A's (and other teams) batting helmet questions

[hormone]

Sorry if this is the wrong forum...anyway, I have a free week of MLB extra innings on DirecTV and flipping through last night, I noticed the A's wearing the "home" helmets with their all green road hats. Have they always done this? I thought they had a set of each helmet...or did this change with the black set?

Also, I always thought (maybe not the MLB rule) that the helmet was just a hard, protective version of the hat. Is there any reason that teams don't match them that much anymore? I find it odd that teams will go all out for a once a week (or less and sometimes once a season) throwback/alt set, but won't get an away helmet that is worn 80 times per year.

Can anyone shed some light on this? I'm not just seeking opinions like the Mets/Rockies helmets look cool or something like that. I'm wondering why there isn't a match to the hat.

Thanks

[BBTV]

Also, I always thought (maybe not the MLB rule) that the helmet was just a hard, protective version of the hat.

This is how it should be, and it really upsets me when teams wear different helmets from their hats. If it's a one-time thing because they're wearing a special hat, then fine, but if you're going to have home and road caps, then have home and road helmets. Also, helmets like the Mets, Rockies, and that horrible proposed Rangers should never see the light of day.

I'm not sure how it's not an enforceable rule actually. IMO, there should be no difference as far as uniform code goes between a helmet and a hat.

[Sport]

The Reds have two hats, but only one helmet and it drives me nuts. On the road they wear a red hat with a black bill, but they use an all red batting helmet. When they're at the plate on the road all I can think about is how much better their road set would look if they would just wear the all red hat all the time.

As for the A's, I hate that black alternate that they wear. Not only because it looks terrible and is black for the sake of black, but because the A's have matching helmets for that set, but they can't match the helmets to the road hats, which they used to do. I think a road hat is kind of a silly concept to begin with, but if you're going to have one then at least match the helmet to the hat, like the indians do.

Then you have some teams such as the Rays who spring for matching helmets when they wear one day throwback uniforms. I don't understand it. I'm just glad the Phillies actually went to blue helmets for their sunday alternates.

[BBTV]

The Reds have two hats, but only one helmet and it drives me nuts. On the road they wear a red hat with a black bill, but they use an all red batting helmet. When they're at the plate on the road all I can think about is how much better their road set would look if they would just wear the all red hat all the time.

As for the A's, I hate that black alternate that they wear. Not only because it looks terrible and is black for the sake of black, but because the A's have matching helmets for that set, but they can't match the helmets to the road hats, which they used to do. I think a road hat is kind of a silly concept to begin with, but if you're going to have one then at least match the helmet to the hat, like the indians do.

Then you have some teams such as the Rays who spring for matching helmets when they wear one day throwback uniforms. I don't understand it. I'm just glad the Phillies actually went to blue helmets for their sunday alternates.

You have no idea how much it annoyed me when they wore the red helmets with that set. It still annoys me that they wear red belts and socks, but that's a battle for another day.

[cheo25]

The Reds have two hats, but only one helmet and it drives me nuts. On the road they wear a red hat with a black bill, but they use an all red batting helmet. When they're at the plate on the road all I can think about is how much better their road set would look if they would just wear the all red hat all the time.

As for the A's, I hate that black alternate that they wear. Not only because it looks terrible and is black for the sake of black, but because the A's have matching helmets for that set, but they can't match the helmets to the road hats, which they used to do. I think a road hat is kind of a silly concept to begin with, but if you're going to have one then at least match the helmet to the hat, like the indians do.

Then you have some teams such as the Rays who spring for matching helmets when they wear one day throwback uniforms. I don't understand it. I'm just glad the Phillies actually went to blue helmets for their sunday alternates.

You have no idea how much it annoyed me when they wore the red helmets with that set. It still annoys me that they wear red belts and socks, but that's a battle for another day.

My Astros have really ticked me off with this going on 11 seasons now. They have just a black helmet, even though they wear red caps with a solid white, red-trimmed uniform for most midweek afternoon games and Saturday home games. One, their solid white uni is designed to go with a red cap, so to wear a black helmet with it looks ridiculous. Two, the red cap with the gold star looks better than the black cap, so by default, a red batting helmet also would look better.

But the Astros are such a trainwreck as an organization right now that I'd settle for them to straighten out the on-field product before solving the non-matching cap/helmet issue.

[mmejia]

"But the Astros are such a trainwreck as an organization right now that I'd settle for them to straighten out the on-field product before solving the non-matching cap/helmet issue."

Yeah, I'd settle for just one inning of holding a lead right now. IS THIS TOO MUCH TO ASK????

[TFoA]

The Braves have an all-navy helmet that they brought in once they brought in the navy blue road alternates. On the other hand, they don't have a helmet that matches their Sunday home hats. I guess having 3 helmets with 3 hats would just be overkill.

Seriously, it kinda annoys me that they don't have a helmet to match their Sunday home hats. It's minor, but it still irks me. I can definitely sympathize with fans of other teams that have this sort of issue, especially the A's. Still can't believe that they have a helmet for the black alternate (which I love, sue me. ), but can't match up the regular helmets.

[The_Admiral]

Or the Braves could just have one hat. Treat hats the way the NFL treats helmets.

[oakland ehs]

The A's started doing this last year and I have no idea why. Although, I'm starting to warm up to the look itself, but I wish they'd go back to matching the helmets.

It's like they just got too lazy or cheap to have another set.

[Sport]

It's like they made a budgeting decision that they were only going to purchase two sets of helmets. The green helmet with the yellow bill didn't look as bad with the road greys as it did with the black jersey so they bought a bunch of black helmets instead of a bunch of green ones.

[dfwabel]

Since the game is such a "player's league" I would not put it past the players, especially veterans to lead the not having multiple sets if the could. MLB players are so superstitious that some may not want to change depending on the uniform set worn. Look at players like Vlad and Biggio with that abundance of pine tar on their helmets.

[TheOldRoman]

I think the A's dumping the road helmet shows how much of a pointless cash grab the road hat was to begin with. The home hat looks far better with either the home or road jersey.

I agree with BBTV, baseball should have a rule that teams must have a matching helmet for each hat. The Twins went forth with their awful new road cap, but didn't add a helmet with a red brim. It is even more pronounced with the Cardinals, who wear navy caps with a red brim on Sundays. You wouldn't know if they are wearing the alts or not unless you saw them in the field. It isn't right for teams to have two distinctive looks depending on whether they are in the field or batting.

[PurpleRush]

Could it be more of a player issue than cost issue?

Maybe they like the feel of the one helmet they use and don't wish to

wear a different one on the road?

Or does it make a difference?

Youkilis of the Sox wouln't accept a new WS

cap against the Rockies, he had the

logo sewn on the cap he wore all season.

[Cianfrocco]

The A's getting rid of the all green road helmet was so that they wouldn't have to carry another set of helmets on the road with them. So partly a money thing, but also just to make things easier. Of course, getting rid of the entire black set would be the easiest, but that's another story.

At least it is not as bad as the 1998 Diamondbacks, who had a completely different logo on their home helmets that didn't appear on a single cap (the snake "D" would become the road cap logo in 1999). Their road helmets at least had the same logo as the caps, but with a different colored bill. So nothing ever matched the cap, home or away, the entire season.

[hawk36]

Honestly I wish the A's would just use the home hat/helmet for everything. I just don't think the all green look works at all.

[hormone]

I don't see how a professional million (sometimes billion) dollar business uses money as an excuse. Especially when you have sets of once a week/month or even once a season throwbacks. Also, I don't buy the travel issue because they (the A's in this case) would be traveling with the all green helmet and keeping the other helmets at home.

[The_Admiral]

Honestly I wish the A's would just use the home hat/helmet for everything. I just don't think the all green look works at all.

Agreed. The home hat is one of the all-time classic baseball hats and seems to be worn well beyond northern California. The all green..., well, I guess it's also an Oakland A's hat?

[BBTV]

Green crown / yellow bill = A's. Anything else (green crown, green bill, etc.) is teh suck.

[Anubis2051]

I think the A's dumping the road helmet shows how much of a pointless cash grab the road hat was to begin with. The home hat looks far better with either the home or road jersey.

I agree with BBTV, baseball should have a rule that teams must have a matching helmet for each hat. The Twins went forth with their awful new road cap, but didn't add a helmet with a red brim. It is even more pronounced with the Cardinals, who wear navy caps with a red brim on Sundays. You wouldn't know if they are wearing the alts or not unless you saw them in the field. It isn't right for teams to have two distinctive looks depending on whether they are in the field or batting.

I don't know...that A's road cap is probably my favorite hat in baseball right now, next to the Yankees hat. Something about the awesome simplicity of the design, I just love it.

[Gothamite]

I too really love the road cap, but I'm of the opinion that a club should only use one cap. One.

That's the only thing I like about the Brewers' current scheme - even though the cap logo itself was a downgrade, at least they abandoned the home/road scheme for a single cap.