in 2011. (
Interestingly, after Hayes moved from the Rocky Mountains to the Yankees, he put on another mask, but this is a simple plastic accessory common to most masked players in the past 20 years. )
Otis Nixon, twins, 1998: Nixon played for 10 teams in 17 years, including one-
He stayed in Minnesota halfway through the season, wearing an unusual football mask.
Based on, but there's more to that.
As far as Uni Watch knows, he is the last MLB player to wear any close to football
Style masks on site.
However, there is also a case worth mentioning: according to the New York Times September 1959 clip, Billy Martin, an Indian infield man, returned to Cleveland with a "special helmet with football" activetype face-
Guard the bar after being hit by a pitch a month ago.
But Martin's record shows that he did not play after August. 5 --
The day he was arrested-
So he never went through football.
Modeling Mask in the game.
Despite years of hard work, Uni Watch could not find a photo of the mask. (
Have you seen a picture of it?
If so, please contact. )
Most other players who have added extra facial protection to their helmets wear basic (
Boring-looking)
We are used to seeing plastic accessories now.
Part of the list of these players includes Malone Byrd, Mike Devero, Chase Hedley, Jason Hayward, David Justice, Terence Dragon, Kevin setce
Do you know any other interesting MLB mask accessories that are not covered here?
If so, you know what to do. Thanks.
Finally, it is worth noting that baseball players are not the only
Football players involved in football
Facial protection.
Great Bobby Hull used to wear a football mask-
In fact, Larry Csonka, an NFL Hall of Fame member, is wearing the same model.
Paul Lucas thinks the 1959 Billy Martin mask is one of his private universities
Related beluga whales.
"If you like this column, you might like his Uni Watch blog, plus you can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
Want to know about his Uni Watch membership program and be added to his mailing list so you can know when a new column has been released or just ask him a question?
Contact him here.