Expert: Tom Schott - 1/10/2008

Question
Was Pee Wee Reese credited with being the first player in pro ball to wear a hard helmet and what year?

Answer
Wilbur: same message. I just changed the subject for my records.

TES

Wilbur,

 The sources differ on the matter. Here is the relevant portion of a write-up appearing at: http://tinyurl.com/yrtx73

"The precise date that protective headgear was worn for the first time remains unclear.

According to a book titled "The Way Baseball Works" by Dan Gutman, Willie Wells might have been the first player to use the "modern" batting helmet in 1942. Apparently, he adapted something from hard hats used by construction workers. Also, Gutman's book says that Phil Rizzuto was the first American League player to wear a helmet.

But another source suggests that the first time players wore protective headgear came a year earlier, during a Spring Training game on March 7, 1941. Teammates Pee Wee Reese and Joe Medwick of the Dodgers reportedly wore a plastic insert designed by Johns Hopkins brain surgeon Walter Dandy.

Regardless who was first, it wasn't until 1952 before an entire team -- the Pirates -- wore the style of batting helmets that are still being used today. The NL team wore helmets while batting, running the bases and playing defense.

It probably was not a coincidence that Rickey was the Pirates' general manager at the time.

Then, as now, the helmets are molded of a hard plastic with the interior designed to provide an individualized, secure fit, with a leather-wrapped head liner and proportioned ear and back pads.

Batting helmets became mandatory for all MLB players in 1971, although the players in the big leagues prior to that season were allowed to bat with plastic inserts placed inside their regular baseball cap.

Red Sox catcher Bob Montgomery, who reached the Major Leagues in 1970 and retired in '79, has the distinction of being the last player to wear the plastic insert.

White Sox coach Tim Raines also has a spot in batting helmet trivia -- the last player to wear a helmet without at least one ear flap, which became mandatory in 1983."