Nate's Notebook: How I would try to make baseball safer

Although it's a given that baseball players are going to get hurt, there are some ways that Major League Baseball could make the game less hazardous for it's athletes. Here are a few practical ideas to help make the game safer without changing the way it's played.

1. Foam rubber outfield walls.

Why are the outfield walls in major league baseball parks covered with padding the thickness of an oven mitt? In some spots there is no padding at all. Wrigley Field literally has a brick wall out there.

Players get hurt crashing into these walls all the time. Earlier this season, Yankees OF Jacoby Ellsbury received a sprained neck and a concussion slamming into a wall. He made the catch, but landed on the DL.

Clearly, the "warning track" is not enough of a deterrent.

Outfield walls are bad for your health.

Photo: USA Today

My suggestion: 3-foot-thick foam rubber outfield walls. This would prevent countless serious injuries every year, and it wouldn't punish players for going all out.

Watching outfielders track fly balls at full speed to save an extra base hit is exciting and I don't want to take that out of the game, just make it less hazardous.

A good example of the foam rubber I have in mind for the proposed padded wall can be seen here, where it functions as the steps of the pyramid in the American Gladiators game 'Pyramid':

[If nothing else, this serves as a great excuse to watch the classic Gladiators game. Pyramid was awesome and arguably should be an Olympic competition.]

2. Batting helmet face masks = mandatory.

To me, this one seems like a no-brainer, but most big leaguers are apparently hesitant to wear face masks on their batting helmets (otherwise they'd have them already). A few guys, notably All-Stars Giancarlo Stanton and Jason Heyward, have opted for partial face-guards, but why not go all the way and institute full-coverage face masks?

Some players practically wear face masks already.

Photo: MLB.com

Face masks are common in other "small ball" sports such as cricket, lacrosse, and softball. They seem like a good idea when stone-like objects are being flung toward your head with high velocity.

I think maybe the perception among players is that face masks are "uncool", so MLB can help make it cool: Allow for a variety of face mask styles, like the NFL does, and allow players to choose the face mask style they want to wear. Rather than wear sunglasses at the plate, players can opt for a dark-tinted visor on their face mask. That would be cool.

3. Safety bag at first base.

The safety bag

Photo: Outfield Fly Rule

Yep, that's right. The good ol' safety bag. The same safety bag you see in Little Leagues, softball leagues, and summer slow-pitch leagues across the nation should be used in the majors as well.

Not only does the safety bag lead to fewer collisions between runner and fielder due to it's larger size, but it actually solves one of baseball's fundamental problems: The runner is supposed to run in foul territory. However, since first base is located in fair territory, the runner has to cross over at some point to touch the bag, often interfering with the fielder in the process. This comes into play often in bunting situations.

The running lane

Photo: QC Baseball

There is, in fact, a running lane in foul territory painted on the field before every game. This running lane culminates in the exact spot the safety bag would be located. It makes perfect sense.

The safety bag is something the league could literally put in place tomorrow if they wanted to. What's the argument against it, you're not a fan of the blaze orange color? So you make it the home team's colors... or you make it red, white, and blue... or you sell small advertisements on them (not likely, I realize)... You could start a marketing campaign: "Safe at first!"

Like with the batting helmet face masks, MLB could help make the safety bag cool, and I think players and fans would appreciate it's usefulness.