Sometimes when the pitcher throws a fastball and the batter times it right, his perfectly level swing sends a line drive hurtling right back at the pitcher. He cannot move and the ball hits him square in the head, leg, arm or upper torso. When the ball careens off of a pitcher's head, the results are often a graphic, bloody injury. However, team doctors and trainers are just as concerned about a shot to the upper torso as they are the head shot. A line drive off the bat hits a pitcher in the area of the upper chest, particularly on the left side, could be fatal. A line drive to the heart killed 18-year-old American Legion pitcher Brandon Patch in 2003 and baseball officials have been looking to protect pitchers ever since and that's why they came up with heart and kidney pads.
What to Look for
Heart and kidney pads are made of high-density foam and attach in one of two ways. A heart pad can be attached to a strap and buckled around the chest or it can be part of a larger device similar to a chest protector worn by a catcher. The larger device protects virtually all of the upper body including the heart and kidneys. In the past, a device like this would have been completely out of the question because it would have been too large and bulky to allow a pitcher to do his job. Now, the micro-tech material and padding is light enough not to impede the pitcher and strong enough to protect him. While professional pitchers have shown no inclination to wear this padding, youth, high school and college pitchers have been more accepting since they are facing batters who swing aluminum or composite bats that often send line drives rocketing up the middle.
Common Pitfalls
The heart and kidney pads are a relatively new development, so it will take education to get players to understand the protection they provide and why its beneficial. To those open-minded players who see the benefit of the protection, it will still take some getting used to on the field of play. It is one more device to put under a uniform and it will take a bit of a leap of faith to get used to the protection and still concentrate on the job at hand--getting batters out.
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